asma halai's blog
my online journal
recent posts
book recommendations? share ’em with me @ aasmaahalai@gmail.com.
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“Asma, you don’t need to air out your business online. What will someone think if they read this? This is so unnecessary, and you should keep to yourself.” Shame. That’s where it’s coming from. Those thoughts were coming from a place deep within me that was ashamed. Fearful of what others will think of me…
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Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. A Fresh London Fog. Skating. Saigon Lotus’s Pho Dac Biet. Pink (as always). Soup, any and all. When life gives you tangerines.
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I just heard this and I need to share it with you guys before I sleep. “People will give you all sorts of advice, literally all of it is contradictory. Be grateful but also dream big. You don’t have time but also you can’t rush something good. Don’t give up but also let go of…
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I love cooking. It’s one of my favourite things to do ever. I love trying new foods and making new recipes and just the whole shebang. Today I made Chinese Steamed Eggs. I saw a recipe on Pinterest and ran straight downstairs to start whipping them up. The recipe is simple: eggs, vinegar, water, soy…
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Some descriptors to get us started today. Kun Faya Kun (كن فيكون) is a powerful Arabic Quranic phrase meaning “Be, and it is,” signifying God’s effortless command and creation Tawakkul (Arabic: تَوَكُّل) is the Islamic concept of placing complete trust and reliance in Allah for everything. Wow, I’m writing a lot these days, and I’m liking it. Feels like I’m…
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Esteemed readers! Hi, I was sitting in my room after watching the movie “People You Meet on Vacation,” and it led me down a little reminiscing rabbit hole. I took the past semester off from school and travelled. I started my sabbatical on an impromptu whirlwind trip to New York City. Why NYC? Honestly, I…
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How are we? What’s going on!!! Surprise, surprise, it’s 2:42 am, and here I am writing away. I’ll be honest, it’s a little out of character for me because I’ve been really good the past couple of weeks, with a strict bedtime that I’m adhering to and waking up early. It’s been feeling really good,…
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How to stay sane in an age of division – Elif Shafak
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what is a friend? category 1 i think friendship can be many things but i have learned thus far in my life that the stepping stone for any relationship is respect. Seneca divides friendship into three categories the first category, a friendship of mutual transaction. this is a relationship where there is a give and…
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September 12, 2025 what does it mean to be domesticated? do·mes·ti·cated /dəˈmestəˌkādəd/ adjective (of an animal) tame and kept as a pet or on a farm. “domesticated dogs” (of a plant) cultivated for food; naturalized. “domesticated crops” often humorous fond of home life and housework. “he is thoroughly domesticated” that right there is what google…
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March 31, 2025 oddly enough, I get the weirdest burst of uncontrollable motivation randomly in the late hours of the night when it’s just me alone with my thoughts and here i am on my laptop writing. the past couple of weeks have been riddled with insecurity for me. I’ve been having an increasingly difficult…
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March 15, 2025 i recently had a striking conversation about mass suicide by women during war. “Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu Rajput practice of mass self-immolation by women and girls in the Indian subcontinent to avoid capture, enslavement, and rape when facing certain defeat during a war” (wikipedia). The above quotation…
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February 27, 2025 “Also you are a fool not to have an open mind, not to be eager to enjoy something you might enjoy but don’t know how to. But it is not the artist’s place to ask you to learn, or to defend his particular works of art, or to insist on your reading…
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February 05, 2025 right now, as I am typing this, I am sharing a little love story with “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver. on the train, I sit, and I share little secrets with “Walkin’ After Midnight” by Madeleine Peyroux. through low days with no motivation, Tracy Chapman guides me through my sorrows and shows me the beauty of what…
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January 23, 2025 to write is to feel. to write is to think. to write is to be. writing has brought me a serenity in which i often get lost in. i lose myself in the feeling of calm. i write to understand my own mind and i use writing for all it can give…
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although it’s quite difficult to put into words how hypersensitivity works, as it’s different for each person, i feel as though a unanimous understanding of its placement is an integral part of feeling the experience as well as understanding it. i feel as though the general understanding of hypersensitivity is, a highly articulate and deeply…
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January 23, 2025 what is anger to me. sometimes i think of anger like money. it’s immense and widespread stature can cause so much harm, but it can be spent away with the slightest new variable. as humans, we are naturally conditioned to experience a multitude of emotions, all varying in intensity. anger takes the…
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hey guys, im going to spam all my previous blogs here because i am switching platforms! i used to use blogger but switching to wordpress now.
asma halai's blog 