Release.
Accept.
Live.
And—
Don’t stare long into the mirror,
into the past,
into the dark.
or …
into your fear.
What is missed is missed.
Embrace the change.
And focus on the present.
The road ahead might have more surprises,
than what’s been left behind.
Long story short;
Steer your life as safely as you steer the wheel of your car.
With hope and peace,
Nahla
What is your favorite place to go in your city?
Why not?
All you have to do is to think about it.
Actually, I like this idea.
I like to think about how, in my blog, I begin to practise creativity, how I find my voice, and how ideas and thoughts start to flow.
It becomes my favourite place in my city of writing.
By the way, I have another favourite place in my imaginative city—books.
You can’t write without reading, can you?
Books are not only for reading with your eyes but also for imagining with your mind.
You imagine characters, and you also imagine their places, their cities, and their era.
Or you may prefer science, philosophy, or even politics, and there too, you’ll find yourself as if you were in your favourite place.
So, wherever you live, in a small or big city, if you pick up a book and really enjoy it, your reading will turn into a visit, short or long, to a special, imaginative spot in your imaginative city.
Just imagine: step out for a moment from the real world, from the actual city.
Now step into your imaginative city,
to write
or to read.
With hope and peace,
Nahla
Well… sometimes you just don’t know how or why people behave this way or that? And honestly, in this situation, it’s better not to make a big deal of it.
So, today my daughter and I took the bus home. It wasn’t busy, but it was so warm inside the bus. All the windows were locked, and most people seemed to have a bad cold.
Isn’t it normal to open the window where you sit?
I think it is, especially if you feel like sitting in a sauna.
So, I consulted my neighbour, who was my daughter, and she said, “yes please mama.”
I stood, stretched to reach it, and finally pulled it open. Sometimes you just wonder why they design the windows that high… but perhaps it’s for some safety reasons.
Anyway, how refreshing it was to feel the cool air above your head, and to smell the scent of the fresh rain instead of the thick, condensed air inside the bus.
Just a few minutes later, and as my daughter and I were talking, and out of nowhere, I heard a woman’s voice nearby, not asking or even suggesting that the window be closed but saying she was closing it. In a flash, she pushed it shut, and just like a ghost disappeared.
For a second, my daughter and I looked at each other, wondering why she closed the window. She wasn’t the one sitting next to it, and since the seats in front and behind us were empty, there was no way she would be affected by it.
As our journey wasn’t taking long, I didn’t make a fuss. I told my daughter, “Perhaps she was sensitive to the fresh, cold air.” We smiled, and continued our conversation, and soon got out into the real fresh air.
Should I have taken umbrage at such behaviour?
I think… I did better by ignoring her and her action completely.
What do you think?
With hope and peace,
Nahla
Starting today, please don’t be surprised if I like and dislike your post at the same time. Or if you catch me me follow a conversation I have no idea how and when I get into. Or if I subscribe and then unsubscribe to your blog.
Oh my … I am pretty sure things like that have happened before, but honestly that’s mainly because of a lagging internet connection or a frozen screen. If this happens today or tomorrow, or even already did, my sincere apologies!
So starting now, hopefully for just a few days, I might be a bit clumsy because I am using a new device. Every time I switch to a new one, funny things happen. Sometimes I wish I had kept the old one as there was no thing wrong with it. But my sons want to get me a special gift for my special day, and here I am using it. It’s actually great, but my brain needs time to befriend it.
You know the most annoying thing right now? It is Jetpack app. I can’t find the Reader icon as I used to on the other device. So I’ve switched to using WordPress in the browser, and I’m trying to navigate my way through it.
Hopefully things will get better soon.
With hope and peace,
Nahla
Oh, don’t think I’m wondering whether you are a real person or an AI. No, this post isn’t about that.
It’s about how much you’ve changed since you started blogging on WordPress.
It’s a bit hard—no a bit weird— to assess yourself. Of course, you can feel the change in yourself, but it’s just odd to evaluate your own work. You can’t be both the examiner and the examined at the same time, right?
When I first started blogging in 2017, I was looking for some change, or better yet, some adventure. My writings were mostly family–based topics. Step by step, new ideas and thoughts began flowing and flooding into my posts.
Do you know what happened next?
In October 2018, I joined a part-time MA program. Can you believe that without my WordPress blog, I probably wouldn’t have been able to enroll? Why? Because in my application, I needed to attach some of my published work. I would have never believed that my WordPress posts could count as published work, but they did. And two years later, I was awarded my MA degree in Creative Writing. Honestly, I had no idea that one thing would lead me to the other—God’s plan, right?
From 2017 onwards, I felt as if I had discovered a secret garden— one filled with trees, flowers, and beautiful birds. And it wasn’t any far—just around the corner, inside my own mind. The garden wasn’t only colourful but serene, with no mayhem, no pressure, and no fixed times. Just me, my thoughts, and my writing.
It wasn’t until 2020 that I decided to pause my visits to my secret garden–not completely, but mainly my blog.The reason was nothing more than the pandemic, with all its chaos affecting everyone. Still, I can’t believe that pause lasted for four years. I haven’t forgotten about my blog, nor have I stopped writing. On the contrary, I wrote and read more than ever before. That’s why I don’t regret my decision back then, becuase I had learned to appreciate every day of my life with both its good and bad moments.
In February 2024, I revisited my WordPress blog with fresh excitement. DailyPrompt was the first thing I spotted, and it felt like a warm welcome back. Since then, I’ve restarted my blogging journey.
I believe my writing style hasn’t changed much, nor has my voice, but my thoughts have. Isn’t that expected? Eight years are not like eight days.
There’s a quote that says: “You won’t find the same person twice, not even in the same person.” This doesn’t necessarily imply to find an entirely different or bad person instead. The idea suggests that change is natural, and a healthy experience that simply needs to be sought out and nurtured.
Do I need to answer the first question in my post, or you, as my assessor, already gets the answer?
With hope and peace,
Nahla
Just look at how people follow a special player, or jump on stage to hug that famous singer, or run after a remarkable actor to take a selfie. And look at those who bow, kneel, and even kiss the ground that this leader or that walks on. This idolization has been the same throughout the ages, it’s obviously disgusting these days because of the social media madness.
Have you ever thought how those idols throughout the ages take but, never give? They don’t know you, won’t care about you. Whether in the form af a celebrity, a leader, or a political party, they want you, as a number, as a voice. They stand high and long, here and there, just like statues. Their strength and durability depend on the expertise of their craftsmenship. But, they never live becuase statues are soulless, vague, and empty. And, one day, they would be dumped, forgotten, and replaced by other statues.
I remember one day while watching a documentary about a famous Egyptian singer from the seventies, there were women throwing themselves out of the top windows of high buildings. Were they really happy following him into the grave? I wondered, thinking how those people will one day answer to God for commiting suicide. This is completely blind idolization, which I believe is so destructive, so humiliated, so pathetic.
On another occasion, when I first came to live in the UK, I met different people. My first friend and neighbour was following the Shia Mathhab. By the way, we didn’t introduce ourselves as Shia and Sunni. These differences just seemed to be obvious. Well, as my friend and I used to visit each other quite a lot, I noticed that there are certain things that she was celebrating and practising which I wasn’t. I asked her about that and she simply replied, ‘I swear I don’t care about this Imama or that, I just do what my mother does.’ We burst out laughing. How simple and funny our life would be, if we don’t idolize our differences!
Children, of course, might idolize their parents, or students idolise their noble mentors but that’s out of pure love and ultimate reverence, because they deserve it. These people in our lives are the ones who really care and love us.They can not be replaced, can not purchased.
By the way I have just finished The Stationary Shop Of Tehran. It’s a good book, I enjoyed it, enjoyed more reading about Persian Culture and traditions which are a bit different from my Arabic ones. Herewith is my book review, hope you will like it.
The Stationary Shop of Tehran
With all the best wishes,
Nahla
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It’s almost the end of the year, and I am running our of time to finish the 50 books I had planned to read this year. Actually it’s not that bad, I read 47 books so far. By the way it’s thanks to my WordPress friend Arlene for starting this experience in the first place. I can’t remember exactly when I did, but I was inspired by her reading challenge experience.
Before the coffee gets Cold, is the most recent book I have finished, and here’s my book review for it.
https://nh825.wordpress.com/2024/12/05/before-the-coffee-gets-cold/
Please have a look. Hope you’ll like both the book and my review.
With all the best wishes,
Nahla
If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
It’s not that I would post more on WordPress. I am satisfied if I manage to share one post a day, as my hands are full with other priorities and chores.
But, if I have extra free time I would like to check and read more posts on WordPress, especially from you, my visitors and subscribers. It’s not mainly because you are reading mine, but also because I might get some inspiration from your posts or learn something new. It’s such a wonderful experience, as though you’re meeting different people and hearing their voices from all around the world. Though, in actual life, our paths might never cross.
I really appreciate your visits, likes, and comments, and I wish I could have some extra time to read more of your posts.
With all the best wishes,
Nahla
If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
Something named after me? The first thought was a mosque. But I soon changed my mind.
But why should mosques bear the people’s names? I asked myself. As a Muslim I believe that we should not boast our good deeds. Your left hand should never see what’s your right one is giving. Therefore, how can one justify writing their names on a mosque? It’s none of your property. Our money is mainly a means to construct the place of worship. Besides, the Almighty knows your name, your intention, and your offering. So why name a mosque after me.
I searched my mind and urged each of its cell to find something. I thought and thought until the answer came to me.
It’s a title of a chapter in a book about the lives of Muslim women in a foreign country. Why just a chapter and not the entire book? Because it’s neither an autobiography nor a memoire which would typically be named after a specific person. Besides, that wouldn’t be my aim. A chapter bearing my name would preserve both my experience and my existence within a colourful picture and a broader narrative.
With all the best wishes,
Nahla
What activities do you lose yourself in?
Whatever the thing you like, you will lose yourself in it. A book, a song, a recipe, a sport, a picture, a movie, …. . You’re losing youself because that thing makes you feel better, makes you happy, and, in some cases, makes you be yourself.
Do you know that some people lose themselves in talking. Oh, yes, some have the ability to talk nonstop. They lose themselves and others, and even if you interrupt, they don’t intentinally ignore you but just could not hear other voices.
But, that question also reminds me of my daughter a year or two ago when she found it hard to fell asleep. My advice was to think of pleasant thoughts. Lose yourself in reverie, I told her. Reverie is like a pause that can block unpleasant things and open a winow for pleasant ones, and that’s all free and for just a few seconds.
With all the best wishes,
Nahla
Pure and Simple 