Dedicated to my mother on her birthday. Thank you for being such a wonderful mother and teaching me the meaning of unconditional love. Photo taken in Nepal 2011 while trekking.

At times we get to bogged down looking at big pictures that we forget to stop, enjoy the small things, breathe, and enjoy life. Picture taken in my parents garden in Mississippi that they rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

Oh people of faith...

As we sit here looking around at all the injustice and inequality, I can't help but turn my attention to people of faith with the means to do something....

 The Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
~ Bukhari and Muslim 

Photo taken in Laranca, Cyprus in 2012.

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A dedication to my beloved Syria...

2013 Daily Inspirational Quote #11 - As Frederick Douglass said: "Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe." Praying for Syria and all the brave people sacrificing so much to help ensure its brighter future. Photo taken in the old market in Damascus, Syria during my visit in 2009.

Don't complain about darkness....

2013 Daily Inspirational Quote #10 - Don't complain about the darkness-- instead, add light. Photo from Thai Island, 2011. I sat for hours on the beach watching this young man play around with fire. Despite the burns all over his body, he didn't complain, rather he kept trying time and time again to "add light".

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #9

LIVE YOUR LIFE!

Photo taken in 2010 in off a heavenly resort on the private island of Koh Samed, Thailand. I went to the island with a wonderful family that sponsored a 'voluntourism' fellowship ("Breaking Barriers Through Travel) to volunteer and travel in India, Thailand, and Nepal in 2010-2011. Was a great end to the trip and a reminder to BREATHE! Enjoy! And take time to appreciate one's self and accomplishments.

First few photo quotes for January

Here are the entries from the first few days in January. I will be uploading daily pictures day to day in future.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #5 - A good daily reminder to keep working hard. Photo taken in Athens, Greece in 2010.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #6 - Sorrow and sadness can be a blessing. Use the emotion to look deep inside yourself and find inspiration to grow. Photo taken in 2011 in Phokara, Nepal.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #7 - Finding inner peace by bringing heaven to your soul. Photo taken in 2012 in Jounieh near Beirut, Lebanon.

 

 
2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #8 - When we see extreme poverty, injustice and lack of global action, we often are left wondering why the world is a place where such evil exists. Photo taken in 2011 on drive between Pokhara and Kathmandu, Nepal.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #2 - Having a positive outlook. Photo taken in 2011 in Salalah, Oman.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #1 - Mind over matter. Photo taken in 2011 Kathmandu, Nepal.

2013 Daily Inspirational Photo #3 - Quote inspired by a bracelet worn by a dear friend, Tabassum Rahman, on our recent travels. Note: photo is not mine.

2013 Daily Inspirational Quote Project

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. To be honest, I never really go into the habit of blogging despite the fact that I keep saying I will! I hope my new project will help make my blogging goal a reality!

One of the projects that I have embarked upon for 2013 is a creating a daily inspirational quote picture inspired by my photos, life, work, and global travels. Over the years work and pleasure has taken me to many beautiful places and countries.  I have tried my best to capture the moments with whatever camera I have access to (often times not a very fancy camera at all or simply my cell phone). Also, since 1999 I have kept a quote book that includes words of wisdom, advice and guidance from friends, loved ones, famous writers and those I randomly encounter. 

At times when I feel at a loss of words expressing myself I find that pictures and simple phrases speak to my soul.  I hope that some of them speak to yours as well. Creating a quote book has always been a dream of mine-- so here's to laying a foundation!

The 38 Hour Trip: Raw thoughts & schedule

Blog cross-listed on my travel blog site

Building things with random tools..

My message on facebook to friends and family:

I am sorry that I did not have a chance to touch base or see many of my friends, family and contacts in DC prior to my trip-- but trust me, I have been too busy for simple things like: food and sleep! I am leaving today for bangkok. For all of you who asked me to repost my blog, here it is. I promise I will try to keep it up-to-date, fun, and informative. When I return, i will be in my final semester at Georgetown so I will jump into work work work and thesis-- but really looking forward to all the exciting (and random) things that are coming my way. Interestingly, many people are asking me: "how do you plan out your life and career?" My answer is simple: "I haven't really." I have been just following life, allowing each day and experience to help inform the actions of the next day. God, nature and the world have been my teachers and direction. Literally, life to me feels like a tool-box, I blindly pull out tools and then figure out how to use them and what do build with them. This Fellowship is another tool-- I hope that with it, I can build great things. God Bless.

Ready to embark on my journey -- Goodbye Washington DC!

The time has finally come. The weeks up to this trip have been extremely busy, but very rewarding. I have been occupied with meetings, work, wrapping up my second to last semester of my Masters program (I'm studying Public and Social Policy at Georgetown University), working very hard with our amazing pro-bono staff on Al-Mubadarah, travels to visit my family, and catching up on month old bills.

I leave today to Bangkok. To be honest, I expected myself to be more overwhelmed with emotion-- but for now, random thoughts are running through my head (namely about leaving work and DC for 1.5 months). I intentionally did not spend much time looking up South East Asia prior to my trip as I do not want to travel there with certain expectations about what I hope to see and expect. I will let my wonderful hosts, nature and God be my tour guides as I venture around a part of the world that has always intrigued me and sparked my intellectual curiosity. I have made a commitment to myself to keep an open mind and allow myself to just soak in the culture and environment and "go with the flow" (a HUGE change from DC culture). Thank you to all of you who put me in touch with friends, family and contacts! Looking forward to meeting more wonderful people doing great work internationally!

To my wonderful parents: I love you and thank you for raising me to value diversity, culture, education, travel, but above all, for teaching me how to soak it all in and process it.

Running off to the airport, I will update again soon. I hope that through my blog, I can take you through my journey with me.

p.s. my arms are still aching from all my immunization shots!

I will be updating my travel blog on my sister site: http://hazamistravel.blogspot.com/. I will cross-list blogs on here, with links to my main travel blog site.  Both blogs are linked to each other on on right navigation panel.