Light as a feather

Yousef Bolous

doi:10.46747/cfp.6804288

I am a fourth-year medical student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. The pandemic’s restrictions fell on my cohort halfway through my second year. Throughout medical school I have been using calligraphy to remain linked to my Egyptian heritage. As restrictions continued to occur, this art form was my means of connecting with something greater, all while being physically disconnected from my friends, family, and loved ones. Every letter was drawn to evoke a sense that the brush was guided naturally by the wind to create every word.

Eldunya reesha fe Hawa

The meaning of this Arabic phrase is “the world is like a feather in the air.” This phrase put peace in my heart as I tried to cope with the ramifications of the pandemic. To me, it is a reminder that the world is as ever changing as the position of a feather in the wind. And yet, we can traverse these challenges as gracefully as a feather. This phrase also asks one to see that their anxieties are as light as a feather: while trying to lift what may seem to be a heavy burden looming heavy over our hearts, we realize how light that yoke actually is.

Clichés and proverbs like this carried me over the pandemic. They tethered me to something much greater than myself and helped me find peace and joy on the difficult days.