I’m trying to sleep
– Abizer Lokhandwala
And I see myself as a tiny little dot
Somewhere in Mombasa
and then in Kenya.
Zoom further away and I see Earth
Rotating and revolving around the sun
In the solar system
Zoom out further
In the milky way and into the universe
Where am I?
I don’t see me
Or anyone else.
There is nothing
We are all nothing
In this vast expanse of nothingness …
Author: Nuraine Sadaf
Writer|Traveller|Reader|
A Season of Disruption by Jacqueline P Walker
#BookReview
Cultural|Ethnic|Family|Loss|Courage
This beautifully written memoir is heartwarming and inspirational. Life can present us with unpredictable situations for which we aren’t ready most of the times. One such event occurred in the life of an eight-year-old child and this story is about how the family faces this devastating loss. What makes this book so powerful is the determination and courage of the family during times of distress.
When Murna Moreland loses her husband, the responsibility of her five young children falls upon her. Being a homemaker, she has no idea how to provide for her family. So she entrusts her eldest daughter, Hope, to take on the role of a guardian for her younger siblings. Murna goes to the United States to work so she can provide her children with a better life.
During the time away from their mother, the five siblings continue to live their life diligently while taking care of each other. Murna works hard every single day without losing hope and by curbing her fears so she can reunite with her family soon.
A Season of Disruption is a short yet impactful memoir written by Jacqueline P Walker. It discusses death, family, relationships, courage, and hope. Through her story, we can learn how to face challenges, and even though things might seem like they are falling apart at the moment, they will eventually fall back into place. It’s all about holding onto hope and staying strong.
Synopsis of A Season of Disruption by Jacqueline P Walker,
Obstacles are a part of life. Overcoming them motivates others to persevere and soar! A Season of Disruption is a fictional memoir that tells a story of courage, love, and the willpower to withstand challenges that often break and defeat families.
Widowed due to a twist of fate, Murna Moreland, a Caribbean homemaker, makes a nearly unimaginable choice. She leaves her children—alone— in Jamaica and journeys to the US to find opportunities. Murna anticipates that she will be able to have the children join her soon.
Meanwhile, with their father’s death and mother’s departure, 15-year-old Hope assumes guardianship for her four younger siblings. Together the children strive to survive, believing that the separation from their mother will be brief.
In the US, Murna diligently focuses on reuniting her family but obstacles delay and derail her plan. Unwilling to accept defeat, she crafts a risky scheme that will either quickly bring her family back together or keep them apart indefinitely.
You can also find my review on the website: Reedsy
Close Watch by Signe Christensen
#BookReview
Thriller|Fiction|Suspense
Nobody likes the feeling of being closely watched or followed but it’s terrifying to know when somebody actually breaks into your house!
Close Watch by Signe Christensen is a fictional story about Amber, a normal person trying to live a normal life. After her recent breakup with her boyfriend, Sam, she feels like she is constantly being followed to a point where she feels creeped out in her own house. When she reaches out to the police, it leads nowhere because of the lack of information. However her two friends, Karen and Maya, are a great support. Amber relies on them the most, they are always by her side and try to keep her safe. But after Amber’s several attempts to ignore the feeling of being stalked and being threatened, she decides to escape from the city for a while and spend a few days in her aunt’s cottage in Dorset. What happens if this turns out to be a wrong decision?
Close Watch is a entertaining thriller that is easy to read. The story is well narrated, the element of suspense and character building is strong. As a reader I felt dragged into the story right from the start. The book is lighthearted and not too intense. Even though, you might get the feeling that you know who the stalker is going to be, it is a nice read right till the end.
Also, find my review on this website: Reedsy
Happy Here and Now by Matt Tracy
#BookReview
Self-Help|Happiness|Motivational|Self-Improvement
Happy Here and Now: Lasting Happiness You Can Count On gives you the tools that are required to stay happy during the sunniest of days and stormiest of nights.
We are all happy in one moment and sad in the other. We are beings with so many emotions and feelings that sometimes we get carried away by them and end up losing ourselves. We don’t often pay attention to the little joys of life and also the little problems.
Sometimes acting on every emotion like anger, fear, or sadness can have a negative impact on our life. It can even make us regret our actions. Happy Here and Now by Matt Tracy is a self-help book that discusses situations and behaviors that we usually don’t pay attention to or tend to neglect. It is more like a guide that will train us to understand those emotions better, process them, and sometimes learn to let them go.
Grieving must happen, and emotions must be felt, whatever they are. Fear or hatred or worry or disgust must be acknowledged. That is healthy.
Matt Tracy
This book also talks about understanding what happiness really is, how to be grateful, thankful, and forgiving. It’s about listening to our thoughts, becoming more aware, and believing in ourselves. At the end of each chapter, there is a section called Living It that we can follow to pay attention to our emotions and bring changes in our day-to-day lives by being more aware of our habits and trying to improve them.
I found this book interesting to read and found myself agreeing on multiple points that I never considered important. Happy Here and Now is a must-read!
Being aware of your thoughts leaves room for intuition to flourish.
Stop living for the future. Enjoy now.
Matt Tracy
Also, find my review on this website: Reedsy
It was almost like the sepia filter was turned on,
On the old forgotten roads.
Not a soul to be seen on the muddy streets.
He rode a bicycle and sang songs from the 80s.
He hurried home,
Saw his little daughter waiting for him at the porch.
They went inside hand-in-hand,
And found awaiting –
A bowl of hot rice
Steaming hot sambar
& crunchy papadam
That made his belly rumble and grumble with joy.
He sat down immediately to eat,
From the kitchen came his wife shouting,
“Wash your hands before you eat!”
All of a sudden, he woke up from his sleep.
Found beside him a white lady in green.
He wondered to himself,
“Which one of this is a dream?”
Relatable Quotes #12
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
– C.S. Lewis
Amen to that!
Is there a rule,
– Abizer Lokhandwala
To pray
To be heard by God.
I wonder what religion is teaching?
By Her Side
I am not a dragon,
I do not have a horde.
I am trapped inside this empty dark cave
With no shiny heaps of gold.
I wander aimlessly in the darkness with no real goal.
I wonder what’s in my destiny,
Is there a purpose for this existence?
I curl up in a corner and sleep like every other day.
But, who’s here today?
A little boy has walked into the cave.
He stands in front of me fearlessly and smiles.
I snarl, smoke rises from my nostrils.
He steps forward cautiously, his hand reaching towards me.
I curl deeper into the cave.
He waits patiently, his soul emitting an aura of kindness.
I rise up and breathe fire.
The boy as small as a shrimp near my feet,
Watched me in awe with no fear.
The cave was no ordinary one,
The fire melted the layer of soot away and revealed walls of gold.
The cave shone like the sun in the darkness of the night,
With a mighty dragon queen and a little boy as a guiding star by her side.
This is for Us. Relatable Words #11
this is for us.
This is for us who sing, write, dance, act, study, run and love
and this is for doing it even if no one will ever know
because the beauty is in the act of doing it.
Not in what it can lead to.
This is for the times I lose myself while writing, singing, playing
and no one is around and they will never know
but I will forever remember
and that shines brighter than any praise or fame or glory I will ever have,
and this is for you who write or play or read or sing
by yourself with the light off and door closed
when the world is asleep and the stars are aligned
and maybe no one will ever hear it
or read your words
or know your thoughts
but it doesn’t make it less noble.
It makes it ethereal. Mysterious.
Infinite.
For it belongs to you and whatever God or spirit you believe in
and only you can decide how much it meant
and means
and will forever mean
and other people will experience it too
through you.
Through your spirit. Through the way you talk.
Through the way you walk and love and laugh and care
and I never meant to write this long
but what I want to say is:
Don’t try to present your art by making other people read or hear or see or touch it: make them feel it. Wear your art like your heart on your sleeve and keep it alive by making people feel a little better. Feel a little lighter. Create art in order for yourself to become yourself
and let your very existence be your song, your poem, your story.
Let your very identity be your book.
Let the way people say your name sound like the sweetest melody.So go create. Take photographs in the woods, run alone in the rain and sing your heart out high up on a mountain
– CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON
where no one will ever hear
and your very existence will be the most hypnotising scar.
Make your life be your art
and you will never be forgotten.
Beautifully expressed by Charlotte Eriksson in her book, Another Vagabond Lost To Love. Thank you my friend, Abhishek Labhe for sharing this poem with me!
The Sparrow
It perched on my windowsill
Looking for a tidbit;
A place to rest its weary self,
Eyeing the view.I drew close, in awe of its silhouette
Deep, black lined eyes,
Rotund, fragile, and beautiful.But the sight of me made it retreat
– Madhumita Paul
Farther and farther on the tiny rim.
Until it could no longer stand
And away it flew;
So quick, so sudden, so soon.
A lovely poem contributed by my dearest friend Madhumita Paul. Thank you for sharing this with me and the community. If you enjoyed reading this, then don’t forget to show your love and support by liking or commenting below. Looking forward to more of your writings! ❤
Dear readers, if feel you have a story/poem/idea to share, then please give me an opportunity to put you under the spotlight.
Email me at: nuraine.sadaf@gmail.com
Nuraine Sadaf 