Gaza, Israel, and a few things in between
I go by a few hats in my life. I write with several hats too and flex each to logically match whatever I want to talk about. Whether it’s a young partner, a curious thinker, or a female leader, I use the credibility I’ve worked hard for to speak up, educate, share, and connect.
There are a couple of hats I have not used much yet. Today might be a day to bring one of those out. Try them on. Remember their fit.
I am all of the above. I am also a Palestinian. Born to Jerusalem-born and raised grandparents.
…
Get ready to pick your favorite content creator
Every week, if not every day, there’s someone with a new crypto acronym, story, or anecdote. Acronyms from BTC to ETH to NFTs are creeping into our language more often [some have been for longer than others]. Companies we never thought would take crypto risks are ‘buying into’ the industry.
VISA recently announced a move into bitcoin. Before that, PayPal announced plans to allow its users to use bitcoin on its platform. Elon Musk’s Tesla invested heavily in bitcoin last month and is accepting payment in bitcoin for their cars. …
You need to be less empathetic first.
Picture this.
An old rustic house. One you can tell has been through a lot, maybe seen a family grow up and grow old, maybe survived some tough times. Today, an elderly lady lives there, alone, minding her own business, biding her time. You can’t tell why, but something about her is solemn, sad.
A couple of trespassers come along, young hooligans [she would say], raiding her safe space. She discovers their presence, tries to scare them away, screaming with anger at ‘young kids these days’. Maybe throwing things at them in desperation to get them to leave.
If I…
With just enough truth in them to still haunt some of us as adults
Many of us have been told fake stories and scared by nonexistent monsters as kids, when our parents were desperate to get us to listen to them.
“Santa will put you on the naughty list”
“The bad cop will come and find out if you stole something”
“The boogeyman [or insert other appropriate cultural creature] might get you”
And, of course, we can never forget the monster under the bed. I am still kind of afraid of it…
Luckily, we grow up to learn these are all fake stories and made-up fables the adults in our lives use to coerce…
OPEN LETTERS
Dear Q-A
You have been in our country for over a year now, yet we only just had the chance to meet — in person. You showed up at my door, unannounced, knocking loudly, upset I did not hear you knocking the first few seconds while on a work call. I know you were probably quite excited to surprise me.
I’m sorry, but I hate surprises. Especially the armed kind. Don’t take it personally.
I know you believe you are here to protect me, to look out for me, so you might be wondering why I haven’t jumped off my…
Your heart is still in the game — this time, as co-captain. Your mind has entered the field.
Young love. Passionate love. Love with all your heart, love that sweeps you off your feet, love that makes you heady, love that makes you forget everything else, get lost in it, make silly decisions, and feel like you can run like the wind, through grass, with butterflies flying around you.
Love that overthrows life. Unbiddable, ungovernable, like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. — Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola, Shakespeare in Love
In other words: love at 24.
24. When you are old enough to love, young enough not to think about…
What happens when a language is built for romance and poetry
“Is there anything you say in Arabic which you wish you had a way to say in English as well?”
The question by Amy J. Wall caught me off-guard. What a random, curious, question. More importantly — how did she know?
Yes. There are so many. Every day. All the time. And when I do literally translate some of them, I am looked at oddly.
Why? Because Arabic was not built for convenience. It was built for poetry.
From the very earliest stages in the Arabic literary tradition, poetry has reflected the deepest sense of Arab self-identity — Britannica Encyclopedia
Pause the learning, tell me how to invest: cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and BitClout.
A tactical article on how to start investing in various crypto assets.
This used to be a lot simpler — download Coinbase and you are good to go. Now, the platforms, the apps, the exchanges, have exponentially grown. Some you can use a Bitcoin wallet to buy others you need different wallets to do so.
Here are three ways to invest in crypto assets, and what/how you can buy with these platforms.
Cryptocurrency
Your Bitcoin, ETH, Z-Cash, to name a few.
Let’s start with the very basic question, just how exactly do I buy cryptocurrencies like BTC or ETH. I’ll use BTC as a proxy here.
To buy these currencies, you need 3 things, using very simple terms
- …
From sound bites to neural signals to emotional vibrations.
I recently found I have been using music as a full conversation.
Not through lyrics, or trying to subtly deliver a message. As a means of communication as a song file itself.
“I use music as a medium to talk to people ”— Ran Sa.
I can now fully relate. More than ever before, music has become a touchpoint, a conversation, a memory, a reach-out, a call to help, a smile, a heart-melting moment, a good morning, and even a new connection.
Which got me thinking, what is the process here, what’s the translation method from Spotify all the way…
It only takes one question.
A 3-minute read which might change all your future relationships.
Ever wondered how some people are able to get to know others right away?
It’s not exactly about how they build a connection or how they get close to others, no, not just that, it is how others seem to share personal details right away. They somehow get others to share personal info within minutes of getting to know them — in the first conversation, to be exact.
That’s a cool goal to have.
To be honest, I am one of those people. …
Ikram Al Mouaswas
Consultant by pay, writer by passion. Love listening to podcasts, books, and people. All about philosophy and psychology of life, happiness and humans.
