Strong and Independent

Strong and Independent. What does it bring to your mind? I grew up in the Western society and in my mind being strong and independent means I study hard, I graduate with grades that gives me plenty of opportunities to succeed in the working environment. Also it means I am not depending on anyone, not socially or financially. 

Being strong and independent means I won't let anyone bring me down. Most importantly I work hard to kick asses, not to mention I demand equality between women and men. 

We strive for success. 

But what if all of our beliefs and ideologies flipped around, and we go back to where it all started. When the only thought we had was being Free, when the only thought we had was to Live, and when the only thought we had was to have Peace.

How did we do this? We fought with blood and pain. Isn't odd that we have to go back to the history and let it repeat all over again, even when we are living in the new century, in the new era? It is, it's very odd. 

"The history will mention them as Great Warriors and they are the only force who could stand against the horrifying beast, so proud to see women fighting along with our men." 

-Ayad R. Slevani

Now you might wonder, who am I talking about? Who are these "Great Warriors"? Who are these freedom fighters? Well dear readers, let me tell you who are they.

They are your sisters and mothers. They are your nation. 

The Strong and Independent: 

Kurdish Female Warriors

They are our Strong and Independent women fighting with our men. Equality at it's best. 

"Kurdish women's participation in the war means equality between men and women" 

-Saman Naseh

Forget the idea you had of Strong and Independent women because I am here to introduce you a new idea, a new concept and definitely a new world. You don't need to be a successful business woman, a doctor or a lawyer to be Strong and Independent. All you need to do is believe in something, and fight for it till the end. Especially when it's about fighting for freedom. Our Female freedom fighters are fighting for us everyday, so that our future is guaranteed. They are fighting against an ideology, an ideology that wants to take away our very existence. 

Our women are fighting against IS (Islamic State) better than the Western World. Why? Because they believe in Equal Freedom! The West maybe invented the Concept of Freedom and printed it in every dictionary but it is our women who nails it and shows in action what it really means.

"A Living and soon to be historical proof that women can be as

 tough and intimidating as 

men. When freedom, lives and land was on the stake, it was 

our women who took the step 

forward to defend our honor and dignity, which is a proof of 

their incomparable ability, 

courage and strength." -Ranj Barzanji

"When they see a woman with a gun, they're

so afraid they begin to shake. They portray 

themselves as tough guys to the world. But 

when they see us with our guns they run

away. They see a woman as just a small

thing. But one of our women is worth a

hundred of their men."

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29085242

Because of our Kurdish freedom fighters, these women have broken all the universal laws that women are incapable to fight for freedom. It's not about holding a gun, it is about believing in a better future for all of us. Not being oppressed by anyone. Not anymore. 

I believe in these women, I believe they will rewrite the history and I believe in Freedom. Just as they do. Share love and have faith because these women are here to stay!

GOD BLESS KURDISTAN

"Act or Die" - It Is Our Time!

"We did this for the innocent children, youngsters, women, men and elders. We did this for humanity. We are a peace loving nation and we do anything for our kind. Some fight with guns and some fight through social media and all against terrorism" said a young kurdish woman, a true activist, Nizo Dara.

These couple of days I've been on social media more than usually. It feels like the whole social media is on fire and all about the new archenemy, ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) nowadays known as IS (The Islamic State). Less the world knows that previously known ISIS was just a terror threat happening faraway from home,from the West but the new IS is a terror threat for the WHOLE WORLD! The first and obvious evidence was a change in their name. But I am not here to analyze The Islamic State. I am here as a voice of the Kurds. The Kurds that need the world to wake up.

The world has been cruel to many ethnic backgrounds but after each slavery, war and genocide we promised a better world, a better future. Back then I understand why no one helped a little black girl, a little jew boy or a poor family. Back then we didn't know better. The people didn't have a voice, they didn't have a chance to be heard, they didn't have the most powerful tool we have today: Social Media.

Today we can share awareness to the world with one share button, with one like or with one status. YET THE WORLD IS SILENT!

History is repeating itself, but why? I would really want to say "well, because the world has gone mad" but instead I would have to say "maybe its money, politics or even oil -or its just about money". A human life shouldn't be compared in dollars, didn't we learn this 60 years ago? I guess we didn't.

Kurdistan and Kurds are seeking for help, help from the west.

Today the Kurds in #Finland, #Helsinki did a great and powerful protest against IS. They wanted to shake up the people, to give them a wake up call, to let them realize that the threat isn't just ours -its the whole worlds! The problem isn't just ours --its the whole worlds! 

The dying kids, raped women and killed men aren't only Kurds, tomorrow they can be your granddaughter, your son, your wife or your husband.

The people that spread terror needs to be seized and stopped, but if we close our eyes, cover our ears and shut our mouth like the three monkeys, we will be like monkeys!

I want to thank each and one of you for protesting today. We all want safety and happiness, not just for us but for the whole world. Not a single tear should be shed because of terror. We deserve it. If we don't fight for freedom and peace, then what is the point to fight for a better future? Soon there won't be a reason to live.

LET US RESTORE FAITH IN HUMANITY. NOT TOMORROW, BUT NOW. THIS VERY MOMENT.

Our Walk of Fame

I remember it like yesterday. We were playing hide and seek near our house. No matter what play or game it was, we always played together, and the older we got the more time we spent together. Remember on your 18th birthday we popped that bottle of Champagne at the sea? It was in the middle of the night and we waited till its midnight. One hell of a memory right there. In time we grew apart, because we both started to see the world in a different way. I never thought it would have happened but it did. You had different interests than I, and suddenly we didn't agree on anything. It was always a big mess. When people saw us together, they thought we were best friends, couples but never they said you guys are siblings. Siblings, that's what we are. He is my younger brother and I never knew the real him, until this day.

He sent me a message on Facebook and asked to go check his room. I went there without answering him. I saw this wall: Our Walk of Fame

First I was like "what's so special about this wall? Its filled with famous people". Then I went a bit closer and I saw my picture. My birthday letter for him. My little niece. My family on a plane, our first trip to Kurdistan. Movie tickets from years ago. Invitation letter to the Finnish Independence Ball from 2001. I saw basically our whole life in little pieces.

After seeing these pictures I couldn't help myself because I started to have flashbacks about our life, the life we had. Surely we cannot go back in time but we can try to have new memories, try to fix the relationship we had. 

I am blessed to have so many brothers and sisters, but one of them was closer to me than the rest. Even though they all mean the world to me, they are my family. My little brother, the one who designed this wall may be odd to some, but he is different and that was makes him so damn special. He used to tell me that he feels like no one understands him and I looked at him but I did not say a word. Now that I saw this wall, it was like a door to his thoughts, to his feelings and to him.

I've never heard anyone mixing famous people with his family, its like a walk of fame with the stars but integrated with people you actually know. In our case, it was a walk of fame of our Family. Our Walk of Fame.

He is my little brother.

Little Brother, this one was for you. Stay weird, be different and keep chasing your dreams because you really amazed me with this one. You are the annoying one but I know we have more things in common than just our same blood going through our veins. That is being different and standing out!

I am proud of you <3

How Precious is Your Time?

Do you ever wonder how limited and precious our time is on earth? I wonder that all the time. Most of the time my thoughts fly when I am sitting on a  bus and listening to music. Here I am again, on a bus going to the airport. The bus takes around 45min and you can't even believe all the things my brain goes through during those few minutes.

I go back in time, to the sweet memories and also to the moments I wouldn't want to think about, but again, I can't stop the flow of my thoughts. Now I am thinking of time. I have in a day 24 hours, 1 440 minutes and 86 400 seconds. At least 7 hours goes for sleeping, so I am left with 17 hours. In those 17 hours I am supposed to work, eat, travel across the town, eat again, perhaps see some friends and then come back home. We can fit in a lot for those 17 hours if we do it smartly.

Lets talk about work. I am 25 years old now and for the past 18 years I have studied; the Finnish education system has prepared me to the world. I am a graduate now and supposely ready to enter the market. Of course, I have worked during my studies but that work wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, it was work to earn money, to survive and most importantly I needed to earn money so that I can feed my hunger for shopping (every girls' problem). I need to emphasize one part: I worked, meaning spent my time, meaning sold my time for an amount of money because I needed to not because I wanted to. This is the part I want to discuss further.

Thus I could say that for the past 7-8 years that I have worked during my studies was waste of time and not what I really wanted to spend my time on but since I didn't have other choices, it was perfect then but what about now. Now that I am supposely ready to offer my knowledge and use my skills, do I really need to work for the money or can I work in a place I love to be, do something I am good at and with all this smile every morning because I am happy. I think Yes.

We can't sell our time, we can't define how much our time costs or we definitely can't compare our time with the amount of money we receive. Hence, I don't understand when we compare how much a woman earns money in India and a woman that earns in Australia (as the picture below can show the difference is huge!). What I want to share is that to the world we all have only 24 hours in a day hence to everyone its the same clicking clock even though for some the clicking clock is more expensive and for others it is a matter of surviving and earning enough to feed their family.

 

I don't want to preach about obvious things but I want everyone to think of time. We shouldn't sell our time for money but instead we should give our time because we want to and even if that given time isn't what you really wanted, then try to see a postive side of it. That clicking clock will never go back, every second is a wasted second or if I may correct myself every second gone is a second remembered -this is the mentality we should keep in our daily routines.


Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. ”
― Coco Chanel

 

 

Knock on that Door!

"Knock, Knock.." 

"Who's there?"

"Your dream employee."

Its almost 10 o'clock, 9.59am and  I am running just so I won't be late. It's Monday and I'm supposed to have an interview in a place I cannot even locate on a map, yet I calculated the timing wrong, I'm lost, breathing is suddenly heavy. Just when I am about to cross the street, I see the right number. Building 35! "

"I've been looking for you, thank god I found you! Gossshhh, 1min left!"

I ring the door bell, I try to cool down my breathing because I don't want to seem to anxious and I had to quickly fix my jacket and also hair. Imagine doing all that in a rush. I even forgot the perfume! "Piiiiiippp! the door is open and final steps to take before the big interview. I check which floor I am supposed to go and of course it's the third floor. The stairs didn't help at all but they gave me time to breath easy in and out. I tried my best to stay calm but I couldn't because I was too excited. Like it was my first interview. Well it kinda was.

I've been back to Finland exactly for 4 weeks now and since then I've done my best to find suitable jobs. Not just any job, I needed to find THE job. I have a life philosophy that I need to follow in order to stay happy and it goes like this " If I have to get a job, I better get a job I enjoy! I want to be excited to wake up everyday, I can't wait for weekend to pass so I can go back to my work and make a change. A job that matters and not just become one of the mass walking in black and white. I need to have a job where I can grow, learn and be happy!".

This is the first requirement when I look for a job. Some might say that it's being picky and a job is a job as long as you get paid. I say No! I don't live for money, money lives for me. Hence, I would much rather work in a place where I get half of the pay I would get from somewhere else as long as I enjoy what I am doing. If I have to spend 85% of  my time on work then I better do something that keeps me happy even on a cold and dark night. It took me 4 weeks, but I finally got a chance to prove my self! I believe its all about chances and opportunities, just as Eminem said "One shot, One opportunity".

I took slow steps but still heading up the stairs. I kept telling myself "You can do this, show them who you are and if they don't fall in love with you, its their loss". I knocked on the door and waited. A young gentleman opened the door, gave me a bright smile and right away introduced himself for being the interviewer. We shook hands, I introduced myself and all of a sudden all the excitement went out of the atmosphere. It didn't feel so scary anymore. Why? Because I felt like this is the place where I can grow as an individual, as a business woman. Everyday is a lesson, and the lesson is if we learn or not.

The interview lasted for more than an hour but it didn't feel so long. He told me about their company and after a while we started to talk about me, since I am the one who needs to convince them that I am their dream employee. For long I thought what should I say because I didn't want to sound too excited and be like "OMG just hire me, I am the best and I really really want this job". Instead I said if you are looking for an honest worker who thinks in a long run, is determined and knows how to think out of the box, well that's me.

You wrongly believe that we are supposed to give our employers a false picture of ourselves just to get the job but think in a long run. If you know you can't do something or you don't have a skill they are asking, don't lie just for today, be honest for tomorrow. Instead of telling them what they want to hear, break the chain and tell them how good of a writer you are, how well you draw and imagine situations when needed to find solutions. That's what I did. I gave them examples of my life, that has nothing to do with the actual job but tells a lot about me. An employer needs to know they can trust you and you can succeed in this only when you give them your trust first.

Being yourself is more than needed, it's crucial nowadays. We got mass, but we are missing individuals. Be that individual.

In couple of days I will let you all know if I got that job, but no matter what I know I did my best and our best is what is needed. One small thing before I stop Never be afraid to knock on the door of your dream job because you never know.. they might actually open it with a bright smile ;) !

Thousand Words but Empty Pages

They say that time heals everything but what if the current moment is so messed up that you got million options but none of them feels right? And that one thing that feels so right scares you to death..now thats a dilemma of centuries.

It shouldn't be one, right? Didn't our moms always tell us "follow your heart" and then our dads told us "but take your brain with you". But when they are contradicting, which one has more weight on? Does logical thinking win or a heart filled with love?

So let me go a bit back. I loved my long hair, it was so pretty and also damn sexy because I had an option of getting cute princess curly hair or a gorgeous straight hair. One day, I got bored and I cut it. From long dark hair into a short business woman and blond! When I looked into the mirror, I couldn't recognize myself anymore. The picture had changed. But wasn't this exactly what I wanted? I mean no one forced me to change myself, I did it because I wanted so. "It was time", that's what I told myself.

Now you might wonder why am I talking about choices, options and suddenly hair. This hair was a great example for how much we are afraid of changes, even if the change is good or bad. We are afraid because we are too comfortable on our cozy sofas. No, we should grow as humans. We should learn that changes, even when they are made by ourselves, are part of growing up.

I might have million stories to tell, million examples to share but none are like those you experience yourself. I cannot none can feel how you felt when going through a change. Go through everything with your head up because nothing in this world happens without a reason. Even one step, one word or one thought has a purpose so keep them and don't fight against everything. Just go with the flow with a strong mind towards the future.

I have thousand words for you, but the the book is filled with empty pages. Why? So I can write on them, draw on them and then color them as I want. Simple hu? Well, that is how simple you can make your life! Life was not supposed to be hard, so lets stop making it so damn hard.

You want that job, go get it! You want him, tell him! You want to loose weight, decide it! You want a better life, make it!

Back to chilling ;)

You say Nobody, I say Somebody

I want to tell you a story, a story that was never told but will be told at this very moment when you read it till the end. Who's the main star of this particular story? You. Them. All of us.

Imagine a life where you couldn't possibly dream, a life where you couldn't live with your own thoughts, a life where you can't pursuit your goals. Now thats a life no one wants. What makes us wake up everyday is a reason, a reason that makes us get up from bed, wash our teeth, get dressed and walk to school/work. We all share one thing in common. Dreams.

Now some of you might think those kind of people are dreamers, idealistic and definitely not realistic ones. But I will tell you those "dreamers" are the ones who will pursuit their goals, because without a dream you cannot have a goal, without a goal you cannot achieve anything. Maybe I am too optimistic, but the world needs more optimistic people. It needs next-door girl to brake the chain and rule the world, it needs the beaten and heartbroken ones to go after their goals, it needs people who are willing to take that extra mile.

When I look back in time, the people who were in my life, I feel proud when I see the dreamers actually made it. The dreamers made it. And they are ready to go that extra mile no matter what people say. "You are nobody until you are talked about" -interesting saying. Its true. She was a nobody until she became somebody and now she is reaching her goals, living the dream. I am talking about a girl who actually made it. A girl who had a dream, a girl who was pushed down many times for things she never did, a girl who was nobody until she became somebody. She is definitely somebody.

Do you know her? Most probably yes. But she is not the star of this story, she is a great example, a living proof of making things happen. If you have a dream, you have to protect it. If you want something, go get it! Its about me, its about you, its about all of us.

This world has more than 7 billion faces, 7 billion mind, 14 billion pair of eyes and dreams of amount of eternity! I am not saying we all can get what we want, because that will be too naive. What I am saying is if we were less afraid of what others might say and think, if we had a bigger heart to love more, to help each other more, to work as a team, we could achieve more dreams as one than alone. Humankind cannot do anything alone, thats just a proven fact.

Where am I taking you with my words, where am I taking you with my stories? I am taking you to my world, I am taking you to a place where you can make things happen not just in my world but also in your world. "You must be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi. What did he mean with this? It means CHANGE your own world into a world you are proud to speak of, a world where you are not ashamed of, a world that you can preach to others -only after that you can change the rest of the world.

You say Nobody, I say Somebody. Be that Somebody. Not tomorrow but today.