By Mahshid Hager “Are you religious?” I get this question sometimes, from friends, from clients, from co-workers. What follows, is me, mumbling something about “more spiritual than religious”…. “I believe in a Higher Power”…. “Pretty sure I’m not an atheist”…. Frankly, it sounds like a hot mess! Truth is,…
By Mahshid Hager I moved away from home six months after I graduated from high school. I didn’t just move away, I moved almost 5,ooo miles away, to San Diego, California. At the time, I didn’t know that San Diego would become my permanent home. I was an International Business major…
Picture above courtesy of Kamelia Photography 2014 By Mahshid Hager When my kids were younger, I thought there would come a time when I didn’t worry about them so much. I thought once they are in their teens and can be alone and take care of their basic needs, I wouldn’t…
By Mahshid Hager Do you know that feeling, when you were a kid, hanging out with your best friend, playing and goofing around and totally being yourself because you hadn’t figured out how to be anyone else yet….? I got to feel that feeling every night last week. I belong…
By Mahshid Hager Last week I attended the House Of Iran Nowruz event in San Diego. Every year, the event draws hundreds of Iranians from all around town to Balboa Park. The setting couldn’t be more beautiful. Balboa Park at this time of year is filled with blossoming trees and…
By Mahshid Hager I grew up in Köln (known as Cologne in English), Germany. I always say I spent my “formative” years there. My family arrived in Köln in the Summer of 1982, I was 11 years old and had just finished elementary school. I left Köln for college and the United States…
By Mahshid Hager My husband and I walk into the Balboa International Market on this busy Sunday afternoon. Nowruz (Persian New Year) is tomorrow and the store is busting with customers, trying to get their hands on last minute ingredients for their Nowruz feast or their Haft Sin Table. I love…
By Mahshid Hager For a little over 11 years, now, I have been hosting these Tuesday Night Dinners. It started off with just me, my kids (then 5 and 7 years old) and a couple of co-workers. We worked a really stressful job and these dinners were a nice distraction…
Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough…