Pen meets purpose: My Hijab Journey introductory

Assalamulaikum Wa Ramatullahi Wa Barakatuh!

Hello everyone! My name is Maryam Joy Habib or call me Maryam. I’m so excited and grateful joining the community specially discovering this new platform where I can express myself. Well, this blog is a piece of my heart. I created my space to share the good days, the tough ones, and everything in between. My life story being an expat here in Doha, Qatar and how I live a halal life as a Muslim, Alhamdullilah for everything. This blog is for everyone who wants to see the good side of life, to learn how to be patient in every situation, how to overcome struggles, the fears, how to think positive and more words of motivation and encouragement. I want also to share the beauty of Middle East, explore unique foods, how people changed my perspective and the hidden gems of Doha. Join me on my hijab journey because this is one of the most defining chapters of my life.

ABOUT ME:

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education, two years in Architectural Drafting and with diploma in Nursing Assistant. And I never get tired to learn more. When I was 16 years old, I don’t have any choices rather to stop my college times and start working to support my other siblings. When time comes, I have enough savings I continue my studies at the same time working. Life is not easy but we have a lot of choices to grow more and progress.

My personality is introvert. I prefer to be alone; I learn through observation; I am sensitive and I value my independence. However, I slowly rebuild myself Alhamdullilah now I’m proud to myself that I improve a lot and stronger than yesterday. I am adventurous and love exploring more about people, their cultures, cuisines, and places. My hobbies include reading, cooking, learning languages, photography and the most I love, boxing sport. I work as an on-call duty nursing assistant where I can assist patients with their essential daily activities includes bathing, eating, grooming, mobility and more. I’m ensuring the well-being and comfort of patients all the time. I am also working as a part time ESL online teacher. I’m helping students from beginner to advance level. In my free time I teach a piano lesson too.

I was born and raised in the City of Smile Bacolod City Negros Occidental Philippines. I am the eldest and I have three brothers and two sisters. Unfortunately, I lost my brother who passed away during corona times it was one of the saddest moments of my life because I wasn’t able to see him. My father passed away eight years ago and I miss him. This is the part of our life that we need to be tough and move forward for our future. My mother whom I love dearly she is with my sister and she is the one who taking care of her. All of us, we have our own family. And I am Maryam, continue my life journey here in Doha Qatar.

Allah give me a wonderful family, a simple happy home, with faith and love for each other. I am so grateful to have a loving and understanding husband. Who always there to protect and guide me. He is my hero saving me from my dark past. I almost lost my smile on my face and turn my heart into fear. Now, I cannot imagine my life turned into a meaningful one. Allah has the best plan for us all we need is to trust on Him , believe and everything will be fine no matter what challenges comes on our way. And I love my family so much.

I truly appreciate this opportunity creating my space here. I am onboarded by @antonette we meet through fb and she share her knowledge about hive. And this platform motivates me to learn more, write and share my small victories. This is the way to connect other people for them to motivate too. With the help of this community we can enhance our knowledge, improve ourself from inspiring stories, build our self-confidence, have a strong determination, and achieve our dreams. And I believe on that. I know the next chapter of my life is going to be so amazing. Being a mother and a wife is incredibly challenging, however those challenges make a woman stronger, more resilient and wiser. Through love, sacrifice and care. I’m so excited to be productive through writing, and sharing my daily life here. So, let’s explore together the beauty of life here in Middle East, cultures, cuisines, tourist spots, historical places and more. I can share also my halal life as a Muslim and how and why I embrace Islam. Insha’Allah!

Hope you enjoy and inspired reading my self intro blog and see you again to my next story.

Photos are mine and edited by Canva

Salam,
@maryamhabib