Conquering Mountains

very welcome to Ramadan nights sponsored by charity right. Thank you all for joining here today joining us here today we're in conversation with sister Felicia Bennett Salaam polygon. I like I'm slum I also have my lovely co host, Tarik Shafi here with us today. How you doing?

Good hamdulillah. So this is our first show of Ramadan tea on Ramadan, TV Ramadan nights. So just a little bit about the show, we're going to be bringing you a range of prominent figures from across Sydney to talk about their journeys, so the ups and the downs that they've experienced throughout their life, everything in between, and what brought them here today to speak to us. So inshallah you stay tuned, you'll interact with us. So please do send questions, please do send comments and all of your thoughts are we will try and reach out to all of them and connect with you guys. Because that's the point of this show. We really want to connect the community back to your homes, especially

during COVID. So, brother, Tarik, how's it going? How are you feeling? We were feeling a little bit nervous. Me too.

What's gonna happen to we're going to live all across Australia as well as the globe. So guys, if anything does take place, they tune in showbiz. Just stay calm, relax, and have somebody with a fire exhaust up a extinguished

right to get going cuz Sam already muddled. So please bear with us. If anything does happen. We've got an amazing tech crew here that will continue to be able to support us. So thank you. Thank you, brother Tarik. So without further ado, I really want to get stuck into the conversation with Felicia, thank you for being here with us today. It means so much to have you here.

I know personally like Felicia Benny is a name that is really coming up quite a lot. I know you haven't been here too long in Sydney. But Felicia Burnie is a name we love to hear whether it's with nationals, ecard function it Foundation, sisters in need brothers in need developing diamonds. It's a name that we hear quite often. But for some of the viewers that might not have come across Felicia Bennett yet tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah, wherever you want to begin. So I saw I come to everybody who's watching at home and a little bit about me would be that I'm Australian born Muslim. My dad is a convert to Islam. So he became Muslim when he was about 21 years old. So over 40

odd years ago, my mom is cocoas Islander. She's born Muslim. And so I've come from that mixed cultures background and and grew up in Perth, who actually so most of my life, I grew up out in the country, and a little bit of time in the city, living in the city and went to Muslim school whilst we lived in the city. And then in the teenage years, moved back out to the country again, and then back to the city again, and got married quite young and became a mother quite young, and got involved in community work and our work and continue with that for about 1012 years. And then a couple years ago, we decided to just do a big, big change and Celestials out of our roots and you

know, step into a bit outside of our comfort zone, I guess. And we moved over to Sydney and just being able to benefit from the community here and have a lot of resources and support for my kids as they grow up as well. Rather than me coming from having to provide a lot for the community, I'm not able to handle so provide whatever I can of support in the community, but also benefit my family, because there's a lot going on here hamdulillah.

So, I've personally done a big move. So you can probably tell by my accent i'm not i'm not a local.

Takes a lot. So I moved I left everything I knew everything I loved and I came to Sydney just much like you. It's hard. It's really hard. How have you coped with that change in your life? You know, it's a brand new chapter, and more importantly, what drove you to do it like what was the ultimate reason you thought? I'm heading over to Sydney? Yeah.

was actually a bit of an unexpected move, to be honest, I'd really established myself in Perth where we lived in. You know, that was that was the game plan to live in Perth continue the work that I was involved in quite heavily in leadership positions and teaching positions in with established hamilo Community Center, which originated from a few different programs that I was involved in helping to establish in Perth. And a lot of people say Perth, you know, it's,

it's, yeah, it's about 15 years behind Sydney and development. So, you know, when I had my first first few kids, and I thought, we're missing a lot here, we didn't have like basic Islamic studies courses, we didn't have convert support programs, we didn't have any youth groups. So seeing that there was so much needed, we have that responsibility as Muslims to step up. And if something's not there, if there's a gap, if there's a space, we have a responsibility if we see that to create what's needed. So I only had, you know, very basic skills, basic knowledge, but I, you know, took the responsibility upon myself, as well as other teams of people have the line or the power of

teamwork. And, you know, we established different things there and really felt like that was my harm. That was not my work, my life's work. And I reached the stage kind of hit me out of nowhere, where it was like, I think we need to move like I need a change, I need to, I know that there's a basic human need of growth, you need to feel like you're growing up, I felt like I'd reached like my own personal ceiling. And I was serving and delivering so much. But there was this part of me that was like, What about me? What about me? Yeah, so moving over to here handle I had one of my siblings, I've only got one sister. Yeah. And she lives over here. So I thought I'm coming.

At kids, we have three three daughters who are the same age. So I thought, you know what, spend some time over here with my sister. And there's so much to learn from here. And prior to moving over to Sydney, I was studying distance learning some of the Islamic studies courses and stuff that they've had over here. So I've always kind of been tied in a way Yeah, so did the big the big move and hasn't been easy, have been pretty thing. It's, it's lonely for a long time, like you coming from being so tied to so many people and loving your community. And having this sense of sisterhood brotherhood with your community that you've grown up in your family, leaving all of that behind and

saying, like, you know, come here, and I'm like, you know, this newbie new kid in town and having to re rediscover my identity like, what Who am I aside from what I do? So that's been a beautiful journey of like, self discovery as well. Normally, when you step out of your comfort zone is pain that's normally associated, because that's how you get the growth. Yeah, right. What do you mind just unpacking that a little bit for us in terms of what pain did you experience from come from? Probably being highly visible, well recognized in Perth established a good ecosystem and a support structure over here, and then having to start again. And then the second thing on that is you said,

as Muslims, we've got this responsibility to do that. We do. And not everybody's self aware of that. So where did that self awareness come from? For you to be able to drive you from one side of Australia to the other to the better side? I must say,

Sydney right in the middle of all that I love Perth have to say, travel to Perth frequently, but But where did that come from? So yeah, do you mind just talking to us a little bit about that? Yeah, I guess it's that whole concept of No, sometimes like to teach someone how to swim, kinda have to throw them in the water a bit. So yeah, I think I kind of do that to myself sometimes. And I realized that I think that's an important part of life. That's when you feel like you're alive when you're forced to swim when you think you can't swim. And I think comfort zone is probably one of the most dangerous and maybe unhealthy things. And that's why I reached a point where I wasn't feeling

the same sense of fulfillment from the work that I was doing, because I wasn't feeling challenged enough. I wasn't feeling like I had enough. Maybe creative autonomy, the time the space to do what I love to do, which was fill the gaps in community and serve according to a need. And, you know, after a period of years of kind of doing the same thing.

Yeah, just needed that little bit more of a challenge for myself. So, yeah, like, you know, the grieving process, I think happened before I move.

There was a lot that we were kind of wanting to maybe get some space and move away from as well because you can kind of get stifled by your own community. Maybe community leaders might relate to that experience a bit.

So yeah, it was kind of like a bit of a break to be able to just breathe and and reassess myself, my life, my ambitions, my family, what our needs were and just adapt and adjust, but it hasn't been easy at all. Like it was really difficult. what's what's been difficult and hard on the kids

Moving away, they missed family, they miss the extended family and they missed a lot of their friends. And now one of my kids, when we moved in the teenage years of the business owner, big No, no, you know, in teenage rules like, you know, uproot them when they're like my friends. Yeah. friends out there identity. So, you know, having to watch that. So painful, so painful, but you've got to look at your family as a whole, you can always kind of make decisions based on one what one person wants, it's got to be a family decision. Not easy. But that's life. Life is not easy and absolutely test some Yeah. So it sounds like your kids are a big driving force in your decision

making and what makes you who you are today. So as a mum, when you had to make that transition, and any other big decisions that you make, that you know, there is a bit of guilt there, there is a bit of, am I doing the right thing? How do you work through that? How do you come to conclusions? How do you navigate through the life of motherhood? Really? Yeah, well, I've got five kids and you know, they aged in from their late teens and a little down to a little wild little four year old,

little girl.

So yeah, it's, it's, it's interesting. It's been an interesting journey. I became a mom at such a young age, I hadn't formulated my own identity, and all of a sudden, bam, you're a mother, and then that massive sense of responsibility that someone else someone else's life is now on, you're in the palm of your hand. So I took that very heavily very seriously. So I entered motherhood very intensely.

Yeah, painfully intensely. And I've mellowed out now a lot. hubzilla. But you could say that, my kids?

Yeah, I think so in ways, but I'm just an intense person.

I'm a big match, but for the right reasons, and they know that and they know that and they voice that, you know, that's when you hear your kids give you feedback. They're saying what they see what they feel from you. So you just want to live life where you know that you've given 100% You know, sometimes that's intense. But um, yeah, kids are a massive

driving factor. Definitely in making the decisions in your life in your family's life. It's not easy as a lot of pressures on moment on mothers and you've, you mentioned the word like guilt. That's something so often said motherhood, guilt, motherhood, guilt, it's like, they're synonymous.

And we don't hear that a lot with fatherhood, unfortunately.

I have to say, folks, we're gonna we're gonna go out to a break. And we're going to come back and talk to Felicia Bennett more about COVID-19 how she's never getting Ramadan. And we're going to talk chicken wings, hot sauce and a lot more. Please keep your questions coming through down below. In the Facebook section is sponsored by cherry alright Australia. We'll be back in a moment.

When hungry, was so that was Salam ala rasulillah. What deepens the sisters? Have you ever thought about what life will be like in gender? There was a very, very beautiful hike. You could see where Allah subhanho wa Taala he says, our dead to the ibehre the assignor hain Mariela Haman right, when our urban and semi hot while a hotter Allah.

Allah here he says that I have prepared for my righteous slaves, or the AI has never seen before. And the ER has never heard before. And the human heart and the human mind could never even imagine.

So my dear brothers and sisters if you weren't able to close our eyes and dream, we could not imagine how amazing life in gender will be like this Rama born let's work to achieve our laws mercy antigen as salaam alaikum

Salam Alaikum and welcome back to Ramadan nights. We're joined tonight with Galicia Bennett, we just saw a beautiful video about imagining what gender might be Look how gender will be look like, what will it smell like? And if we relate that to today's pandemic, globally, we've never seen anything like that before. So just before we go in and we ask collegia about Ramadan and COVID-19 I wanted to talk to you a little bit if it was okay about being a public figure. So, when we when we have and we see public figures such as yourself, people look up to you

Right, have a wide array of ages, ages, genders, etc, etc. But with that, I guess comes this pressure, the pressure is that people expect you to be perfect, right? There's this Vinnie, that's almost carved out that you need to be perfect. However, people sometimes don't realize the struggles, the personal struggles that you might be going through. So when in one of our scoping sessions, and before this show, you were telling us a little bit about some of the struggles that within family in particular to do with one of your siblings? Do you want to talk a little bit about that? Yes. And the pressures of being a public figure? Yeah. So public figures, it's heavy, right?

It's a heavy responsibility. And to be honest, if I had the choice, I would love just a quiet private life living somewhere out rural.

Yeah, in a way. Yeah, I guess.

You know, but

campbelltown? Yeah.

I guess at the core of it, I would love to have my you know, my privacy and live a quiet life and not have the responsibility of supporting people, teaching people influencing people. It's a very heavy responsibility and a heavy burden. And, you know, when we look at the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his example, do you think he wanted to be the center of attention? Did he want people to hold him in this high esteem, he was the most humble human being ever. But Allah, Allah said, you have a mission, you have a message, and now you need to step up. And each and every one of us says, as Muslims have that mission, to to pass on the message, the dollar, whatever

good we can deliver to community to society, we have a responsibility to do that. And that means putting ourselves on the line. And to be honest, it is very difficult being a female, Muslim woman, public figure, there's a lot of stigma around it personally, I had, you know, a lot of apprehensions and you know, prior to making the decision to be more outspoken in my you know, my reminders and the, you know, the coaching and the identity talks that I do,

I was you couldn't see me online, I had no pictures up nothing, my privacy was everything to me, I love my privacy. And, you know, so having to step forward, I try to, of course, you have to, you know, present yourself in, you know, the proper etiquette or professional way. But I also add a little bit of my own personality to that some of my personal story to that, just to show the real side again, like I'm still a human being, I still struggle day to day with a lot of different things. My life's not perfect, my backgrounds, not perfect. I've come from a really, you know, colorful kind of family situation, still colorful today. And I faced those struggles within my

family unit and my extended family, and close friends and networks every day. So a lot of what I do now in what I speak about is speaking to the struggle of Muslims in current times, and reminding ourselves that Islam is a beautiful model. It's perfect. The Quran and Sunnah is perfect, but we humans are not perfect. And we are going to go through the ups and downs in life. And there are so many struggles, and let's lift the judgment away from those struggles away from each other, and just support each other towards pleasing allies the best way that we can rely on social media, it's hard to lose vision of that. I call it the highlight reel. Because when we are looking at Instagram and

people who are in the public figure, yeah, you think that their lives are perfect. And so you coming out and speaking to audiences and saying my life isn't perfect, and that's okay. I'm doing what I do. And I'm striving for in the way of Allah. But it's okay not to have a perfect life. Yeah. So the struggles that you face some of the things that you've had with your family? Do you want to share a bit about those? Yeah, sure. So growing up, I have six brothers and one sister. So we're a very big family. We had a lot of age gaps between us. And then coming from, you know, a family with two different cultures. We had Ozzy culture, we had kind of islands and Malay culture. And then handed

on my parents, they're coming together, they created some a culture within our home, along with the societal culture, which is that Ozzy culture, right, yep. So, you know, having a big family, and a community in Perth that wasn't highly supported in terms of youth programs and stuff like that. A lot of the people around me and some of my siblings just got caught up on, you know, falling into the wrong path. And so a lot of my journey, as a young Muslim in it was trying to navigate that path and not get caught into those different vices. And and, you know, I guess, like, tunnels and holes, pit pitfalls, you know, yeah. So, that's always been a very touchy point for me personally, which is

why the work that I do is driven from that place that I've come from the fact I lost some of the closest people to me until today to that life, and not just boys. Not just the guys that I went to school with, but girls, women like that. were my best friends or my own relatives who

Just from a few wrong steps, just when we went on totally different paths, Pamela, and for me, having a very little basic understanding of Islam in, especially in my teenage years and early adulthood, that's what helped to keep my head on straight. And that's what I've pretty much call to now and remind people about that if we can just keep on track, know why we're here and hold on to some essential principles, but also

understand the struggles in that path, then inshallah, you know, we can hopefully stay on track together. So Felicia, what do you think just before we talk about Ramadan, and we talked about COVID-19? What do you think your greatest struggle in life has been thus far? My greatest struggle in life? Or I think, the biggest challenge, do you think that when people look at you, they would never have thought? Well, she actually went through that? Yeah. Well, she experienced that, because I, because people be able to relate to that, too. I mean, yeah. So what does that mean? And how did you get how did you move past that? Or through that? You like asking the tough questions? Yeah, the

questions were sharp edge, I gotta tell you, I've got to tell you, the audience out there that I think that that's what they're looking for. Yeah, they're really looking to be able to say, hey, we've got this wonderful figure, she's espousing Islam, she talks about how I can get the best out of me. But she's just like me, but some of it sometimes we don't see that, too. I mean, that we don't say that. So we're always looking at what we don't have, compared to what we really do. So for you, what, what, what, what has been that quite a struggle, I guess, for me, it's been why I do work in identity, the identity of Muslim women and young people especially is because that has been my

entire journey, trying to establish and hold on to and discover and strengthen my sense of identity, as a woman as an Australian as a Muslim. You know, my cultural identity, the whole, the whole kind of aspect, all the different aspects of it, you know, the different facets of your identity. And why, you know, why has that been my biggest struggle is because of what's happened around me. Up to this point, still till today, the struggles that would happen around me, that I would be involved in supporting or get caught into or have to navigate have been really intensely

intense.

Things like drug addiction around me, you know, witness and be involved in domestic violence situations, marriage, breakups, the ups and downs of, of life. Yeah. Despite wanting to be a good practicing Muslim throughout all of that.

It's and trying to, you know, being everyone's lifeboat plus my own, plus, trying to heal my own wounds from my own, you know, childhood upbringing, you know, emotional, you know, emotional betrayals and hurt that you go through in different relationships. So, yeah, it's just, that's probably been the biggest struggle like to keep swimming. We're talking about that analogy of jumping in the deep end, but to keep swimming and to help people along that journey. Now, it's been a really tricky time for a lot of people. So most of our audience are probably at home not being able to connect with their normal lives. It's a struggle. How are you as an individual and your

family managing through Ramadan and COVID in lockdown, and how has it been for you guys? Yeah, how many how we adapted pretty well because we've come from being a homeschooling family. My couple of my kids in and out homes at school they're supposed to be at school and school sent them back to me thanks to a Coronavirus. So anyway,

the one year I'm like it can have a little bit of me time they send them back but I was gonna need a refund you know? So yeah, I guess yeah, we adapted pretty well but overall it's about having routines and systems disciplines within your home that build up and create a healthy life you know, so you have your Islamic aspects your worship, you're learning you know, your kids, Islamic studies programs that you know, hopefully you're reading Quran and things like that, but then there's also making sure you staying fit and healthy as a family so exercising looking after your mental emotional health Absolutely, yeah, life skills, doing things around the place challenging yourself.

Like, you know, My son has been teaching himself how to do backflips and on the trampoline, like little things like now we're gonna have

some footage of

some footage.

He needs gymnastics classes, but I'm kind of excited you've been doing with the family like what do you what do you guys think? Yeah, well, they've got the get the kids fit online for the kids. That's like three times a week. So that's been really good. But I you know, I'm an exercise junkie myself. So I just make sure I get those in and like the the benefits for your mental health like you can't, you can't really explain how good it is myself. Just one, two days without exercising and you'll feel it and when you do exercise, totally different shifts in mood and endorphins and stuff like that. So believers we should be the healthiest people on the planet.

Fortunately, we're one of the unhealthiest populations. So that's a whole nother issue.

It's only Muslims that will spend the whole day not eating anything, but still put on weight.

Embarrassing

shame, you know?

No, that's good. But for some parents, you know, it might be a little bit more difficult where activities in the household and managing working from home and all this stuff. If you could say one message to the, you know, the mothers and the fathers who are juggling so many different aspects of their life, what would that be? Now, I'd say, Go easy on yourself, and simplify what it is that you expect and know very clearly, your minimal expectations. You know, if it's your deen, if it's your, your learning, their school, your health, maybe 234 aspects, keep it simple. Don't overburden yourself, because then you will totally throw in the towel. And that's what people do. They tend to

overburden themselves and have too high expectations. And then they throw throw, throw throw them all

over the over the head, like they give up on everything because it becomes too much. So just simplify know what's important. Yeah. And they're, you know, technically I always tell people, what are the five most important things in your life? And that's what should be the essentials? You know, the absolute go twos? Yeah, yep. And just before we, I think we're gonna throw to a break, and we'll come back with chicken wings, hot sauce, and we're gonna see what what you're

gonna bring up the Malayan you

be mozzie side with a tissue box?

Can I ask you? What's been the greatest thing that COVID-19 has brought as a result of for Ramadan? And the family unit? in particular? What do you think, has been the greatest outcome compared to potentially a Ramadan that we'll never see again? in our lifetime? Yeah. I think definitely the quiet and not having the demand of go, go go. Yeah. You know, having by force, all the appointments, commitments, everything canceled on us by Allah subhanaw. taala is decree and his his wise planning. It's for the good of all of us. And that quiet is where you can really delve deep into yourself, your worship, assessing your life, your values. What have you been missing out on? How many people

have we heard that? You know, and fathers mothers saying, you know, I'm loving the time spending with my kids quality time for us to have quality time.

On that note, if I may, I think we're gonna be going into a quick break, but do stay tuned because this is the part that I've been the most excited for. Whether it be testing kalisha we're gonna be putting hot wings in her mouth and asking you even more questions. Make sure you are asking those questions for us. So drop them in now this is your chance. We're going to be asked ants asking these questions right after this break.

Salaam Alaikum transform your Ramadan. This year my brothers and sisters by internalizing this Hadith, check it out the enemy's law solemn tells us that Allah Spano tala says that all of the deeds that the son of Adam does offer him except for fasting, that is for me, and I shall reward for it or as it came.

What this means the panela one explanation for this is that every single deed you do, whether it's prayer, whether it's giving setup, or whether it's recycling, put on the angels know the exactly word for it, and then write it down might be 10. Might be 20. Might be 10,000 might be as many as the amount of overhead. They know the exact amount. But fasting is so special and so dear to Allah Spano, tala and the Woodford is so grand

that he kept this information from the angels and you'll only find out this reward when you see him on the Day of Judgment not imagine that

such an incredible reward. So have high hopes for this rewarding shot alone while you're fasting. And really do it in hope to get this incredible unlimited unspecified reward special and direct from Allah subhanaw taala particularly on Ramadan Mubarak

would like to welcome all our respected guests on add friends to their normal dinner of chatty right Australia.

More

livadi

mo

charity, right? It's essentially an international food program. Our vision is to see a world in which hunger is no longer a barrier that prevents people from reaching their full potential. The focus is very niche, it is about feeding the needy. There are other institutions that are well established, we will support them that we will not compete with them. This food is a good vehicle to touch upon those lives who we don't know. And there are kids who are waiting for the arrival of food. This is probably the only meal they will have during the day.

We have a ethical and moral duty to ensure when we can at least that one basic meal if our Tom hameau de la Cava

wasabi, Ella Jana Tila hippie era if you want

to save you in the after, from the hub cheap, you go into faith spend today.

Salaam Alaikum. Guys, welcome back to Ramadan nights in conversation with collegia. So this is the segment that we've had a lot of questions for. And we've also had a lot of interest around what we're going to be doing. So I ordered an Uber Eats. Somebody says,

Yes, we've come prepared for yes, some fresh chilies and a couple of very, very mild chili pastes. So can you eat chili is meant to be getting Haha, we're going to be asking you some questions in between. And hopefully, your mouth won't be buying too much for you to answer these questions.

So guys, this is your chance, make sure you're sending in the questions because we're going to be asking them to Alisha and have fun trying to see how she navigates through the chili and the question. Yeah, not sure.

The first question first or do you want to bite right in?

What's your heritage coming up?

My relatives are gonna decide

what happens when the island that marries a white man? We got one of these books. We didn't say that.

It makes you feel any better. I'll

be eating these with you. So guess what I understand. This is the least hot side on the middle. Yeah. So let's start with that you use

one of these. And I'll go for one of these ones.

See? Good. Spicy. Mm hmm. Okay, I've gotten quite generous on there, but Bismillah

r Khalifa

milk mill. So my first question.

How many times have you been asked if you're a river?

Um, a lot. Yeah. A lot of times actually, the assumption is automated because of my surname. Yeah, that's a common a common mistake. misconception. Yeah. And then they know then they say so we're okay. So where are you from? And then you have to explain that and then no one knows where Caicos Islands are? Yeah. campbelltown. No one knows what that is.

on my counter, they're like, well, what's that? Like? is a

strange question for me as well. Like, where are you from? I'm joining them and my parents from Germany where I was born. I live in like, Canada. What is it? Why Muslims now especially living in different countries and stuff? We have this multi layered identity, which is important to acknowledge and celebrate. Yeah. Cool. All righty. So let's move

on

to the next spice.

It looks like it's just barbecue sauce like poison.

Yeah.

That's not too bad. No, it's not too bad. I was okay. Yeah, I was told that this one was a bad one. This wedding so after burn, we have a question. Yeah, there's enough to burn can feel that. We have a question from Diane. She asks you, who inspires you the most and why? Who inspires me the most and why? Mm hmm. Interesting. I think some of the people that I've met, and throughout my community journey have been the most inspirational people and in particular, I've met some Muslims from our community with disabilities. You are just the most dedicated volunteers the most sincere pure hearts

who I feel like a so overlooked and and see I'm checking up now. Just like

about it because I've just seen, I've just been able to be blessed to know them and see their hearts and their souls and the dedication that they have, like you can't find you can't find it in the community, the way that they are dedicated to Allah to Allah to their volunteer roles, to giving 100% the enthusiasm and they are like that, because of their struggle is just purified them and just, I feel so inspired by those individuals, like I want to have a heart like them is that way their name developing diamonds comes from where under the pressure you get something so beautiful.

Just before she can answer

it with my mouth. Yeah. Where does the name come from? The name comes from actually back in Perth, I established a youth group called diamonds of Islam. So that was the the origins and I initially wanted to I was about eight years ago now. And it's still running through today on the line. But I initially wanted to do diamonds of Islam development workshops kind of thing. Yeah, never had the time and space to because I was involved in in establishing an Islamic Center and all these other programs. So I shelved it. Establish a business name and everything. And then before moving here, I thought I think it's time to do rebirth. Yeah. You know, so I changed the name because my brand

designer, he said You sound like a building and construction company. development workshops, Diamond development, something like that. building societies. Yeah. So we switched it around. Yeah, made it a bit more feminine. Yeah. Now developing diamonds because we're all diamonds, and we're all in the process of developing ourselves. Now hang on for a second. That's it. Yeah, you gotta go back in. Yeah.

Even though I know it's in the script for me not to really talk. So anyway.

How do you zone out? How do you have fun? Like, what is Felicia Bennett? do for fun? for fun? Because she's asleep? Because you are doing live feeds all over the world. Wendy, do you sleep and

sleep? I sleep fine. hubzilla I'm a very easy sleep but to

sleep.

But trust issues.

therapist

with the fun Yeah, fun, fun. Um, I just I'm not every day the things that I thrown into my day, or that seems hot. Yeah.

Keep going.

Let's get some more

things I do eat throughout the day. Have fun. Like, you know, I make sure I exercise at least once a day. I love that. That's fun.

But carry on doing things.

That's fun. Yeah, just learning. I find learning fun. I find what I do like my work the things that the projects I'm doing. I find it all fun. So I feel like life is fun. It was fun. And interesting. One hand. When was the last time you cried?

When's the last time I cried two days ago. I cry a lot. Now I cry. I like to be someone who cries easily. And I think that's important. Not as in over and over and over nothing. But I want my heart to always be close to the surface. Yep. So if I see him, if I have a moment, or I read something or I witness something, I want to feel it deeply. I feel like that's that's leaving that your heart is fully open. And we ask a lot protection from having heart closed heart. So it's important to keep going.

I've got a feeling it. Okay. All right. So we got another question here. I like this one is from Rhys. I'm a big fan of your deep discussion cards. How did you come up with them? And what how did you come up with them? And what was the idea behind it? So I guess you know, for those who don't know what the discussion cards, tell us a bit about them. So deep discussions, cards are the little product that I made and launched last year. And it's a set of cards that I always wanted to make. But I'd always done at kind of a homemade job. I would print out Bits of paper, which would ask questions, open ended questions. Yeah. And I would use it for like icebreakers for classes,

programs, youth groups, just to kind of bring people together just wouldn't break the ice enough to you know, yeah. Yeah. Now that's not not how I roll.

So yeah, would you use these bits of paper to ask questions. And I feel like that bringing together of people, especially initially within a class environment, everyone being able to be a little bit vulnerable and share who they are really sets the tone for the learning that you're about to deliver because everyone's feeling safe.

receptive. What's your favorite? Because I've seen them? And I've used them. Yeah, well, yeah, question on their favorite question is

I really like the ones that I've put with values on there. Yeah. Because I think we do need to question what our values are and understand that some people have different views on values, like honesty means or integrity means and some people have different understandings of these different terms and values. So yeah, yeah. Okay, cool.

One of the things that we spoke about before, I think we probably wrap up

a bit in the wrong seat. He told us, I had to take it away. I'll take it away in a moment, right? And he told us, when you were 11, there was an epiphany that you had that you just felt like, I had to pray. Right. And you think about your hero, right? There's a young, there's your camera, there's a young Felicia Bennett out there. How does? How does she get the best out of herself? Or they get the best out of itself? What advice do you have? Yeah, I guess I would say to really reflect on your life reflect reflect on the realities of life, it's easy to get caught up with all the illusions and all the distractions, and we're in times now where everything is so distracting. And, you know, our

smartphones and devices just have a nonstop flow of messages, entertainment videos, tick tock videos, and all these sorts of illusionary destructive things which aren't meaningful. So reflect on the realities of life. Ultimately, for me, it was reflecting on death, only being about 11 years old, realizing that, you know, my parents were going to die. And then I joined the dots and thought, hang on, I'm going to die. And that absolutely freaked me out the concept of death, and that this life, is one day going to pass and be over. And what does it mean to have lived a good life? And what will I lost my dad, oh, God asked me when I die. And ultimately it was, you know, I knew that

God would ask me if I obeyed and worshipped him. So from a young age, I decided, Okay, as a minimum, I should try to pray. So I will tell any young person out there who is feeling maybe hollow or disillusioned or lonely or empty in life to reflect on the reality and return to Allah subhanaw taala in obedience and worship, and just start off by praying to Him, especially now in Ramadan, soften your heart, put your head on the ground, cry your eyes out and ask him for what it is that you ultimately want in this life and the next inshallah?

Because I don't know about you, but I'm actually gonna have one.

Like, this has been really lost. He knows

what he does. That is a question that's come through and is hit enough for me because I don't know if I could answer it. Because I'm away from my mom and I miss her so much every day. Do you miss your family? Do you miss your mom? Yeah, absolutely. You know, your family are who you are. A part of who you are. Your family has made you who you are today. They've shaped and molded your personality, your charisma, your character traits, good and bad. And nobody's family is perfect, but they're the perfect family for you.

So yeah, absolutely. I miss my family a lot. You guys and you know, I'm, yeah, I've always tried to leave in a way that my parents would, at the end of the day, like feel proud of me and feel glad that they have me as their daughter and even if I can't be there to physically serve them, if I can serve them through serving Allah subhanaw taala and making their hearts feel like reassured you know that, that maybe I can be something that's part of their Heston as well, because of what they've invested in me, according to the best of their abilities.

The basic

guys,

thank you for joining us in conversation with Felicia Bennett. We want to thank you so much for coming on. And, you know, really kick starting this for us. We're gonna be joined by some other guests. I know. Rotarix just made a bit of a mess.

You tend to thank you. Thank you, Felicia. So thanks, everybody, for joining us tonight. Thanks for being part of the pilot. And we look forward to coming to you tomorrow with a special episode, entitled From gangster's paradise to the halls of Parliament, where we've got the local member of the Kimba Jihad joining us. And then we've said that our ordinary episodes come to you live on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8pm. Sorry, but we couldn't turn down Jihad deep. So thank you very much. And thank you to Charlie, you're right, Australia, folks, please jump on to charity.

Right, Australia's website charity right.org.au forward slash donate. It's 100% tax deductible without them this show wouldn't have been possible and we won't be able to bring the great personalities of Sydney to you throughout the course of Ramadan. So thank you very much for joining us tonight. Please feel free to continue to leave us potentially a one star or two star review, write

some questions and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow. So on a common Good evening, Salaam Alaikum. Guys, you're gonna pay for this.

We'd like to welcome all our respected guests on it friends to their normal dinner of chatty ride Australia.

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Charity, right. It's essentially an international food program. Our vision is to see a world in which hunger is no longer a barrier that prevents people from reaching their full potential. The focus is very niche. It is about feeding the needy. There are other institutions that are well established, we will support them that we will not compete with them. This food is a good vehicle to touch upon those lives who we don't know. And there are kids who are waiting for the arrival of food. This is probably the only meal they will have during the day.

We have a ethical and moral duty to ensure when we can at least that one basic meal if our Tom hameau de la Cava

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