Goodbye January, hello February.
How are we all feeling? Feral? Silly? Stressed? Tired? Weird?
In January, I explored new places in the UAE including Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. Some of my highlights from these trips include:
I finally visited House of Wisdom - I really wish I lived closer to Sharjah so I could visit every week.
Visiting Le Louvre in Abu Dhabi
Meeting an owl in Ras Al Khaimah (they are so soft and cute) and waking up at 7am to animals roaming the desert
I’ll be kicking off February with an impromptu trip to Sri Lanka, which has been on my mind for a very long time. I will spending a few days in Ahangama, a little coastal town in the South of Sri Lanka (more on this soon!). I plan to turn on DND, absorb Vitamin D, devour delicious fruit, get through my TBR list, listen to podcasts, nap on the beach and frolic in the ocean.
I’m hoping this will be the start of many more adventures (near and far) this year.
P.S Whilst I’m soaking up Sri Lanka’s sunshine, a guest letter will be landing in your inbox next Saturday ✌️
Are we still in ‘New Year, New Me’ territory?
I’ve never really been one to plan out my life, and to be honest, the thought of writing down my 1-year goals, 5-year goals and 10-year goals is terrifying. It feels like there is too much pressure for everything to go to plan. Typically if I write something down on a list, I won’t be satisfied until it’s ticked off. So the thought of committing to 5-year goals and there being a chance I won’t achieve them, doesn’t sit well with me. Plus - why do we need to inflict any more pressure on ourselves?
What’s interesting though is that I love a to-do list. Thinking about it now, perhaps I am goal-orientated, but I just I prefer focusing on short-term personal goals. I usually have a daily, weekly and ‘life to-do list’ (basically a big list of things that don’t have a home on my daily or weekly list). These lists tend to feel more realistic and achievable, unlike a 5-year plan (which let’s be real, doesn’t always go to plan).
However, the other day, I was scrolling Instagram and saw that Moya (who I love) posted two pages from her journal. A page for January Reflections and another page for February Intentions. Under February Intentions, she listed New Things to Try as a prompt, which I loved the sound of. I love that it’s open to interpretation and is something everyone can incorporate into their life (regardless of how busy they are). For example, this could be as simple as a recipe you’ve been wanting to try for ages, a class you want to try or something new you’d like to learn about. To me, this sounds like a rewarding (and fun) way of discovering new things, without the pressure of committing to a long-term goal.
Thoughts from my Notes App
Instead of sharing a note this week, I’m leaving you with a few things to think about this weekend:
List 2-4 things that brought you joy in the past week
List 3-4 ways you can practice being more self-compassionate
What’s your thoughts on Toxic Positivity?
What are you making space for next week?
List 1-4 new things you want to try in February
ICYMI
Why all your friends are sending you voice notes (Vox)
“Voice messages give us some of the emotional depth and nuance that’s missing from bite-size texts that compress our feelings.”
You either love voice notes or hate them. Like everything, it really depends on my mood.
Using FaceTime/WhatsApp for calls is banned in Dubai, which is incredibly annoying for my long-distance friends. Since I’m not easily contactable via calls, we typically stay in touch by sending each other life updates via voice note (or in my case, I just tend to brain dump - sorry friends). It definitely feels more intimate, and I always love being able to listen to their voice for 10-minutes whilst I go about my day.
Long-distance friends: please send me more voice notes.
On Life and Death: Marina Abramović and Hans Ulrich Obrist in Conversation (AnOther)
“We should always look at the ideas that are in the rubbish, because they’re the ones we’re afraid of, they’re the ones we don’t have the guts to make”
Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović speaks with friend, curator and critic, Hans Ulrich Obrist about her teaching methods, technology and death.
I particularly enjoyed the part (see above) when Marina talks about the importance of experimenting and not being afraid of making mistakes.
A Love Letter on glossy black eggplants, diasporic longing, and protecting the lands we come from (Azeema)
“As a child of diaspora, I know what it’s like to appreciate a place only once it is no longer there for you to labor over and love. And I know what it’s like to feel a burning longing for the sweet taste of just one more swollen gooseberry or sour green lime from my homeland.”
Egyptian-American writer Jana Amin reflects on what it means to be a child of diaspora.
What to watch this week
Cat ASMR
Without a doubt, this is the best sound in the world. I live with two cats, but if you don’t, please watch this video.
Mexico City’s Art Scene
Mexico has been on my TVL (To Visit List) for a while. Mexico City in particular is definitely high up on the list. Tacos? tick. Art? tick. Brutalist architecture? tick. Queer scene? tick. Mezcal? tick.
Living in rural Japan
I saw something via Instagram about how people have started buying cheap, abandoned homes (akiya) in Japan to live their dream life.
This Canadian couple on YouTube have been documenting their journey since 2021.
Things you should have on your radar
As someone with an overactive brain and too many interests, I tend to consume a lot of content across URL spaces. As a result, my digital life is a chaotic mess. To help organise my digital life, I've been trying to find an app which can archive everything I'm consuming, but unfortunately I haven't found one yet (if you have any recommendations, please let me know).
To add to my never-ending list of apps, I’ve just started using Melon, which they like to call ‘your second brain’. Melon helps you: store insights from various sources in organised ‘collections’, recall your learnings, connect the dots and helps you digest and learn from your findings.
I think I’m going to love it - I’ll keep you posted.
P. S I also recommend Notion for organising your entire life and Matter for archiving articles.
thepleasurelists
This one is a recent discovery. They exclusively share “pleasure lists” - a list of things that bring you joy. These lists act as a kind reminder of the little things that make us feel good. If you have one (or create one after seeing this) I’d love to see it.
@sibatable
I’m a big fan of filling my FYP with wholesome, super niche content.
I also have so many questions… how do they come up with these ideas? what inspired them to start? how do they have time? what’s their full time job? why is this so fun to look at? how long does this take them?
@whereiwouldliketoread
This was a suggestion from a friend (thank you Jetaime, you know me too well). I feel SO cosy just scrolling through their feed. It just makes you want to curl up with a book.
Side note: Are reading retreats a thing? If not, they should be and I would 100% sign up.
Girlfriends - Emily Zhou
“Intimate and perceptive…comes to life in the details that fill early adulthood for a cast of memorable young queer and trans characters — escape-artist cats, house parties that are equal parts awkward and alluring, and dead-end jobs abided until real life begins.” - San Francisco Chronicle
Another one from my TBR list.
Such Brave Girls
“Such Brave Girls is a family sitcom about three damaged narcissists who are desperate for love. It’s three characters trying to navigate the world armed with nothing but poor judgement skills, and self-esteem that's exclusively tied to people that couldn't care less about them.”
I haven’t finished this one yet, but this will make you cringe, wince, cry and laugh.
SORT OF
SORT OF follows Sabi Mehboob (played by Bilal Baig) who is exhausted with changing themselves for the comfort of others. If 20-minute episodes are your thing, this one is for you.
FYI, you can read last week’s guest newsletter here.
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