Month: September 2025

Just writing

All Sorts of Weather

nhpureandsimple

September is a dear, special visitor who brings all sorts of weather in a beautiful gift box. And come rain or shine, its visit is always welcome, always endearing.

Today, for example, is windy, sunny, and a bit chilly, with refreshing drizzles expected later on. But no one huffs or puffs. No one is lazy. No one hides. Why? Because it’s September, bringing gentle vibes at the dawn of autumn.

Do you know what the big dilemma in September is?

It’s something we set aside during summer and bring out in winter!

Can you guess?

I think you got it right.

It’s the coat.

Shall I put it on?
No, it’s warm.
Yes, it’s grey and humid.
No need, I’ll be back before it starts pouring.
But it’s already pouring.
This coat is useless.
This one is too heavy.
Grab it.
Leave it.
Why did I take it?
I should have taken it.

This becomes a significant part of my family daily conversation before stepping out of the house throughout September.

But, doesn’t it add a bit of change and fun?

At least, you have the option and the full responsibility for all its consequences.



With hope and peace,

Nahla

personal thoughts

Blessed Are Those Who Know Their Own Limits

nhpureandsimple

I don’t really know if it is a saying or a quote, but I’m pretty sure I came across somewhere.

But don’t you agree?

Don’t you respect those who can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Those who can choose to go on, to pause, or to withdraw? Those who know that ‘better’doesn’t necessarily mean ‘perfect’? And those who believe that ‘to run for your life’ is the only excuse to exceed the limits.

And you know what? Even imagination knows its own limits because, in the end, it doesn’t deny the fact that everything it creates is imaginary.

Dreams are different because the more limitless they are, the more destructive and selfish they become.  People say, ‘Look ahead and follow your dreams.’ And some follow the advice as if it were a holy command. They look only ahead and follow one route — either straight or by taking shortcuts. Like competitive drivers, they floor the gas pedal, exceed speed limits, ignore traffic lights, overtake any priorities, and make every space as their own free parking zone.

To know and respect your own limits is not a weakness, not a sacrifice, and certainly not a defeat. It’s something like making a peace deal with yourself, a quiet agreement, not to overburden, torture, or destroy what’s already carrying enough.

Everything in life seems to have its own limits. Privacy, for example, is supposed to be all about knowing and respecting limits. There’s also genius, this rare, precious quality, which often understands the significance of limits better than anyone else. But, unfortunately, in some case, its main aim is to only challenge and destroy them.

The beauty of all this is that we have different limits, and they change even throughout our lives. Everyone can create their own heroic saga. What matters is crafting it within your own limits. And, if you choose to exceed the limits, don’t scapegoate others, don’t envy them, and don’t torture your poor soul anymore.

Now doesn’t “Blessed are those who know their own limits” make perfect sense?


With hope and peace,

Nahla



daily prompt

The Nearest, the Furthest

nhpureandsimple

Share a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home.

Back then in Egypt, many years ago, when I was just a child, my family used to take two different holidays during the summer. Of course, none of them were abroad; that wasn’t even in my dreams.

The first trip was always to visit my grandparents and relatives in one of the most beautiful cities in Upper Egypt. The train journey took about six long hours. By long, I mean really long, not like nowadays, when time slips through our fingers like water. Still, I enjoyed every bit of it.

Our journey didn’t end with those six hours for my grandparents were living in a small village about a two- hour drive from the city. Sometimes we stayed in the city for a few days to visit relatives, but then we’d head straight to that small, simple village where my grandparents waited for us in their big, old house. We usually stayed there for around two months, but of course, after the first week, my father would take the train back to Cairo for he couldn’t be off work for that long .

Our second long trip was always to one of the quietest and furthest seaside cities on the western coast of Egypt. We always headed there around the first of September, when the weather used to cool down a bit at that time of the year. We stayed for only one week, since school started by the middle of the month.

We travelled there by coach and always with a group of family friends from Cairo. The journey was just as long as our train ride to the south. Excited about the sea waves, colourful shells, and building sand castles, I always looked forward to this holiday, and I never minded the distance.

Strange how, many years later, when my husband and I took our first flight to England, we thought we’d be too far from home. But in the end, that journey turned out to be actually the closest of all.

Things depend on how you feel about a place. The furthest can be the nearest. The furthest can be the most exciting, the most unexpected. And sometimes, the furthest can be home too.

With hope and peace,

Nahla

personal thoughts

Reading Books Can Be Just Like Meeting People

nhpureandsimple


Well… finally, I’ve finished  the book I was reading over the last month.

By the way August was  a good month with all its hustle and bustle. It’s the month of the warm, bright summer and long off work, off school break. It stirs in you that unique mixture of memories; your old time school holidays, family gatherings, and some special celebrations. Don’t you love it, even with its shocking heat waves?

Now,  back to the book: The Ambassador by Henry James. Or is it James Henry? Oh my… my brain can’t even digest the man’s name. So, this is the book that gave me a headache every time I opened it over the last month, and a few days from the month before. Have you read it? If you have, and if you enjoyed it then mes félicitations! And if you haven’t or are thinking about reading it, please go ahead, and don’t reference my experience as an excuse.

I don’t intend to share a book review in this post, perhaps I will do later on my book review blog. What I’m sharing today is the thought that struck me after finishing it: how reading books can be just like meeting people.

Have you ever experienced those feelings when you meet people for the first time? Sometimes, you feel excited, relaxed, and comfortable. Other times, you feel totally the opposite. And sometimes, you feel nothing, just neutral. That’s all expected, and that also happens when you read a book. But there’s another kind of experience, something deeper than first impressions.

The book reminds me of how you can meet others and how, for no clear reason, you choose to challenge your feelings, silence your inner voice, and keep socialising… or keep reading. As time passes, you give yourself a chance; one, two, three, maybe tens, to find something mutual, something interesting, or even honest, but … you barely find any.

But, isn’t that, in the end, why you can congratulate yourself?
Why not?
You tried to reach out. You tried to understand. And, you didn’t judge the book before reading it all.

The effort is always worthy of celebration, isn’t it? 

With hope and peace,

Nahla