By Nabihah Basalamah
Amidst Terengganu being severely hit by floods currently, I remembered the most precious souvenir I brought back from this state last semester break, which is a lesson that has inspired me to find real passion in life.
Hidden behind an array of kampung houses of various shapes and architectural designs, lies a beautiful beach untouched by modern civilisation, but if development activities were to pave their way here, its natural beauty would surely be destroyed and lost.
It was a calm breezy morning at Kampung Chendering, Terengganu. At the break of dawn, my friend and I made our run to the beach to catch the picturesque moment of sunrise.
We somewhat absent-mindedly left our slippers by the sea to start jogging. The view before us was awe-inspiringly stunning that it took us to jog further and further away. We were simply mesmerised by the amazing coastal view and sunrise that took our breath away.
We jogged till the end of the beach to a place with many rocks of natural breakwaters that would be an impressive stamping ground for photography lovers. Â True enough, our first encounter brought us to strike a conversation with an uncle in his late thirties, a photographer.
Mr. Warnaiman, as he is popularly known and artistically runs a Facebook page known as Warnaiman Photography Story of My Journey, is a professional landscape photographer, who if not busy teaching photography, would spend most of his days leisurely taking beautiful shots of nature. Some of his days would include camping out at the beach spending hours from dawn to evening just to capture the perfect picture of the day.
Although it was a short encounter, we saw passion in his eyes as we talked about photography. Admiringly at times he received students from all over the world which has showed us that living the life you love truly offers you contentment and drive to be the best in your area of expertise.
When our conversation ended, we made our way back to where we left our slippers. We thought we would never recover the slippers because they must have been swept away by the waves, when suddenly a few metres away from the place, we heard someone shouting at us from afar. He had actually been safe guarding our slippers by his motorcycle while waiting a cue call from his friend to drag out fishing net from the sea.
An uncle in his mid-forties, he is a fisherman who lived nearby the beach. Working only in pair with his friend, he lived his life humbly catching fish for the day and selling it to the market. As he passionately talked about his days, we gained a insight into the life story of a fisherman and acquired excellent tips on fishing.
The reason I am writing this story is not to encourage anyone to become a photographer or a fisherman although there is no harm to become one, rather my intention is to share with you that happiness and contentment which I saw in the eyes of the two men, has taught me an amazing lesson about life.
Through both of them, I saw the grace of God towards His creations. In discovering passion in life, we should never fear doing what we love for truly God is The Provider and He grants provision to whomever He wills, without limit.
œ And so many a living creature carries not its own provision! Allah provides for it and for you. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower. (Al-Ankabut 29:60)
Within hours, who would know what began as just a simple jogging along the beach, even simple conversations with complete strangers, could reveal valuable lessons on living the life you love.
That’s the beauty of life experience which I wanted to share.
Note: If you are interested to do nature photography in Terengganu, log in to Warnaiman Photography Facebook page for more details.