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Ainura Kalau

Ainura was born in Central Asia, spent over a decade in Malaysia, and studied at an Australian university before settling in São Paulo, where she’s now raising her family. Her life blends cultures and perspectives, something that naturally shapes her writing. When she’s not working, she’s usually trying new recipes while binging true crime shows, soaking up sunny Brazilian days at the park or beach, or crafting something with her hands.

One day my children will describe me to their own kids in three sentences, and I have started wondering, a little anxiously, which three they’ll choose

At twenty I thought independence meant needing no one, at thirty it means choosing carefully who I let need me, and I suspect at sixty it changes again

Thought of the day from Carl Jung: the things that irritate us about other people can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves

The reason some people apologize before they even speak isn’t low confidence — it’s that they were raised to make themselves small so the room would stay calm

couple dinner table

The reason long marriages go quiet isn’t that love faded — it’s that two people have finally said enough to each other that silence became a place they both live comfortably

The reason we feel guilty resting isn’t laziness — it’s that somewhere along the way we were taught our worth was a thing we had to keep re-earning

The reason retired men often go quiet isn’t contentment — it’s that no one ever taught them how to be needed in a way that doesn’t involve a paycheck

A nurse told me my scheduled surgery would be routine, and I realized routine is a word doctors use to calm the person who is doing the math on her own life

NASA’s acting administrator called it ‘the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars’ — here’s what the science actually says

People who make coffee at home every single morning aren’t always trying to save money — sometimes it’s just the one ritual that makes the start of the day feel like it belongs to them

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