*gasp* A poem? On WaxesPoetic? "But Neiha," I hear you say, "I thought you said you wouldn't be-" Yes. I know. But exceptions prove the rule, and I was very sweetly asked to share this poem somewhere on social media more than once today, and - most importantly - it's a poem about Laylat-ul-Qadr, my … Continue reading Ghazal for Laylat-Ul-Qadr
Category: Personal
Grief
One of my best and oldest friends died two days after I got engaged. I had known her for 12 years, since I was about 13 and she was 14. We met the way a lot of people increasingly meet now - online, in silly circumstances that don't require recounting now that I'm in my … Continue reading Grief
On being mentored
Sometime in my last semester of college, I found myself crying on my therapist's couch. Okay, this is vague - I spent a lot of my last semester of college crying on my therapist's couch. In retrospect, I was genuinely in the throes of an existential crisis, but a major perk of being incredibly high-functioning … Continue reading On being mentored
Revisiting rejections
Many, many years ago, when I was far more active on this blog than I am today, I used to write music reviews, book reviews, day-to-day updates, anything that I wanted to just get down and out there. A part of me misses the lack of self-consciousness with which I treated my own writing. The … Continue reading Revisiting rejections
Short Note: Isolation Abroad
I have always been hyper-aware of my ambition, to the point that I am constantly appraising myself vis a vis others' accomplishments. I wish I could say with confidence that it is benign appreciation, and a desire to better myself. I've recently started accepting it for what COULD be: envy, a truly exhausting emotion to … Continue reading Short Note: Isolation Abroad
Short note: Eid blues and how to fix them
I was not excited for this Eid. For all that I was grateful to have relatives nearby in the Netherlands, I really felt the absence of all that was familiar to me. My first Eid in Boston had its bitterness undercut with new friends, an Islamic community to go to the Masjid with, and options … Continue reading Short note: Eid blues and how to fix them
Hair, or how this blog post turned out to be longer than I expected. Like my hair.
UPDATE: A few weeks after this post, I did, in fact, get ten inches shorn off my hair and donated to a good cause. I cried a significant amount of tears and went through a brief, frantic existential crisis, but it's been a few months and my hair is steadily growing back. One of my … Continue reading Hair, or how this blog post turned out to be longer than I expected. Like my hair.
The day of and those after
The thing about bombings and terrorist attacks is that, after a little while, it’s too easy to divorce an atrocity from the monotony of the day. The horror sits heavy on your skin like a too-thick cocoa-butter moisturizer, and it’s hard to let it sink in. But, with enough time and distraction, you get used … Continue reading The day of and those after
On discipline, or how I’m learning to stop self-flagellating
I started bullet journaling over winter break. It has been one of the better decisions I have made in the past few years, and I've seen the direct results of embarking on this organizational journey in my day-to-day life. I'm less anxious, more organized, I remember both short-term and long-term goals; the act of putting … Continue reading On discipline, or how I’m learning to stop self-flagellating
Dormant anger in the postmodern era and a music review
There are days - more realistically, nights - where I'm so overcome by my own sudden, built-up anger that I don't know what to do with myself. It'll come entirely out of left-field, usually while I'm working, maybe triggered by a lyric in a song or something I read. Right now I'm reading about the … Continue reading Dormant anger in the postmodern era and a music review
