Life lessons: Bahareh

The American-Iranian "poetess of light" talks about true beauty and remembering to count your blessings.

Bahareh Amidi is the poetess of light.
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The American-Iranian 'poetess of light' Bahareh explores the themes of finding hope, rising above the odds, women's and children's issues and world peace and harmony. She has written more than 40 collections of her inspirational poems in English and Persian

1. Look inside for your mirror. As children, our peers become our identity. As we go on to school, our grades show us our worth. As we grow up, our business cards dictate who we are. If only, at the moment of the first breath, there was a mirror held up to my face, I would have realised that it is my breath, my cry that impacts the mirror and the world around me. Now well into my forties, I have found a mirror in my core. Sometimes I take it out to look in it. It is a beautiful sight, I assure you.

2. Find a rock to sit on. I remember looking high and low, in mountains and in seas for a place to be. Finally I learnt that there are times that I just need to sit. I call that place my rock. I carry my rock with me at all times. Sometimes I sit by a river that flows, sometimes a swamp devoid of life. Sometimes I sit by an orphanage and count my blessings.

3. Bring positive energy to life. Life is like the fanciest buffet at the fanciest restaurant. First we have the option to take a salad plate or a dinner plate. Then we have the choice of looking around or starting with the rolls and butter. It is all there, all we have to do is to see and then take according to our needs.

4. Look into people's eyes because that is the filing cabinet that contains all their being. Have you ever been speaking with someone and noticed that they are looking at your hands, perhaps your watch, your telephone, your shoes or the file you carry with you? Well, it is my belief that a person's life is held in their eyes. Look people in the eyes, and you are giving yourself the worth you deserve and you are taking from them all that they have worth giving.

5. Treat others as you would want to be treated. No matter if it is the person driving a Maserati or the person washing it.

Accompanied by Emma Stansfield from the UK on violin and viola and by the South Korean soprano So-Young Park and the pianist Steven Kim, Bahareh will recite selections from her poetry journals on November 14 at the One to One Hotel in Abu Dhabi; Dh50, call 02 495 2000