Sana Shahid

I am equally in love with and terrified of the ocean. I can be bribed with chocolate. I bask in culture. I like to laugh a lot. My heart belongs to philanthropy and travel. I am a patient optimist. I am a maverick, I am strong.

[wordsnquotes]

vorfreude

(noun) A German untranslatable word, vorfreude is defined as the intense euphoric sensation you experience from thinking about future plans and daydreams. This beautiful feeling is a natural reaction the human mind manifests from expectations of future pleasures and joyful anticipations, such as planning a trip, going on a date, and many other fulfilling, life-changing events.  (via wordsnquotes)

[beejars]

[sgeoffa]

[thegoodvybe]

[ana-elisabeta]

[arrowfolk]

[homesteadseattle]

[aleworldaddict]

[sunnyhourss]

Gemma Ward and Drew Keilt by Mario Sorrenti for Calvin Klein Obsession Night Fragrance (2005)

[sunnyhourss]

sunny side up?

My parents left behind their homes

their comfort

their culture

Because they believed in the American Dream

They believed in Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness

They believed the perfectly packaged propaganda that was peddled to them

Nobody told them about the rot that festered under the white picket fence

the bigotry served with their Sunday brunch

the Muslim Ban that would be slid under the door with the morning newspaper

Yet every morning they pray

They pray

They pray

‘thank you, Allah for I am not

Irani

Libyan

Sudanese

Yemeni

Iraqi

Syrian

or Black

thank you, Allah, for we are still Yours’

Every morning, they repair their fence

make their own eggs and

relocate their belief in their

Nike - wearing - Kanye - blasting kids as we pummel through the door

knocking over the vitriol that sat in the potted plant

They carefully tuck away their Buyer’s Remorse in the attic upstairs

to make it easier for them, every day, to forgive

to forgive,

but never forget

[sunnyhourss]

It's been one week since the Women's Convention and the only word that can describe that weekend is: transformative. Here's what I came back with:

1. There is nothing more beautiful than a diverse, intersectional group of determined women. We are only powerful together.

2. It's okay to cry. It's better to hug.

3. Feminism cannot exclude men. I need my brother in this with me, I need him to respect women and know what consent means. I need him to know it's okay to cry and that he too, can be anything that he wants. I need him to use his privilege to be my voice. 

4. America  cannot be a country where women who look like Linda Sarsour or Tamika D. Mallory should feel compelled to walk around their own convention with security guards.

5. Unity is not uniformity. I don't have to look like you to care about you, protect you or stand up for you. 

6. Black women are formidable. And Queen Maxine Waters is a force to be reckoned with. But also give Angela Rye, Symone Sanders, Brittany Packnett and Senator Nina Turner a listen. 

7. Women need to be at the table. A record number of women have committed to running for office in 2018 - we need to keep this momentum going because we cannot keep letting old, white men pass policies which impact our lives. Run for local office, for your school board or city council. Representation matters.

8. Stay perpetually outraged. Stay perpetually engaged.

9. But don't burn yourself out. We need 100% of you so indulge in some self - care. Treat yourself to that massage, get that dinner with your friend that you've been putting off, surround yourself with love.

Here's to all the dynamic women I met at the Women's Convention. May we continue to shake this world.

[lushlity]

[thelovejournals]

I am too full of life to be half-loved.

Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada (via thelovejournals)

[prettystuff]

[sunnyhourss]

My Corner in the Sky

You have the word Immigrant tattooed on your atrium Reminding you that you belong not to any one place That you’re not wrong for having a corner in the sky that you keep wanting to chase

It’s yours, darling

You have Mughal blood coursing through your veins You have been enveloped in the silks of Banaras and quote the gardens of Ghalib You speak not to move mountains, but to uncoil, unravel chains The chains which they keep putting around your wrists like jewelry You, You have left shards of yourself across the world So when the Englishman picks up the moist, mustard sand in Thailand And lets it sift through his colonial fingers, it is traces of you he will take back to his promised land You have left bouquets of questions and desires in every room you have left Beating, thumping chests You are skin and bones and sweat You have ambition and compassion swimming in your pores So when they tell you are too much girl too much muslim too much immigrant You tell them, watch me Watch Me soar

[stay-yourself-0]

[browngirlpositivity]

For my Muslim girls

This world has never been safe for brown bodies. In the last 16 years, it has become increasingly unsafe for Muslim bodies, especially those considered “foreign” when existing/interacting within in a US-centric context. An entire generation, including myself, has grown up in a world where our Muslim identities have been demonized. 

On a global scale, our nationalities and our Muslimness mark us as “other” and undesirable. Most of us experience great fear and uncertainty when applying for visas, traveling anywhere, or thinking about the security of ourselves and our loved ones. This fear comes from the absolute lack of accountability for the actions that could be taken against us, by Imperialist powers generally, but American more specifically. 

The recent executive order signed by Trump just felt like another blow in this never ending mindf***. Man, it hurts. It makes me feel scared. Right now, thinking about what the future might hold, is hard. This is the kind of stuff that makes a person’s heart harden. 

I don’t know what to do.

I’ve been feeling really weird and shitty for the past week. Partly it’s because the weather has been gloomy and that always takes a toll on my mood, but maybe part of it has been the increasingly negative vibes that have infiltrated this Earth, and my consciousness. I know this isn’t the only thing, maybe not even the worst thing that’s happening right now, but it makes you feel heavy nevertheless. 

I can’t even write about all the people that I am hurting for. It’s too much. We all have people who are affected by this: family, friends, comrades, just other humans, man. Other complex, fragile, vulnerable, honest, scared, soft, people. Fuck.

So what can we do? I know that no one can ever take my will or my self esteem away from me. All I can do is live my life as unapologetically as I can. As truthfully, as bravely (as safely as possible), and with as much dignity as I can. And so can you. 

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Even if all the power in the world seems to be against you, there is more power in holding true to your own values. Do not ever believe the dehumanizing things they say about you or anyone else. 

Hold yourself, your family, and your friends super close. Seriously, hold them. Nurture yourself and your loved ones. Pour out all the empathy and feeling and positivity that you can into creating the most beautiful and meaningful life possible for yourself and your inner circle, because that’s all that you have control over.

Continue to stand strong, with courage, and know that there is so much more love and goodness in this universe that is here and waiting for you.

[skateybears]

all are welcome