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disha

@reallydisha

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just here to put it in color 🤹🏽‍♀️
nyc 👽
💌[email protected]

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Unrotting my brain but society’s cooked 🪐

#nyclifestyle #nycthingstodo #nycphotographer

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Playing tourist in my city 🍎🗽🚕🏙️
#nycdump #newyork #bigapple #ootd #pachanewyork

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@calzedonia 🗞️

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Time…⏰

“Trust your timing.”
“Enjoy time alone.”

I spotted these messages written in chalk on a sidewalk in NoHo, Manhattan, right before heading home to Montreal. They spoke to multiple dimensions of who I am right now, both personally and as a PhD student.

Some of those dimensions are personal and don’t need to be unpacked here. But I’m learning to trust myself, become comfortable with my own company, protect my peace, and accept that life doesn’t always unfold according to the timeline we imagined.

And then there is Sabi the PhD student.

The truth is, I’m not “on track” according to McGill’s prescribed PhD timeline. Some of my cohort-mates are further along in their formal milestones.

But I’m learning that taking longer does not mean doing less.

I don’t believe the work I’ve done is any less valuable because my timeline looks different. In fact, people are already benefiting from my PhD journey.

My research has changed how I teach and shaped the learning spaces I create for Black youth. The ideas I’m developing aren’t waiting for my dissertation to be finished before they matter. They’re already showing up in my teaching, presentations, conversations, community, and STEM learning space.

The journey itself is producing something.

I’ve also had to learn to say no. No to every opportunity simply because it’s a good one. No to always being available. No to stretching myself so thin that I have nothing left for myself or my work.

And I’m learning to be alone with my work. To read, think, write, question, and protect the quiet necessary to hear my own scholarly voice.

So yes, according to an institutional timeline, I’m behind.

But I am moving. I am learning. I am creating. I am becoming.

My cohort-mates who are on schedule are doing valuable work.

And so am I.

Our timelines don’t have to look the same for our work to matter.

Trust your timing.
Enjoy time alone.
Keep becoming. 💜

Thank you @reallydisha for “Trust Your Timing” and @mkbaldo for “Enjoy Time Alone.” Your art found me at exactly the right time.

#PhDJourney #TrustYourTiming #BlackScholars #FindingPeace

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There’s something about finding the words you need when you weren’t even looking for them. 🥹💜

Right before leaving NYC to head back home to Montreal, I spotted these two messages written in chalk on the sidewalk on Bleecker Street, in NoHo (Manhattan):

✨ “TRUST YOUR TIMING.”
✨ “ENJOY TIME ALONE.”

And whew… both of them stopped me in my tracks.

I’ve spent so much of my life moving, working, teaching, mothering, studying, building, and just trying to survive. Trying to make things happen. Trying to make sure everyone around me is okay. And sometimes wondering whether I’m where I’m supposed to be by now. 🥺

But maybe I don’t need to rush my life.

Maybe I can trust that things are unfolding in their own time. That every detour, delay, ending, beginning, and season has brought me exactly where I need to be. 🙌🏾

And then there was the second message: “Enjoy time alone.”

I’m learning that being alone doesn’t have to mean being lonely. There is so much peace in your own company. In wandering. Thinking. Exploring. Noticing little things on sidewalks. Simply existing without having to perform, produce, caretake, or explain yourself.💯

It felt like NYC was leaving me with two little reminders to carry home:

💜 Trust your timing.
💜 Enjoy your own company.

There is peace in not rushing what is still becoming. 🙏🏾

Sometimes the messages we need find us in the most ordinary places. Mine happened to be written in chalk on a Manhattan sidewalk, right before I headed home. 🥹✨

And because artists deserve their credit: thank you @reallydisha and @mkbaldo for leaving these little pieces of wisdom around NYC for strangers like me to find exactly when we need them. 💜

Big shoutout to my eldest daughter @kiaratammah for making this therapeutic trip happen. It was just what my heart and soul needed. 🙏🏾🙌🏾🥹

#TrustYourTiming #EnjoyYourOwnCompany #NYC #Reflections #FindingPeace

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I’ve never done a #photodump before, so I thought I’d let you guys in on a little sneak peek into my life this past month🐝🏙️👖🏡👙👠 #jerseygirl #modellife #beekeepersofinstagram #tommyhilfiger

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Last day in NY. #photodump

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LW forever at @parrishartmuseum 🕊️

Best addition to the neighborhood @marcelnyc

Spontaneous trip to @yaleartgallery

One of my favorite artists @artarjen

Amen

Fresh from the garden

🤍🤍🤍

Summer crew

Bliss

Central Park hidden beauty

@cookinginheelss making this on repeat

Fun with @jesslicht @madmuseum

Le duh

Epic night out @rufusdusol

Deliciousness

@nespresso x @sixtywhite

Kusamaaa

🤍🙏

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this pride month was the epitome of “if you’re gay, start saving up now because you’ll always be at an event” ( ˃ᴗ˂ )づ🏳️‍🌈.ᐟ

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Touching grass.

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Un mundial en Nueva York 🗽

#nyclife #nycthingstodo #nycphotographer #nycrecommendations

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channeling my 2012 tumblr mood board via my camera roll ⋆☾𖤓 (∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*

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