Breakfast Chats: Things To Look Forward To
Finally making this series a monthly feature
Before we begin, I wanted to announce that I’m finally making “Breakfast Chats” a regular, monthly series and you can expect to see it pop into your inboxes on the third Friday of every month. Also, for all of 2024, I’m going to make it open for access to all subscribers, both free and paid. (The main monthly issues will still remain behind a paywall for only paid subscribers and they will continue to come out on the first Friday of each month).
And what is Breakfast Chats? A quick recap ☼
It’s an extra series that I started last year, as a thank you for helping make this newsletter a bestseller on Substack. It’s a space where I share short musings, conversational tidbits about life things. The monthly issues are longer essays & stories, this is meant to be lighter, shorter conversations.
Let’s get going? ☼
1. The times of lazy afternoons. We went for a BBQ at a friend’s place last weekend and while everything was great - the food, the company, the warmth - the highlight of the evening was getting to pore over their stamp collection. Our friend has been collecting postage stamps from all over the world since his childhood and actually took over and continued his father’s hobby, and so everything within that box was absolutely beautiful with so much history.
There’s something about spending time looking at a meticulously put-together collection that says so much. It felt like time travel; the yellowed pages, the handmade feel, the evolution of the artwork over the years. It made me think about so many things.
What is that feeling to completely lose ourselves in something for a couple of hours? When did we forget hobbies? How do we make more time for things like this? It was a good two hours that we spent flipping through those pages, and it just felt like slowly, untying the knots in your brain. It was truly one of those nights that stay with you for a very long time.
2. I love Ramzan evenings. That part of the day, after you’ve had your iftar meal and are slowly sipping on your chai and the night lies bare in front of you. I don’t know if I’ve created it in my head, but I feel this incredible sense of peace in these hours. It just glows different from other nights.
Naturally, I’ve grown in my spiritual journey over time, and so I didn’t always see it this way. But life, I feel, is a series of revelations. People reveal themselves to you, so do truths of life. You discover new habits, new character traits, new passions, new questions. Life is, but a series of unearthing things you didn’t see before, and I think, I just feel grateful for discovering parts of my spirituality that bring me the comfort that my own soul needs.
3. Eid Plans. Next month, we have a trip coming up to go see friends in Adelaide. They came to see us in Sydney last November and we had the absolute best week spending time over excellent conversations and great food. We started missing them the day they left so we instantly decided to make plans for Eid and the excitement has been building up since. I mean, every few days one of us pops up with a “can’t wait” message and I’m actually thinking of becoming borderline insufferable by starting a daily countdown on WhatsApp.
You know, with time, you learn that Eid, or any other festival, has many faces and you have to create your own joy, whether you’re around loved ones or by yourself. As an immigrant, you meet many Eids that can be alone, but they don’t have to be lonely; you know what I mean. You can create your own rituals, your own joy.
But getting to celebrate this time with people we truly respect, value and admire and celebrating traditions with them, it’s such a warm feeling and we genuinely can’t wait (I’ll share bits on Stories later if you’d like to come along. And you can also follow Mehwesh and Ahsan on Instagram until then, if you don’t already)
4. Doing things for others. I was organizing my office closet last week and I have this little corner that holds all the small things I get in appreciation for the volunteer work that I do with some of you guys through my platform. A bunch of “thank you” cards from children whose education we’ve been funding, really sweet drawings they’ve made by hand, personal letters from NGOs, things like that. And it made me feel so humbled by what we’ve built together.
I usually don’t keep most of the things that come through my brand partnerships; I either donate or gift them onwards, but I dearly save these mementos and I think I’m going to keep them for life. I think volunteer work keeps changing you bit by bit. No matter what capacity you do it in, no matter the scale, it alters you at your core.
And since I’m talking about, I’m going to take the chance to casually slide in the fundraiser I’m doing this month for children’s education. We’re doing a 10 year campaign and if you join us, what you donate each year will fund their entire life’s education from year 1 to 10. These are children who cannot afford education, and otherwise would be in the labor force at that age, and your funds go a long way in changing their futures. The fundraiser is open worldwide, it feels like such a huge accomplishment to be able to do this, and you can join in anytime. Here’s the link.
5. Fresh start to the weekend. Later this evening, I have plans to tidy up my bedroom a little. Vacuum, change the sheets, open the windows. Heading into the weekend always feels like the most freeing feeling and when you’re able to do that with a fresh, clean space, there’s nothing like it. Hope you have a lovely Friday night.
That’s it for our breakfast chat. I will see you soon.
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Music Credit: The music in my voiceover background is ‘Milky’ by Ninn Tendo.