My Journey
       A Journey with Mindfulness: Rooted in Culture, Guided by Words  

A Journey with Mindfulness: Rooted in Culture, Guided by Words

Over twenty years ago, I faced a traumatic experience that felt like the culmination of all the pain and loss I had carried. It was the moment I thought would undo me, but it didn’t. Instead, it marked the beginning of a deeper inward journey.

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I still remember the exact moment I recognized the weight of that trauma.  I made a decision that day: this would not break me. Instead, it would become the fire through which I would reshape myself. With that resolve, I began walking the path of healing—a journey where culture, creativity, and language would become not only companions but guides.

As I sought support, I was led—by instinct, grace, and perhaps ancestral wisdom—to practices like NLP, mBraining, and Reiki, which I found to be \ powerful tools for transformation. Yet something else called to me more quietly, more consistently: the stories, metaphors, and images of the cultures I belong to and admire. Literature and language became meditations. Poetry became my breath. Translation became a way of processing emotions, giving shape to experience, and returning home to myself.

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Living through war, displacement, divorce, caregiving, and single motherhood taught me resilience. However, it was literature and cultural memory that taught me how to transform that resilience into meaning. I found healing in ancient proverbs, in fragments of poetry, in the voices of writers and thinkers who carried pain with grace. Creativity became more than expression—it became a sacred form of mindfulness.

I’ve always moved between roles—translator, writer, mother, teacher, coach—not as someone escaping, but as someone weaving.  In many cultures, the storyteller, the healer, and the craftsperson are not separate; they are simply facets of one spirit. I don’t believe in limiting creativity to one path. Whether through handcrafting, writing, or translation, I’ve followed the thread that connects language to healing, story to silence, and self to soul.

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People have often asked why I haven’t pursued coaching full-time. The truth is—I have, in quiet, intentional ways. I’ve worked with others in moments of change, grief, and transition. I’ve listened, supported, and reflected. I’ve waited, not out of hesitation, but to honor the integrity of readiness.

My definition of success has never aligned with conventional standards. For me, true success is the ability to live in alignment with inner truth, to choose presence over performance, and to find peace in the process. I believe that culture, especially the deep, living cultures expressed through language, memory, and expression, offers us not only identity but also tools for renewal.

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Today, I continue this journey by sharing what I’ve gathered. Through mindful writing, cultural reflection, and creative practice, I invite others to heal, grow, and rediscover their own rhythm.

This is a journey of compassion, creativity, and courage. A journey of listening inward while holding space for others. It is a journey with mindfulness, enriched by cultures and words that sustain it.

                                                                                                                                                         Hend Saeed

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