Sara Shamdani

A Candle in the Dark: a series

Today is the day of mourning for the workers who have died due to a workplace injury or an accident. In this pandemic, many workers have died after contracting the disease. I dedicate this post to them. I have been thinking about Carl Sagan and his passion for science. I think we are living through someContinue reading “A Candle in the Dark: a series”

Loss and Grief in the pandemic

There is a day in the process of obtaining one’s PhD that’s considered very important: the day the supervisor, after consulting with the rest of the PhD committee, after several reviews of the dissertation, sends out an email to the Faculty of Graduate Studies saying: ‘this person is ready to defend’. The day they sendContinue reading “Loss and Grief in the pandemic”

A heavy piece of paper

This came in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and I have been sitting with thoughts and feelings about it since its arrival. I completed my PhD in 2020 during the pandemic and it has been filled with joy, excitement, relief, and sadness and grief. (I’ll write about the grief part of it inContinue reading “A heavy piece of paper”

Feminist Killjoys and the Royal Family

I watched the TV event of the year: Oprah’s sit down with Meghan and Harry and I have been thinking about allyship of Prince Harry. Or rather allyship in general. He said during the interview that although he had been doing the work before meeting Meghan and reading and educating himself, he grew up inContinue reading “Feminist Killjoys and the Royal Family”

Gratitude

“All you have to do is to write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – Ernest Hemingway I have a tasbeeh at home that I use for meditation. Tasbeeh is a Muslim prayer bead and this one was a gift to my dad from one of his friends who brought itContinue reading “Gratitude”

A Note on Understanding

“Unfortunately understanding doesn’t always connote sanction, conversion, or forgiveness.” Betty Smith, Tomorrow Will be Better That’s the problem, isn’t it? I have an argument with my loved one and I explain my position. I suspect that they would understand me after my explanation, and I want to be understood so badly. But in fact whatContinue reading “A Note on Understanding”

My Perfectionist Part

I have a big perfectionist inside me. My first spelling quiz ever in the first grade is a powerful memory. I had studied very hard and did very well. But I misspelled one word: butterfly. I received 19/20 and I wanted a perfect grade. I wanted a perfect grade so badly that I just criedContinue reading “My Perfectionist Part”

My fascination with the Royal Family

I love following the royal sagas of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I am a little embarrassed at admitting that. I was raised to be more serious, analytical, and scientific, hence my PhD. Anything related to gossip in pop-culture, in fact pop-culture itself, was considered not an effective use of time. As a child wheneverContinue reading “My fascination with the Royal Family”

Old Man Winter

There is so much snow in my town. It has been snowing almost non-stop for the past several days. It is cold, windy and the wind is strong enough to move the snow so that it’s not landing uniformly. The wind leaves its footprint on the ground through the snow, creating lines. It is collectingContinue reading “Old Man Winter”

My Neighbour Totoro

I love Studio Ghibli films. The beautiful animations, the stories of the relationships between humans, their environment and a magical realm, and above all the beautiful friendships among female characters of these films are like chicken soup for my soul. I was introduced to these films by my sister, who while studying graphic design asContinue reading “My Neighbour Totoro”