And just like that the whole world has come to a standstill. Schools are closed, businesses shut down, jobs made remote, while we all wait at home for answers. We're at a point in time where information is available instantly, but knowledge is lacking. News is spreading faster than people can keep up with. But with this comes lack of research and truth. Instant info leads instant fear and panic. There was a time when journalists had time to process information, question sources and make sure it was valid before publishing. Today, anyone can click a button and publish anything they want and it has the potential to go viral within minutes if not seconds. This is very scary. And part of the reason why things are happening the way they are around the world.
Coronavirus, or COVID-19. Nobody really knows the truth. Where it came from, why or how. What it does to the body, how it spreads, or how to stop it. But there is limitless information on the internet and social media. Stores have run out of supplies overnight. Case in point, toilet paper. Why or how that's related to the virus is a mystery in itself. But panic and fear has set in to the public as they hoard supplies. We're advised to stay home and self-isolate, but everyone ran to the local stores in mass crowds.
What's the leader of our country doing? The president of the strongest country in the world. One day he's saying it's not a big deal, it's just like the flu and it will go away. The next day he's declaring a national emergency. There aren't enough test kits available in the most advanced country in the world. It's 2020 and we don't have real numbers for anything.
As I sit here reflecting on all of this, I can only draw one conclusion as a believer in God, a Muslim. It just shows the power of God. The whole world is at a standstill over something so small that cannot be seen with a human eye. No matter who you are, how much money or power you have or don’t have we’re all the same at this point. Everyone is equally vulnerable. No matter how big or small your house is, everyone is trapped inside of it. Nobody has any answers. Except for God. And whenever He wills, it will all disappear. That is pretty remarkable.
The only thing we can do is pray. Pray for forgiveness for all our wrongdoings. Pray for God to send answers and send the utilities and knowledge needed to create a solution. And in the meantime we have to thank all the doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are working countless hours helping those in need. It's time to reach out to our friends, family and neighbors. If you have to make a trip to the grocery store, ask them if they need anything, especially those who are elder and offer to deliver to them. It's time to behave the way God wants us to be- as one Humanity.

My aunt recently had knee replacement surgery. After her surgery she was taken to a convalescent home for rehab. I didn't know much about convalescent homes until I visited her. I am in absolute disbelief that in 2019 in the United States of America, a place like this exists. It is hot, stuffy, smelly, and dirty. There are three to four people stuffed in each room. The average age of each patient is 80 years old. Is this place designed to help cure patients or is it a waiting room prior to their death? When the call nurse button is pressed, it takes hours for someone to respond, if at all. It is absolutely embarrassing that we are allowing our elders to be treated in this manner. I am grateful that we have family that stays with her at all times and takes care of her. But what about the countless patients that don't have that and rely on staff? The atmosphere is horrendous. It is heartbreaking.
They are human beings and need to be treated with care and respect. They are in a vulnerable state right now, but each patient has lead a life of honor and respect. Each one accomplished something in life. So why are they being treated like they don't matter now? All human beings need fresh air. We all need love. These rehab places need to be redesigned to reflect a warm welcoming environment. There needs to be gardens, ponds, trees, flowers.....fresh clean air! The way they are held captive in the small rooms with zero fresh air, only other patients coughing and sneezing next to them, will only make their situation worse, not better!
They are making thousands and thousands of dollars from the insurance companies. Change the carpets every couple of months! Paint the walls! Freshen the place up! Every time I walk down the halls I want to cry. My aunt is a warrior and she will fight and make sure she gets better. And she has the full support of a large family thank God. But my heart breaks for the patients who are lying in each room sad and lonely with nothing but four dirty walls to stare at all day and night. They deserve dignity. We will all be there one day. 

After a brief hiatus, I'm baaaack! Writing is my passion but life compelled me to take a break.
What is happening in our country? How can a small group of individuals spread so much hate and violence in such a short period of time? Domestic terrorism is on the rise, yet it is not being treated as such. How many more innocent lives need to be taken before something is done about it? Our own US congresswomen are being treated in an unfathomable manner. Children are being separated from their families at the border. Muslims are being denied entry into the country. The list goes on. All with one common denominator: Arrogance. Believing you are better than your fellow human being.
There are no words more powerful than "You have been diagnosed with [fill in the blank]." In one single moment your whole entire life changes. Nobody is immune to those words. We live life as if we're here forever. The rich are only getting richer, while losing compassion for those less fortunate. This country was built on great morals, where the American dream was attainable by all. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, this dream is being stripped from almost everyone, except for a small margin of people. Why are we losing our humility and compassion so quickly?
One thing is undeniable: Rich or poor, young or old, white brown or black skin, man or woman, the size of our graves will be the same.

2018 was a whirlwind of a year...lots of challenges and tragedies. From mass shootings to historic wildfires, and from unimaginable famine around the world to the unbelievable way people are being treated along our borders, 2018 will not be forgotten.
2019 is a new year. Let's make it a year full of love....where humanity comes together. The best way to combat hate is through love. There's a saying, "Do kind things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are."
Let's make our goal this year to do one nice thing to someone each day. Make one person smile. Let people walk away from you feeling happy. Just imagine the amount of happiness you will spread in your lifetime. That will be my new years resolution.
Happy New Year! May this year bring love, laughter and health to all!

The blessed month of Ramadan is upon us. We are grateful to be alive to experience this special time of the year. Let's remember all our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world and make a special prayer for each child, man and woman. May God bring peace and happiness to everyone's life. While we abstain from food and drinks each day, let's make a goal to come out of Ramadan a better person. One of my favorite quotes is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to leave the world a better place, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”

A lot of people were shocked while watching the outcome of the presidential elections. Nobody was more shocked than the president-elect himself, Mr. Donald Trump. Ever since he was announced the winner it seems like a lot of people are worried, afraid and confused. And asking what they should do next.

The answer is to turn off your televisions, hold back on social media and just simply live your life. Be kind to your neighbors and have faith that everything happens for a reason. As a journalist, I am the first to admit that media instills fear into your life. How do you think Trump got this far anyways? He played on people's fears. And now that's what's happening in the aftermath as well. He didn't create racism. It has always existed.

Trump will soon realize, if he hasn't already, that this is not reality tv and that real life has rules and regulations. This is not a circus of a show where he can just snap his fingers and say 'you're fired' and make a whole group of people, a whole race, a whole religion disappear. The look on his face after his Government 101 meeting with Obama said it all.

Like I said, everything happens for a reason. Can we just stop and think for a moment what would have happened if he wasn't elected? His group of supporters would have entered an even scarier state of mind. Trump would have gotten his own television channel. And indefinitely played with those emotions. That's when we all should have really been afraid.

But at this stage, everything will die down after a couple of weeks maximum. Trump will learn that he has to follow rules. This system that elected him is going to be his biggest life lesson as well.

So everybody just calm down, take a deep breath and remember that God's power is greater than an oompa loompas'. I am very proud and very happy to be living in this country and if he were to deport me back to my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, I will not take it easily. :) 

Love for all.

It was not a bomb threat- it was discrimination. We have all heard about the Muslim boy in Texas who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school. Fourteen year old Ahmed Mohamed was not recognized for his creativity and achievement, instead he was recognized for this race and his religion. Children are sent to school every day to be educated by our trusted teachers, but when those educators decide to humiliate a young boy, what is left to say?  When I was in high school, if there was a bomb threat, we would all evacuate the building as fast as possible and a bomb squad would be called immediately. That wasn't what happened at MacArthur High School. Instead they all waited around until the police arrived and arrested the young boy. And then they put the young boy and the "bomb" in a car and drove away, not fearing their own lives.  If it were a real bomb threat, they chose to jeopardize the lives of the rest of the 2000 students and their own. There really was no bomb threat, it was discrimination. Discrimination against an innocent young boy who went to school proud of the clock that he made and wanted to impress his teacher. 
I'm a proud American, but instances like this make me ashamed. Instead of focusing on the real fear- the many many many mass shootings that have taken place in our country--all by people who have NO link to Islam or Muslims. But have somehow been pushed under the rug and brushed off as sole cases and labeled "insanity." Racism and Discrimination creates more problems and fear. Our schools and educators that should be combatting this type of hatred, not perpetuating them.     
There are a lot of problems and fears in the world. A little boy with a homemade clock isn't one of them. 

Don't tell me the sky's the limit...when there are footprints on the moon. - Paul Brandt 

The blessed month of Ramadan is upon us. More than a billion Muslims around the world are about to enter a month of fasting. From dawn to dusk, fasting from eating, drinking, intimate relations, lying, cheating, backbiting, and so much more. This isn't just a month of not eating, it's a month of spirituality and harmony. A time to connect to our Holy Book and make ourselves better people. While the rest of the nation is focusing on a man who has lost the value of life and has so much money he thinks he can purchase a new gender, let us remember the countless of people around the world who don't have enough money to feed their children. Let this be a month of giving. Give more than you have to those who need it more than you. We have so much to be grateful for. At the end of a long summer day of fasting, we know we will have a full meal and any cool drink we want. Let us remember the millions for whom the sun doesn't set because they don't have a meal to look forward to. Let us forgive those who have harmed us. 

Ask yourself, if this were to be the last Ramadan in your life, what would you do differently? And do it. May you have a blessed Ramadan. 

We could say thank you with every breath and it still wouldn't be enough for everything that our mother does for us. From the moment we enter her womb until her last breath she watches over us, loves us and takes care of us unconditionally. There really is nothing like it. Our beloved Prophet (pbuh) said, "Paradise lies at the feet of your mother." What greater honor.  A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet (pbuh) said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim) 

At the same time, one of God's greatest blessings is to be a mother. The amount of love you feel from the moment you set eyes on your child is indescribable. With little feet kicking you in your womb to when those little feet wake you up in the morning, the journey is one of a kind. All of life's worries disappears with one smile on your baby's face. It is the most rewarding experience and a true blessing. 

Happy Mother's Day!!  

Traveling is my passion! And now I extend that passion to everyone! Introducing Homaira Hamid Travel Agency! If you are interested in a cruise in any part of the world, contact me! Whether it be a river cruise or an ocean cruise, I'm your go-to specialist! 

Homaira Hamid
Direct: (844) 876-0424
[email protected]
Visit: www.AvoyaTravel.com/Expert/HomairaHamid
Homaira Hamid Travel Agency