Didn’t listen to the audio yet- still in bed with the baby. But I love the rebrand. Everything you said here resonates with me because I’ve done the same in this Black body. I’ve used certain words at school, and others with the comfort of my friends. I’ve taken up more space in places I feel comfortable, and less because anymore than that I might step on a stereotype. I love your work because we live two different lives, but it feels so similar. I’m glad I’ve found your work, and glad I can call you friend. Thank you for showing up, fully. The more I write, the more I’m declaring I belong here.
I love this comment and what Neha said above! It’s very inspiring to me, someone who feels I show up fully and authentically, yet I’m not sure that’s actually totally reflected in my Substack’s title or some of the writing I’ve done here 🤦🏻♀️
Irina, don't worry about forcing it if it hasn't happened yet. I've been here for 7 months and I had to feel my way to it. Writing, by its very nature, has to be about something, which means that at other times it's not about the other thing! We prune and we curate, to communicate as clearly as possible. If you want to show up more authentically, it will happen in fits and starts. The first time I hit "publish" on a piece that couldn't just blend in, it was nerve wracking. I'm glad I did, though. People responded so much more to those pieces than to the ones where I was still myself, but a self that was trying to blend in.
Marc, I totally get what you're saying about how we show up depending on the environment, and how much thinking goes into how we show up.
" we live two different lives, but it feels so similar" - amen to that. I feel exactly the same way! And I think this is what I was looking for when I was trying to find my fellow BIPOC people a few months ago on here.
So glad I read your piece about being deathly tired with the babe and then went from there. And so glad to have you as a friend.
I love how you are stepping into and embracing all of you and showing up as such on Sunstack. Love the new name of your newsletter. Although I haven't commented much on those essays you cited, I very much enjoyed reading them and learning about what reality looks like for a modern Muslim woman who grew up in Canada. I resonate 100% with that passage about third culture kids 💯🙌❤
Thank you so much, Louisa! I really appreciate you being here, and I'm noticing that a lot of the response is to that experience of life as a third culture kid. We go through something very unique, that can only be understood by other third culture kids.
Yes, indeed! I rejoice when our voices are heard and even more when others become curious of our unique experiences. You're doing us third culture kids a great service by inviting such curiosity and open dialogues.
Mashallah I especially love what you said about third culture kids and code switching. I love everything I read from your posts so far (your Substack is among my favorites) and I think the rebrand is timely. I have recently been learning how at times we may not discover what we truly want to write about until we embark in the process of writing itself.
Lots to process from your post here and I may potentially feature one of your quotes in my first Substack in a future post
Reema, I'm so glad it resonated with you. And thank you for the kind words - I'm blushing!
I absolutely agree with your point about needing to start the writing to figure out what we want to say. If you'd asked me last June what my newsletter was about, I would have said "whatever I want to write about that week".
Think big, start small. But mostly, just start. 🖤🖤🖤🖤
Love this, Noha. It's important for us to be able to stand firm and brave in our full selves. Show yourself - anyone that leaves wasn't supposed to be here anyway. On the other hand, those who need to hear from you will arrive much easier thanks to all the light radiating from your truth.
You're absolutely right! This am I got one unsubscribe within minutes of the page going live. I got a bit nervous, I will admit, but that was it so far. Only one person who was turned off by the title change. Maybe others will come, but I also think that those who want to be here to hear from me, a Muslim woman, can find me me now.
Neha: I love, love, love your new title! Honestly, if I wasn’t already a subscriber, this change would have been an instant subscribe for me. It really captures your voice and POV, and I think that’s so important for us writers who are often othered for our identities. And I am *always* here for authenticity and vulnerability in our writing—and using our own voices in an unapologetic way.
But... for myself, the rebranding question is something that’s been on my mind lately and I haven’t yet found an answer. The truth is I’m struggling to do this for myself! I’m probably what you’d call an invisible minority and 3x marginalized (is that a thing? Yay and boo?) due to being a light-skinned/white-presenting Latina, bisexual in a heterosexual marriage, and neurodivergent (diagnosed with ADHD 2.5yrs ago). I love the title of my Substack and I know it’s very memorable/catchy so I love getting subscribers who probably found me randomly thru that alone... but I often find myself wondering if I should change the name and lean more into my different identities in the title.
In a way, because I’m light-skinned, heterosexual-appearing, and have an invisible disability, I live a fairly privileged life. So often what I write about doesn’t feel like it has anything in particular to do with my different identities—except that, as you said, everything I do and write is still from the body and mind of a bisexual Latina mom with ADHD even if those particular topics don’t come up in a particular post. Ahhh so much on my mind!
HUGE Kudos to you for taking this leap!!! I’m so excited to see what’s next, and read some of your back catalog.
Irina, I can so resonate with your phrase, "othered for our identities." The struggle is real. I can understand the questions you have surrounding the name of your newsletter. Heck, I struggled with my "online persona" for over a decade, each time choosing one big passion and blowing it up to create a clout (or cloud?! lol!) but in the end I decided to drop the personas and be myself and write about the inner issues that I have struggled with the most. I think for each of us, there's an inner knowing of when it's a safe time to reveal the deeply vulnerable parts of us through our writing and online presence. When that time comes, the name of our online presence will come up from the inside.
I love the rebrand - I am all for allowing the parts of us society has decided to name as undesirable their time in the sun. I’ve code switched, shrunken and expanded myself in certain rooms and overall negotiated which parts of myself I want to share with the world. Thanks for the transparency in your writing it’s very freeing. I know I am worthy in all forms so I’ve stopped the negotiations of the past and own who I am unapologetically.
I loved reading this and visiting you here, Noah. It made me think about how even though I feel that my most “true” self comes out when I write, my writing voice often gets tucked away when I’m out in the world with certain people/groups/settings. Like I can only trust this side of me with certain audiences. I never really explored this in depth and I may even decide to write about it.
I’m glad you are bringing all of you here. I look forward to reading more. And learning more.
And that photo taken in the mosque (!!) Wow. What a visual beauty!
Thanks Allison, and thanks for letting me know about the auto-correct. Being called Noah is the bane of my existence lol. I still get constant auto-corrects on my own devices so I'm not surprised it did that to you!
Congratulations on taking this step! I love your new name and I love your voice. You bring consciousness and clarity to everything you write, and being a Muslim woman is who you are. I think you’ll find there are many of us who want to know more about your culture and who want to get to know you better, too.
Keep at it, Noha. I can’t wait to follow along. ❤️
I am saddened (perhaps, I shouldn't be) by your comment, possibly through misunderstanding, that your observations, writings, wouldn't come across validly acceptable by participants, here at Substack (or anywhere else, for that matter). Please do not feel discouraged. Do not feel fear, apprehension, about what you have to say here.
I am not going to mention about the ancient, Mesopotamian, Persian treasures in Literature, incredible poetry, of Khalil Gibran, Omar Khayyam, the Sufi Poets, the Astronomy - you please pardon my layman's approach (not being an academic, oh, far from) to "explain", what I want to say...these are few examples of what I have known, as foundational layers of knowledge upon which Humanity has thrived. All of this is fuel for Human Ingenuity to be able to reach, reach out into the Cosmos.
James Webb Space Telescope "happened" from layers of knowledge from sages, thinkers, our ancestors - Arab Muslim and all the others. Humans everywhere contributed to the knowledge we have in our lifetime. Voyagers 1 & 2 represent humanity's collective knowledge & its application.
You have a lot to share, (as a hijabi mamma or whoever) - in your immediacy, as well as out with the world. I look forward to your gift.
On & off, I've been reading/rereading, some stunning poetry by an exquisite poet, Fariha Róisín, whose work - how to cure a ghost - resides by my bedside, together with one of my favourites, Rebecca Elson’s "Responsibility to Awe".
Mahesh, I really appreciate your thoughtful comment. I don't think you misunderstood. Unfortunately, it's not that the people here aren't lovely. It's that I have faced anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia through out my life and so, even though I am very aware of the contributions of Muslim scholars, artists, philosophers, poets, etc, I know that some people are still not happy when Muslim people in Canada/the US/Europe show up as their full selves.
That said, I'm pushing through it and I'm happy to have built a space where those who are open, and want to find me, can find me.
This isn't a space for the haters. This is a space for whoever is curious and wants to have a conversation.
I haven't been reading Fariha Roisin but I keep coming across her. Thank you for telling me about her and Rebecca Elson too!
This is wonderful. I'm so honored to receive your words and get a window into a beautifully different world other than my own. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being you, Noha. <3
Congratulations, Noha! I'm still learning how to be multi-faceted and not compartmentalize each of those (you should see how many email addresses I have). xo
I truly don't understand how anyone *doesn't* have at least a junk/shopping email address. Like how and why do you just have *one* email...and why is it Hotmail? LOL. xo
Oh, I love my junk email. It is such a headache saver. And I made the mistake of making my main email the one for Substack (rookie move), so now I need to come up with a new main. LOL. xo
Didn’t listen to the audio yet- still in bed with the baby. But I love the rebrand. Everything you said here resonates with me because I’ve done the same in this Black body. I’ve used certain words at school, and others with the comfort of my friends. I’ve taken up more space in places I feel comfortable, and less because anymore than that I might step on a stereotype. I love your work because we live two different lives, but it feels so similar. I’m glad I’ve found your work, and glad I can call you friend. Thank you for showing up, fully. The more I write, the more I’m declaring I belong here.
I love this comment and what Neha said above! It’s very inspiring to me, someone who feels I show up fully and authentically, yet I’m not sure that’s actually totally reflected in my Substack’s title or some of the writing I’ve done here 🤦🏻♀️
Irina, don't worry about forcing it if it hasn't happened yet. I've been here for 7 months and I had to feel my way to it. Writing, by its very nature, has to be about something, which means that at other times it's not about the other thing! We prune and we curate, to communicate as clearly as possible. If you want to show up more authentically, it will happen in fits and starts. The first time I hit "publish" on a piece that couldn't just blend in, it was nerve wracking. I'm glad I did, though. People responded so much more to those pieces than to the ones where I was still myself, but a self that was trying to blend in.
Marc, I totally get what you're saying about how we show up depending on the environment, and how much thinking goes into how we show up.
" we live two different lives, but it feels so similar" - amen to that. I feel exactly the same way! And I think this is what I was looking for when I was trying to find my fellow BIPOC people a few months ago on here.
So glad I read your piece about being deathly tired with the babe and then went from there. And so glad to have you as a friend.
I love how you are stepping into and embracing all of you and showing up as such on Sunstack. Love the new name of your newsletter. Although I haven't commented much on those essays you cited, I very much enjoyed reading them and learning about what reality looks like for a modern Muslim woman who grew up in Canada. I resonate 100% with that passage about third culture kids 💯🙌❤
Thank you so much, Louisa! I really appreciate you being here, and I'm noticing that a lot of the response is to that experience of life as a third culture kid. We go through something very unique, that can only be understood by other third culture kids.
Yes, indeed! I rejoice when our voices are heard and even more when others become curious of our unique experiences. You're doing us third culture kids a great service by inviting such curiosity and open dialogues.
Same, re: third culture kids! I’m sure all of our experiences are different and yet this bit is so, so familiar.
Mashallah I especially love what you said about third culture kids and code switching. I love everything I read from your posts so far (your Substack is among my favorites) and I think the rebrand is timely. I have recently been learning how at times we may not discover what we truly want to write about until we embark in the process of writing itself.
Lots to process from your post here and I may potentially feature one of your quotes in my first Substack in a future post
Reema, I'm so glad it resonated with you. And thank you for the kind words - I'm blushing!
I absolutely agree with your point about needing to start the writing to figure out what we want to say. If you'd asked me last June what my newsletter was about, I would have said "whatever I want to write about that week".
Think big, start small. But mostly, just start. 🖤🖤🖤🖤
Love this, Noha. It's important for us to be able to stand firm and brave in our full selves. Show yourself - anyone that leaves wasn't supposed to be here anyway. On the other hand, those who need to hear from you will arrive much easier thanks to all the light radiating from your truth.
You're absolutely right! This am I got one unsubscribe within minutes of the page going live. I got a bit nervous, I will admit, but that was it so far. Only one person who was turned off by the title change. Maybe others will come, but I also think that those who want to be here to hear from me, a Muslim woman, can find me me now.
So touched by your kind words.
Neha: I love, love, love your new title! Honestly, if I wasn’t already a subscriber, this change would have been an instant subscribe for me. It really captures your voice and POV, and I think that’s so important for us writers who are often othered for our identities. And I am *always* here for authenticity and vulnerability in our writing—and using our own voices in an unapologetic way.
But... for myself, the rebranding question is something that’s been on my mind lately and I haven’t yet found an answer. The truth is I’m struggling to do this for myself! I’m probably what you’d call an invisible minority and 3x marginalized (is that a thing? Yay and boo?) due to being a light-skinned/white-presenting Latina, bisexual in a heterosexual marriage, and neurodivergent (diagnosed with ADHD 2.5yrs ago). I love the title of my Substack and I know it’s very memorable/catchy so I love getting subscribers who probably found me randomly thru that alone... but I often find myself wondering if I should change the name and lean more into my different identities in the title.
In a way, because I’m light-skinned, heterosexual-appearing, and have an invisible disability, I live a fairly privileged life. So often what I write about doesn’t feel like it has anything in particular to do with my different identities—except that, as you said, everything I do and write is still from the body and mind of a bisexual Latina mom with ADHD even if those particular topics don’t come up in a particular post. Ahhh so much on my mind!
HUGE Kudos to you for taking this leap!!! I’m so excited to see what’s next, and read some of your back catalog.
Irina, I can so resonate with your phrase, "othered for our identities." The struggle is real. I can understand the questions you have surrounding the name of your newsletter. Heck, I struggled with my "online persona" for over a decade, each time choosing one big passion and blowing it up to create a clout (or cloud?! lol!) but in the end I decided to drop the personas and be myself and write about the inner issues that I have struggled with the most. I think for each of us, there's an inner knowing of when it's a safe time to reveal the deeply vulnerable parts of us through our writing and online presence. When that time comes, the name of our online presence will come up from the inside.
Irina, that is so interesting! thanks for explaining in more detail what you meant - I responded above to your comment on Marc's comment.
Your newsletter's title is a great one - don't leave it behind unless you're sure that you want to.
And, like I said above, I think you can explore the specific topics explicitly if and when it seems meaningful.
I love the rebrand - I am all for allowing the parts of us society has decided to name as undesirable their time in the sun. I’ve code switched, shrunken and expanded myself in certain rooms and overall negotiated which parts of myself I want to share with the world. Thanks for the transparency in your writing it’s very freeing. I know I am worthy in all forms so I’ve stopped the negotiations of the past and own who I am unapologetically.
Whew!!! Thank you for this. I love the way you expressed it.
I loved reading this and visiting you here, Noah. It made me think about how even though I feel that my most “true” self comes out when I write, my writing voice often gets tucked away when I’m out in the world with certain people/groups/settings. Like I can only trust this side of me with certain audiences. I never really explored this in depth and I may even decide to write about it.
I’m glad you are bringing all of you here. I look forward to reading more. And learning more.
And that photo taken in the mosque (!!) Wow. What a visual beauty!
Sorry Noha-my phone ⬆️autocorrected to Noah and I didn’t notice until posting 😒
Thanks Allison, and thanks for letting me know about the auto-correct. Being called Noah is the bane of my existence lol. I still get constant auto-corrects on my own devices so I'm not surprised it did that to you!
I’m glad you’ve settled on a decision Noha!
Thanks Anna! And thanks for all the tips and advice - it was instrumental!
What an amazing project...and what vulnerability to share your wins and struggles. Cheering you on!!
Thank you so much, Jordan! Appreciate your support.
Congratulations on taking this step! I love your new name and I love your voice. You bring consciousness and clarity to everything you write, and being a Muslim woman is who you are. I think you’ll find there are many of us who want to know more about your culture and who want to get to know you better, too.
Keep at it, Noha. I can’t wait to follow along. ❤️
Ramona, thank you so much! I really appreciate all the support you've given me since the beginning here on Substack.
I think you're right about your assumption. There are plenty who aren't interested, but the ones who are know how to find me now. 🖤🖤
It's been my pleasure, Noha. Really. ❤️
Congratulations, Noha!
Thank you, Sal!
Hello Noha Beshir 🙏🏻
I am saddened (perhaps, I shouldn't be) by your comment, possibly through misunderstanding, that your observations, writings, wouldn't come across validly acceptable by participants, here at Substack (or anywhere else, for that matter). Please do not feel discouraged. Do not feel fear, apprehension, about what you have to say here.
I am not going to mention about the ancient, Mesopotamian, Persian treasures in Literature, incredible poetry, of Khalil Gibran, Omar Khayyam, the Sufi Poets, the Astronomy - you please pardon my layman's approach (not being an academic, oh, far from) to "explain", what I want to say...these are few examples of what I have known, as foundational layers of knowledge upon which Humanity has thrived. All of this is fuel for Human Ingenuity to be able to reach, reach out into the Cosmos.
James Webb Space Telescope "happened" from layers of knowledge from sages, thinkers, our ancestors - Arab Muslim and all the others. Humans everywhere contributed to the knowledge we have in our lifetime. Voyagers 1 & 2 represent humanity's collective knowledge & its application.
You have a lot to share, (as a hijabi mamma or whoever) - in your immediacy, as well as out with the world. I look forward to your gift.
On & off, I've been reading/rereading, some stunning poetry by an exquisite poet, Fariha Róisín, whose work - how to cure a ghost - resides by my bedside, together with one of my favourites, Rebecca Elson’s "Responsibility to Awe".
Both, Awesome Earthlings🙏🏻
My best-est to you 🙏🏻🧘🏻♀️🌌
Mahesh, I really appreciate your thoughtful comment. I don't think you misunderstood. Unfortunately, it's not that the people here aren't lovely. It's that I have faced anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia through out my life and so, even though I am very aware of the contributions of Muslim scholars, artists, philosophers, poets, etc, I know that some people are still not happy when Muslim people in Canada/the US/Europe show up as their full selves.
That said, I'm pushing through it and I'm happy to have built a space where those who are open, and want to find me, can find me.
This isn't a space for the haters. This is a space for whoever is curious and wants to have a conversation.
I haven't been reading Fariha Roisin but I keep coming across her. Thank you for telling me about her and Rebecca Elson too!
Appreciate you and your presence here!
Perfect choice for your newsletter name. Bringing all of ourselves to our writing is what we strive for. Well done Noha.
Thank you so much, Kim!
LOVE the new name Noha! It's you—authentic, imperfect, and showing up! Onward!
Yes! Perfect description ❤️❤️
This is wonderful. I'm so honored to receive your words and get a window into a beautifully different world other than my own. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being you, Noha. <3
Emmy, thank you so much! I'm so glad they're meaningful to you.
Congratulations, Noha! I'm still learning how to be multi-faceted and not compartmentalize each of those (you should see how many email addresses I have). xo
Hahaaaa the multi-email address struggle is real!
Thank you, Sandra. It's hard!! But so rewarding.
I truly don't understand how anyone *doesn't* have at least a junk/shopping email address. Like how and why do you just have *one* email...and why is it Hotmail? LOL. xo
HOTMAIL!!!! ROFL
But seriously, I have my junk email address and then I forget to send stuff to it - ha! and then my main email is cluttered with Junk.
Oh, I love my junk email. It is such a headache saver. And I made the mistake of making my main email the one for Substack (rookie move), so now I need to come up with a new main. LOL. xo
Hahahahahaaaaa