Nohawagih's Blog

A letter to 10 year old me…

nohawagih — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:38:51 +0000

I was always told by my writing mentors to write about what I know.

I was always told by my life mentors to create upon what I feel.

I was always told by my mother to only act upon what i rationalize.

But today, I was told by a tweet to do a mix of it all.

Well, not in 140 characters, but in the context, the video and the interaction.

The video in that tweet showcased a beautiful edit of different people writing a letter to their 10 year old selves.

It made me think of what it all means, made me take out my mental decades old bucket list and analyze my progress (thanks mom).

Down towards half the list it made me feel.

In general.

Many emotions competed for center stage of my consciousness. Nostalgia, an eerie sense of sadness, painful yearning for a simpler time. But none of those claimed the prima donna role in this story. One specific emotion out staged them all.

It was inspiration.

Yes, nostalgia took me back to a hopeful and positive me that wrote those lists years and years ago. That 10 year old me with bad bangs, doc martins and the Boca jumpers of 1990.

Don’t get me wrong, I see myself as a hopeless optimist and live day by day fueled mostly by inspiration. But to that 10 year old me, it was different.

Her lists were bound by the infinite possibilities of the universe.

They were ignited by daydreams, books, and wonderful parents whom she secretly thought ruled the world. Simply because they were so darned awesome.

She believed that someday she can touch a star, that before she dies she will have met everyone on the planet. She believed with love and apathy, she can heal the world. And she believed mermaids existed. And more than anything, she believed that she can accomplish anything.

I remembered a list I had created only a couple of years after when I was 13, a day or two before entering the whirlwind of emotion teen years. As my mom likes to call it “the dark ages” (but that’s a different story).

I had the list until maybe 5 years ago. And I am proud to say, all but one was crossed out.

The list had everything a teen would aspire to achieve before turning 30 (i am being sarcastic here). From publishing a book, to participating in a war, to falling in love, to walking the red carpet at Cannes, to representing my country in a global political conference and many more.

I remembered the list and sent a mental watssap message back in time to the younger me saying “yo, kid, you set some high standards you weirdo. But guess what, I have not failed u”

Almost instantaneously I received a message back “you didn’t meet Oprah” I could almost hear the smug tone. She was a handful I must say!

I could only reply with “well she cancelled her show, not my fault”

And almost simultaneously, 13 year old me and 33 year old me asked “what now”

As I lay down in my bed writing this blog post on my phone, I knew I hadn’t felt this inspired to write in a long time.

And it hit me.

I spend my mornings and nights helping people in their search for inspiration, and receiving doses of motivation from across the globe. Enjoying every fulfilling second of the process.

I realized I forgot one very important thing.

A very important person.

Every day I forget to inspire myself.

I traveled back in time, trying to find someone to blame. Asked my younger self why didn’t I put it on my list?!!!

But I knew the answer then and there.

10 year old me never anticipated that someday life will keep me busy from daydreaming. That almost philosophical child never thought I would forget the daily bullying, the loneliness of a culturally diverse child in a non global environment and most of all, the biggest promise of them all.

She never thought that I will forget the one item that she didn’t need to write on a list, simply because to her, it was as essential as breathing and eating.

She never thought 33 year old me will need to be reminded to look within, daydream and self inspire.

In my attempt to write a letter to 10 year old me, I found a buried message she had left me.

Go conquer the world, only after you conquer your soul. She knew what she was doing, afterall, her list did come true.

And in her honor, I shall write more lists.

In her honor, I shall believe in mermaids again.

How to get online influencers onboard with your brand? All it takes is just a little FIRE

nohawagih — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:00:14 +0000

What does it take to get them on board?
A little bit of FIRE

If you know me well, you know I am a big fan of creating models and templates. One of my favourite exercises with brands through social media is getting the normal guys and gals that are active on platforms to get involved.

Ofcourse it takes long hours of strategising, planning and convincing (whether it is the client or the influencer) but I tried to sum it all up in the below model.

I mean,all you really need to ignite a movement, is just a little FIRE

•Fame

The promise of fame: through hosting their user generated content on brand owned social and digital platforms and become (unofficial) speakers on behalf of the campaigns

•Induction

The proper briefing and alignment is key to getting it right

Contracts, guidelines, tailored tool kits etc…

•Reward

Depending on creative concept, KPIs, and length of campaign, incentives can vary from monthly paid fee, up-to free products from partners (something the brand can use through partner relationships to make the cost a little bearable)

•Enablement

Providing the influencers with the tools that will motivate them to go the extra mile, and feel ownership of the campaign

Examples: access to VIP events/areas, mentions in PR activities with a twist. Ie: interviews in local lifestyle publications for their experiences.

Variations of enabling the voice of the people is to include them and their content as for example interactive digital banners.

Egypt… Always on my mind

nohawagih — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:56:58 +0000

The longest I have spent in Egypt in more than one year.

I honestly was a little bit afraid of the outcome, but I chose to kick that feeling out of my guts, and invite something completely different.

I decided to block out of my sight the traffic, the smog, the angry faces.

Instead I chose to look behind those glares, into the souls of the people that I used to live amongst. I saw the pain, the agony, the hunger. And when that was done, I saw the crooked smiles, the masked patience, the will to go on.

I looked beyond the “kol sana winty tayiba ya fandim” and indirect requests of tips, even though no service was rendered. I looked at the tanned faces from countless hours in the sun looking for alternate ways to feed their families.

And slowly a feeling I have not felt towards my homeland started to creep back into my heart.

Respect.

I made my way to the hotel, and at first direct interaction, suddenly I could only see one thing. Those smiles. Those genuine smiles. And that is all it took for me… to fall back in love.

After spending hours in our Cairo office, it seemed as if I had never left.

Quite strange no?

It all made sense when i fell asleep beside my mother who I hadn’t seen for many months. I told her “mama, I really missed you, but it feels like we were just together yesterday”

She replied in her matter of fact tone, that for many years as an adolescent I had rejected, but now is an indicator of what is said next, is pure words of wisdom

“habibty, that’s how it is between mothers and daughters. However long we are apart, the moment we are together again, everything falls back into place.”

And I understood. I understood that Egypt, like my mother, even if not geographically attached, is my home.

I fell asleep like a baby, making all my insomniac nights suddenly seem like a delusional rumour.

Again back to the office in the morning, I found myself looking forward to the commute (which was 5 minutes don’t get me wrong) and more so, looking forward to seeing my Egyptian colleagues. Not just the ones I was formally introduced to, rather, the office boy with his helpful demeanour, the ladies and gents with their welcoming smiles, although they may not know us, and not officially introduced.

As our meetings progressed, one feeling was projected from them, the passion.

Don’t get me wrong, I work with many passionate and dedicated people, but here I saw something I relate to. Something only a fellow Egyptian can understand. Hence, I shall leave it to your imagination, and not ruin it by attempts to describe.

As the long hours started and ended, and fatigue creeped into my body, I was kept alive by one thing. The humour. The fun that they seemed to inject in every conversation, appropriate one that is. Again, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a day full of clowns and jesters!

The ability to make eachother laugh, to draw a smile on eachother’s faces (even if they have to force it on with their own hands) was just magical. Made the 9 hour meeting feel much shorter.

I won’t bore you anymore with my rekindled love story with Egypt, no, the Egyptians, but only one thing I conclude with. I definitely want to come back again. And soon.

Signed,

An Egyptian abroad…

Whats my app… List of best iPhone applications

nohawagih — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:21:30 +0000

Here is a round up of my favourite, or most used apps on my iPhone.

Productivity:

Sunrise

Created by x-Foursquare designers, they definitely know what they are doing. Cross platform integration, connecting you with all FB events, smart list view and push notifications that do not make you want to smash your phone.

Personally its perfect for keeping track of all my social events, non work meetings & a quick connect to maps when am on my way to them.

Images:

If you are an instagram addict like myself, or a constant sharer, and like to add your touch on the content you push out to your friends and followers here are my favourite picks:

Jusgramm

Wonder where all those awesome quote pics people share on FB & Instagram come from? They come from here I purchased one of the pro packages and never regretted it once.

For those who like to add a little umph to their photos, here is a cool one:

Over:

A few cool fonts and colors, keeping it simple.

Memes:

There is an abundance of meme creators on the App Store, but here is the one that I liked most

With constant updates of the most popular memes, and a gallery of what everyone else has done, its addictive.

Heres one for the not too creative, just add you reason to be calm

With background variations, and easy edit options, it is definitely a fun way to reply to friends panic attacks.

Here are some more apps that have proven useful

TrueCaller

The global telephone directory. Tells you who is calling you even if they are not saved on your phone. It is a little creepy in regards of privacy, but still useful. How it works is pooling contacts from all its users. Thats the short explanation.

And finally here is one for the ladies. And for the gentlemen who like to keep track of their partners’ mood swings:

Monitor your period cycle, moods, and eating habits. Also connects you to a forum which I personally never used before, but apparently lots of users do.

How about your favorites?

Best Memes & E-Cards…

nohawagih — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:42:23 +0000

Here is a collection of my favorite memes & e-cards that i have been collecting over the last 360 days…

4 Countries 48 Hours

nohawagih — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 09:32:34 +0000

I am no foreign correspondent, nor some new age Ibn Batuta (famous historical Islamic traveller, though his job sounds like fun) but when you suddenly realize life is short, you gotta pack a bag, and make the best out of the limited time your approved leave gives you.

So here goes, a quick recap of “4 countries in 48 hours”.

First of all, for the record, I completely suck at personal logistics. I cannot for the life of me organize a birthday party, bill payments, even laundry pickup. If its work that is a different issue, I suddenly turn into a crazy military general with a mission. So imagine how it is trying to coordinate plane tickets, itineraries, hotels etc!

Good news though, I didn’t end up on a wrong plane or stranded in a foreign country.

So here goes, some tips and tricks:

Beirut

Translation: in the heart of Lebanon

Staying at the Moevenpick resort, the service was great, and the view was beautiful, it made it difficult to want to leave the hotel at all!

It was great to see some culture after long months in corporate Dubai:

February 30: a fun little pub/restaurant in Hamra with fun decor as you see, tables on the ceilings and a topsy turvy feel all around

But my heart will always be in Jemiezah

Torinno: looks like a cave, not classy at all, but where else can you find a former executive creative director from New York spinning some tunes after finding his hear in the mountains of Lebanon and giving it all up?

My trip to Lebanon would not be complete without paying a visit to Raheef Natural shop, a tiny little unbranded shop in Hamra (behind Lina’s cafe). Raheef, I believe a 70 year old man who looks 45, a marathon runner and health fanatic. His walls are covered with medals and plaques for his running wins, which he says simply is due to the fact that all his age group competitors are already dead! I packed up my natural supplements, and got a jar of his homemade peanut butter, sugar free and made of olive oil (tasts just like peanut butter btw!) and walked out to say goodbye to my beloved Hamra.

It was raining and the people in the street were oblivious to it, simply carrying on with what they were doing…

Next stop, Dubai then Cairo then Madrid…

To be cont’d :)

Graffiti – Beirut vs Cairo

nohawagih — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:14:11 +0000

After a refreshing and eyeopening 10 days in Beirut, I stumbled upon a simple but sometimes overlooked epiphany.

The people of both countries may belong to the same timezone, share common aspects of historical significance, have aggressive taxi drivers, jungle like traffic jams, and suffer from the similar cultural disease of religious segregation, but the similarities stop there.

They definitely do not look the same, act the same, smell the same, and the list goes on and on…

I will not bore you with what is well known or universally acknowledged, but I will share with you the form of self expression both countries use oh-so often. The randomly beautiful works of art their youth imprint on the rough canvas that is the streets of Beirut & Cairo.

A taste of Beirut

And a taste of Cairo…

… no road blocks will stop them…

This one in Alexandria, Institute of Fine Arts…

Conclusion?

Think what you think, feel what you feel…

But to me, these masterpieces made me see the world through the artists eyes… I felt the culture and sophistication in the Lebanese, the positivism regardless of the everyday wars they have to overcome…And I felt the perseverance and virgin rebellion that is the Egyptian youth of today…

Wanna check out more?

http://www.facebook.com/Graffiti.in.Egypt

http://photobeirut.typepad.com/photos/graffiti/index.html

The First Timer's Guide to Cannes

nohawagih — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:27:07 +0000

Reblogged from Nohawagih's Blog:

Since this special time of the year is coming up, here it is again....

The only place in the world I bet where you will see people in beach wear, walking side by side with men in tuxedos, women in fabulous gowns, women and men barefoot holding their shoes, paparazzi and celebrities all on the same pavement at any given time of day.

In Transit…

nohawagih — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:04:55 +0000

A friend asked me why haven’t I blogged lately.

Actually a couple of them did.

I replied the lame response of “I am in the middle of a doing things worth writing about”… but alas… that was not exactly the case.

A certain friend told me it will be hard to top the stories I had shared before, all the crazy, unusual and sometimes unbelievable events I went through… I laughed, but inside I slapped myself a round a little.

Suddenly I remembered one of those motivational posters saying “it is not about where you have been, but it is about where you are going”.

And that was a little wake up alarm. Which I apparently had put on continuous snooze for quite a while.

So I went to Sri Lanka for the weekend.

Packed my friends, a book which I did not choose (an attempt to kill the OCD control freak residing in me), a swimming suit and a pair of flip flops.

I will not bore you with the details of my 36 hour exploration of the primitive tropical shores of Galle, but I will bore you with the main morale of this post.

I didn’t swim with dolphins, nor attempt to surf, or even party with the locals until the wee hours of the night.

I slept. Alot. And I watched people. The few of them that were soaking in the ocean sun.

I noticed that nearly all of them had visible tattoos. As a person who always wanted to get one but never had the decisiveness to choose a design I know I won’t hate at a certain point in time, I instantly judged these people to be carefree hippies.

I took it back right away. Just because initially it is not nice.

Then I realized that all these people have actually been decisive, they know what they will love now and what they will love in years when their skin is sagging.

Then I judged myself.

This one I did not take back.

I noticed a 40 some year old man with a sketch board and a palette of colours. He was sitting close by, his back to the ocean. I assumed he was trying to capture the beauty of the old hut that is the bar with the array of flags that constitute its unique décor.

What caught my eye was not the abstract interpretation that he was hunched over, nor his large tattoo that started from his wrist to an undisclosed location beneath his khaki short sleeved shirt. It was his cap. Worn the wrong way around, it simply said in an non artistic font,

“Art in Transit”

I slept some more.

It is not about where we have been. I could have conquered the existing and non existing realms of the universe, but then what…

A traveller, rather an explorer cannot die on his office chair whilst typing an email to his client urging for speedy payment. This nomad must end his life in an abnormal and legendary manner. He will be remembered by his last moment, hence triggering the readers of his life story in a 100 years to turn the pages and see how he ended up there. For him to perish silently in the florescent lights of a corporate jungle will simply be equivalent to ending an exquisite 5 course gourmet meal with a pack of skittles. Umm, skittles are actually pretty awsome, so let’s disregard that metaphor. But I suppose you know what I mean.

But every traveller is entitled to his rest, no? But what if this is not a transit, what if this is it, the last destination? It would be a shame…

At that point I decided to get up from the random place I fell asleep in and looked around to find something to do that would constitute an engaging last page (just incase ofcourse)…

I will not bore you with my attempts, simply for they are not worthy of my last page…

I have not found that trigger yet… I am still here in limbo…

If you walk the streets alone…

nohawagih — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:51:08 +0000

If you walk the streets alone, with no where in particular to go
If you sleep in a big bed made for two, with only your own echoes saying goodnight back
If you fall, with no one to catch you just in time
If your back hurts so much from the weight of the world on your shoulder
If your heart breaks 20 times a day without one “it will be ok” in the horizon
If you win the grand prize but don’t get one proud glance
Even if you lay on your death bed silently wishing the world goodbye, with not one gentle hand to guide you through
Remember, always remember
I will be with you
I was there before you, I have felt your pain
Fought away those same demons that claw at your soul every day
You are not alone
I am here with you
I may be gone, maybe never existed
But I am here for you
You are not alone