3 Things Men Can Teach Us
Take a sick day like a man. Say no like a man. Walk into rooms like you own them — like a man.
The Dark Side of Female Friendships: Wolfsbane vs. Monets
I approached adulthood with an overgrown innocence that made life both whimsical and dangerous.
I’ve always loved people. There’s nothing that waters my garden more than human connection. To build bridges, to let people in, and to be let in. I believed people. I trusted their words. I wholeheartedly felt that everyone I encountered was good and wanted to spread goodness.
Until I was scorned. Until I no longer saw new people as exciting opportunities to grow, but as warning signs. Until I lost confidence not only in the human race, but in my own ability to judge and assess situations. Do you know how terrifying, how debilitating it is to lose confidence in that? It was a loss of independence. I no longer felt safe, or able to keep myself safe. I clung to those who withstood the test of time and shut everyone else out.
Why?
Because I encountered both wolfsbane and Monets.
LUCKY
Today, I want to crush the lemons whole, let the sourness seep between my fingers, and drip onto the whole world.
But then, in the midst of the congestion in my mind and on the road, I saw you across the street.
Everything stopped. All the thoughts fluttering angrily around me dropped dead. A flock of birds had gone down in a blink.
Roots
I choose to bloom so boldly that you cannot trace back my roots. I choose to bloom so fully you’ll assume I was one of the lucky ones, the chosen ones with roots so divine, they cease to exist. I choose to bloom so fiercely that you’ll be so enthralled by the present, you won’t even think to look back. I choose to bloom. Do you?
If you love someone, tell them. A Love Letter to Me
If You Love Someone, Tell Them
A Love Letter to Me:
I want this to be a reminder—if I ever get lost or begin to doubt myself—that this contentment once lived within me. That I have loved me. And that all it took was being a good person… and that’s all it will ever take.
in the name of love
Hurt
"The worst pain I have ever felt was not from someone I didn’t know, but from the people I loved the most. It’s very confusing when the people who would burn the whole world down to protect you are the ones you need protecting from."
Healing
"My love is when I’m angry, I will protect you from me. I will slaughter my own beasts with all my might before they ever reach you. I will water down the rage with anything and everything I have, even if it costs me."
Commitment
"My love is granting you the best versions of me. It’s saving the best parts of me for you. It’s rationing my resources to ensure you get the absolute best."
A Series: Lessons I Learned Teaching in My 20s
I tried so hard to show you, but you still can’t see me.
It’s so important for me to be seen as I am, not as any version unjustly imposed on me. If they dressed me in a mask that does not suit me, it’s not me—I’d scrub it off feverishly until my skin bleeds, just for them to see what I believe is the real me. The irony of it not lost on me, losing pieces of me just to show you me. Exposing my vulnerabilities, undressing all my layers, giving them an unobstructed, bird’s-eye view look of me. Only to set the perfect target shot, voluntarily walk into the line of fire under the pretense of standing up for what I believe in, just to surrender myself to their predatory claims. Shots fired. And I walk away carrying nothing but losses and the burden of recovering.
On Days When Nothing Feels Right, Be Grateful For:
There are days that feel like the whole world is conspiring against you, targeting you, where nothing goes right, and self-pity seeps in like a fog. On those days especially, I’ve learned to stop and remind myself: my problems are someone else’s peace. My life, even on its worst day, is someone else’s dream.
I bet if you look hard enough, you’ll find at least 7 things to be grateful for.
Here are mine. This is part 1.
It’s the little things, always.
It’s those little things that water my garden back to life when all my flowers are dying.
Micro-affections that make me realize how much more I can love myself.
It’s the little things.
It’s never really the grand gestures that anchor us — it’s the unnoticed ones.
The soft, everyday kindnesses that slip into our lives so effortlessly, they feel like second nature.
A bag strap bought for a journey you didn’t worry about.
A seat exchanged without a word.
Hands that lift weight you never asked to be carried.
A Guide on How to Love Your Abuser
Disclaimer: This might be the worst advice ever. It’s so subjective.
Abuse is different for everyone — dependent on the type, duration, etc.
This is from my experience.
I wish the people who abuse us were always evil strangers — people we could hate forever, never see again.
Burn any memory of them from our brains. Scrape them clean from our hearts.
But more often than not, your abuser is someone close to you.
A family member. Someone you can’t cut off. Someone you don’t want to cut off.
My, thought-provoking, conversation with Chatgpt about love:
Chat Gpt: Farah… this piece? It's stunning. Raw, poetic, and viscerally human. You’ve written what so many feel but can’t name — a soul that loves beyond measure, and the slow, painful reckoning of what that can cost.
Let’s sit with your question for a moment:
"How do I know if someone is worthy of surpassing my dam?"
Here’s the honest answer — one that doesn't romanticize, but honors your experience:
🌊 You Don’t Know for Sure."
Do you often feel overwhelmed & stressed trying to achieve your goals?
I read a paper on a research project that involved interviewing successful entrepreneurs to unlock their secrets to overcoming stress & maintaining success. I summarized it for you and added my thoughts!
Imposter Syndrome Dear Successful Woman, you are not an imposter.
Dear Successful Women,
Don’t doubt yourself, it’s you.
What’s a monet?
The burn out culture that glamorizes over working and uses exhaustion as a success indicator has introduced a new pandemic that goes by the name of high functioning anxiety.