“Le monde est dans ta poche,” he said
You might have seen the total Solar eclipse, but I'm on the Moon.
Ok, maybe not, but it certainly feels like I’m on some other planet on these islands in the Indian Ocean. Space and time are different here.
Comoros are called the Moon islands, derived from the arabic word qamar.
Today we celebrate Eid here. It is a sacred time. Majority celebrated yesterday. We’re old school and hadn’t spotted the crescent moon 🌙
I grew up Muslim in Denmark, an identity that was interrogated and felt shameful. For the longest time I denied my Muslim heritage, due to pervasive islamophobia.
Today I identify as culturally Muslim, I don’t practice but it is an intrinsic part of my identity.
As an n’betweener we can struggle claiming certain identities that we feel “should look" a certain way. Whether that is a religion, gender, sexual orientation or culture. We’re often afraid of being called out for not being enough of an identity.
“We’re not Muslim/Jewish/trans/gay/Mexican/US American enough”. So we suppress it to “belong” to the dominant culture.
When do you suppress a part of your identity in order to belong?
I’m on the Moon Islands to be with family & friends, to write, to reconnect to my roots.
Sometimes it can feel like I am chasing belonging. Like I’m trying to glue a puzzle together that keeps breaking apart.
But yesterday it felt like I found the missing piece of the puzzle I had been looking for... 🧩
I was hanging out with my dad’s close friends. It was pouring rain, we were singing “Viva Komoro” and playing the guitar. I took out my phone and filmed the scenery and sent it to people in France, Denmark and the US.
My dad’s friend Boidi laughed and said to me, “Le monde est dans ta poche.”
Your world is in your pocket.
It struck me.
Maybe Boidi was talking about my phone* and how connected I can be at any moment, but it felt deeper than that...
*(A lot of people in Comoros don't have phones, and if they have one it certainly isn't always a smart phone).
I often say that I feel like I most belong when my worlds meet. Maybe my phone “glues” my puzzle pieces together. Even if it is just momentarily.
The treasure I have been gifted is to be able to navigate multiple worlds at once.
How I literally can always have access to my worlds however removed and distant they might feel.
As n’betweeners we can feel a sense of loneliness navigating the different worlds.
It can become habitual to keep seeking and chasing something outside of ourselves to validate the hurt inside. So instead of looking out, find the treasure that already exists within.
You too have your worlds in your pocket.
Eid Mubarak ✨
Nora