Brick walls, Mosaics, and Sunflowers

When I was in college, I volunteered a lot at the masjid and I remember giving a talk on this Hadith:

"A faithful believer to a faithful believer are like bricks in a wall, one reinforcing the other,"
[Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated by Abu Musa, and reported in Sahih Bukhari]

I talked about how we could dig deeper into the metaphor. For example, when you build a wall it behooves you to have a plan, an architect, and a solid foundation. A brick wall depends on the strength of the bricks… and the strength of the bonds between them. 

Years later, I created a brand for my dissertation to facilitate the extensive community engagement I would need to pull it off. I chose another metaphor: Mosaics. The tag line, “Crafting a Muslim American Youth Identity” called to the fact that each young person’s identity would be a unique and beautiful reorganization of their heritages.

Now, a new effort, and a new metaphor: Sunflower 

I chose Sunflower because it intuitively gave me happy, positive vibes, and I was surprised to learn just how perfect a metaphor it is. 

• Sunflowers are known to purify soil from toxins. They are medicinal for humans and animals. There have even been initiatives to plant them near sites of nuclear disasters!

• Young buds exhibit heliotropism (following the sun's light) and settle into an eastward facing direction as they mature.

• Sunflowers aren’t a single flower, but a collection of thousands of florets each unique and vital to the whole.

So once again, I have been drawn to a metaphor that is the sum of its parts, this time an organic one. 

Like a sunflower, the Sunflower Wellness Initiative allows us to see beyond singular techniques and identify the larger purpose with which we engage in this work: to promote health and wholeness. I don’t mean this in a trite, cliché way. I mean deep, meaningful, even cosmic, wholeness that you can feel in your gut when a client finally releases pain they have been carrying alone for so long. That moment, usually after so much (green leafy) growth is like the unfolding of a sunflower head – first relief, opening to joy, and  slowly stretching into who the client was always meant to be. 

So, what do a brick wall, a mosaic, and a sunflower have in common?

They each stand testament to the fact that we can’t do it alone; we are interconnected, and we need each other to fulfill our purposes. They speak to the fact that when we find our unique role born of our unique gifts, things start to make sense, harmony arises, and together we create beauty and joy.