Joyful is your arrival!

Or that is one translation of how to say "Welcome!" in Urdu, my second or third language. English being the first learned and spoken, followed by Urdu, and the wee bit of Punjabi I learned from listening to family members and watching Punjabi feature films.

Lovely to have you visit this space. My name is Naveeda, and I do a bit of writing when the spirit moves me - which is often. I write about things I know something about, and sometimes things I think I know something about.

When I'm not writing, I'm either binging on a mystery, crime drama/thriller or comedy series, or watching Portland teams play sports (Thorns, Timbers, Trailblazers), or pretending I can sing at Karaoke on Friday nights. Or learning/relearning languages.

And I'm working on ways to be more involved in the struggle against what wannabe Rome wants to do to America. As Messala challenged Judah Ben-Hur, onscreen, "You're either with us or against us." And Americans know when that particular phrase has been uttered: During times of war, and abrogation of civil rights for some in the years following September 11, and not in those exact words by the current regime. There have been other times, of course, but "You're either with us or against us," has never felt more present as it does right now.

As I tell one of my young colleagues almost every Friday afternoon before she leaves for the day, do something that brings you joy! Invoking the late great Audre Lorde, joy is an act of resistance. I find that even in times when I feel at my lowest, if I can do one thing that gives me joy, I've done good, be it for myself, or the abuela I told in Spanish which stop was for the train while we were on the bus this evening.

So, that's me, in a walnut shell. I may not write the cheeriest of essays, most times, but I hope there's something in them that's relatable.

Joyful is your arrival!