June, 2025
Sondos Al Sad
“You are not required to shrink yourself to be loved.”
As the seasons shift, so do the messages aimed at women: “slim down for summer, reset for the New Year, glow up for spring”. Calendar days become commercial cues, turning time into a marketing scheme that objectifies or pathologizes womanhood. Wellness is repackaged as beauty, self-worth replaced by external approval, and personal growth eclipsed by performance.
Women are urged to meet societal standards rather than meet themselves. Time is framed as a race toward perfection instead of a path for introspection, healing, or sustainable health. Consumerism thrives on this urgency—preying on insecurities, selling solutions, and shaping femininity through scarcity and shame.
What if time wasn’t a countdown to validation? What if marked days were invitations to collective nourishment rather than individual achievement?
Wellness shouldn’t isolate women in silos of comparison, competition, or capitalism.
Time indeed has a profound impact on our lives and communities. It’s a shared resource that binds us together. As we grow and age, it helps us appreciate the wisdom and experiences in life. It’s a reminder to honor the journey of life and the people who walk it with us. In a world that often values constant productivity, taking time to rest and rejuvenate is a powerful act of self-care. It’s a way of saying, “I value my well-being and I’m taking this time for myself.”
Time should root us in community, where growth is supported, aging is honored, and rest is resistance.
As we enter the New Hijri Year, we can reimagine Hijra—immigration—not only as a historical journey but as a personal commitment to move from old habits of self-critique and external pressure toward faith in a unifying Sustainer who gives us all. It can mark a turning away from consumerist definitions of worth toward faithful grounding, compassion, and connection.
True health—physical, emotional, and spiritual—comes not from chasing trends but from building a village. Time shouldn’t be about the performance of womanhood or an individually achieved milestone, but as a collaboration of care and faith.
Let’s redefine time not as pressure but as practice, reminding ourselves that we’re all a work in progress!
We can choose words that nourish instead of playing judge:
“You look tired today” becomes “Can I take the kids for an hour so you can rest?”
“When are you joining a gym for a summer body?” becomes “Want to come for a nature walk with us this weekend?”
“What did your kids get you for Mother’s Day?” becomes “May the love around you lighten your mental load.”
“How can you manage with such a big family on holidays?!” becomes “How can I help? I’d love to be part of your village.”
Let our named days and seasonal markers—including this new year—remind us to connect, to question, and to reimagine wellness on our own terms, rooted in faith, love, and collective care.