Instagram story viewer> @haifaharb> Posts

Haifa Harb

@haifaharb

1.7K

followers

1164

following

artist • coach • creative midwife

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

I took my time sharing this last piece because I’ve been contending with my own thoughts and feelings on self-disclosure lately.

Sometimes when we ask for vulnerability too quickly or directly, even of ourselves, it creates the opposite effect: distance.

Georgia O’Keeffe wrote “to see takes time”. To know ourselves and others takes time, if we are lucky to, and some corners we might never get to. Yet, we must patiently and reverently wait at the doors of one another’s hearts, for the moments when we are allowed to see.

I’ve gotten good at performing vulnerability. At sharing insights I’ve gathered from my inner journeying, ones that don’t hurt as much or cost me as much to reveal. Real vulnerability doesn’t operate in linear time, on demand, when we happen to be catching up over a coffee. It follows its own unruly and unexpected magic.

I recently met a human who required real vulnerability of me, more than has been required of me in a while, simply by asking and unexpectedly waiting. I experienced the fluster of my heart, the blush of my cheeks, and the freeze-fear before sharing something that could cost me something, yet gift me so much more.

So today, I’m not asking you to be vulnerable. I’m offering you a question to tuck into your heart. To take with you to bed. To let simmer in the vastness of your spirit. To wait with, and to maybe, see.

Original invitation:
I invite you to lift the veil of editing and share something that is ready to be witnessed. A story, a thought, a feeling, a fear, or anything else.

When was the last time you edited yourself? What would you have said or done instead?

Updated invitation:
What is a truth that is ready to be revealed?

9/9
(un)edited booth
Interactive audience piece taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

61

3

24 days ago

Perpetually growing, perpetually shedding, perpetually unknowing. Onto the next, so quickly I sometimes can’t even catch my breath. I can’t believe I ever thought that. Okay, I can’t believe I ever thought that.

“We so often try to disguise our wounds. We so often throw away our broken objects, and yet there’s a deeper beauty to our wounding than anything. It is part of our authenticity. And it can be embraced entirely within us and remain a part of our beauty.” - Richard Rudd, Gene Key 53

If we could see what’s marked on your skin, what would we see?
Which beliefs have been scratched out? Which have been etched in?

Take a moment to honor your journey.

8/9
History is kept
Eyeliner on skin, interactive mirror piece taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

52

0

2 months ago

This poem was born of a practice I shared with someone where we took turns speaking for 5 minutes with our eyes closed while the other person silently witnessed.

When it was my turn to speak, I struggled with what to say. I noticed myself wanting to fill the silence impulsively and instead, waited. What unfolded next was an incredibly vulnerable and intimate glimpse into my inner world. I shared thoughts as they arose, feelings as they emerged, sensations as they announced themselves.

It was the closest experience to someone being in my inner world with me. And it was met with unwavering presence and compassion.

Maybe it’s okay to be me.

Can you allow someone to witness a little more of you today? What would that look like?

7/9
Naked
Spoken word on video taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

61

10

2 months ago

When did you first stop screaming?

Am I keeping the pain out or am I locking myself in?
Which walls have you built? Which have you inherited?

6/9
When did you stop screaming?
Acrylic cube taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

67

3

2 months ago

I’m so tired of shrinking to fit cups that cannot hold me

Where are you shrinking to fit?
What are you afraid to admit you’ve outgrown?

5/9
Matching / dimming
Spherical globes taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

41

2

2 months ago

You ask me why I’ve been reaching out less. It feels really tender to say yes, I’ve been hurting. Instead, I ask about you. Maybe you’ll speak open a window for me to slide into, and say ‘I’m glad you said something, I’ve been feeling it too’. But you say you’re fine so I say I’ve just been trying to focus on being present… not be so glued to my screen. It’s true. Yet I hang up and sit with why it was so hard to be honest with you.

If you could be a little bit more honest with them, what would you say?

4/9
What’s underneath
Performance on video taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

167

33

2 months ago

Mmmm too direct. You’re a bit aggressive, they said. Let me pair it down a little here. A little more here. Make these edges a bit rounder. Slice a little there. A little more there. Yeah, like that.

How about now?
Now?
No?

Which filter do you wear the most? What are you afraid would happen if you don’t?

3/9
The nice filter
Video taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

40

2

2 months ago

Oh, I’m good. I don’t need anything. Yes, don’t worry about me. I’ve got it. Haven’t you seen? I’ve built this mountain from nothing.

What are you afraid of admitting you need?

2/9
“I don’t need anything”
Charcoal on paper taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

45

6

2 months ago

I watch it emerge only to be immediately replaced. It felt almost mechanical. No charge, just a deeply formed habit. A second slower and it would’ve gone by unnoticed.

I tell her that I feel like I’m overriding my body lately. Left to her own devices, my body just wants to lose track of time… sink into the moment, relax into her shoulders. I can feel the sharpness of the devices designed to get her to be on time, to count it, to not waste it. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

What are you overriding lately?

1/9
System override
Charcoal on paper taken in Lisbon, Portugal by @haifaharb

67

12

2 months ago

Here I am… unedited. Will you have me? Just like this?

(un)edited invites you into an intimate exploration of self-editing: how we hold back or change parts of ourselves.

This exhibit is born from a contemplation of the protective layers that inhibit authenticity. Each piece creates a space to pause - to be curious about the ways we edit from habit or fear - and through that space, allows new possibilities of being.

(un)edited is live for one day only on September 14. by @haifaharb

206

28

a year ago

I’ve been slowly and curiously stepping out of my cocoon these past months. Coming up against the edges of being seen, only to find new ones. Softening, again and again.

Deep gratitude to my cocoon years, for birthing a truer me.

I am here and I have something to say.

Photos by the exceptionally talented @joudemabsout by @haifaharb

389

81

a year ago