TWO HANDS
Kinkerstraat 110, 1053 EC Amsterdam, Netherlands
Order: Whatever Fatma orders. Today it was a grain bowl with lots of pomegranates, icy smoothies and topped with a double shot espresso.
Knowledge: Coffee culture in Amsterdam wears her heart on her sleeve. She is direct, no-nonsense and highly functional in her offering. Enjoy your filter coffee with a stroopwafel.
Fatma Loves: Stephen Hawking wisdom "The past, like the future, Is infinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities."
Wisdom From Fatma: After seeing you recently Michelle, our talks have been on my mind, especially after seeing this speech. Titia, who was with us in the cafe that day shared the video with me, and after I watched it I felt so pleased – this is why I am doing these things!
1. This summer I decided to take a more spiritual path, coming from a no-nonsense migrant family, it was a challenge to take the first steps. I’ve chosen the road with least resistance. I am listening to my ‘nature’, for she hints of life and I will follow wherever that will take me.
2. I am done with living in such a way that I must conform to what and how life should be. I’ve heard too much BS about how it works in most industries, hearing from my girlfriends about managers who take ‘a nice girl’ with them to a meeting ‘just for fun’, instead of appreciating her capabilities and talent.
3. Since this summer I host Sunday brunches at my place where I bring women together from different industries, experiences, race, and education, to expand our horizons and exchange perspectives. Guess what is the most common struggle of everyone? It’s about sexism, masculine culture, not living your ultimate self because the risk is too big to be called a nag/bitch/naive person.
4. We must take time to know the self. This summer I reconnected with my heart, visualized my ultimate dreams and realized that it’s not in Amsterdam. When we talk about creativity, I see designers being treated like kings and producers without freedom. When we talk about freedom, we stick to our 40 to 80 hr work week. When we talk about expanding horizons, we travel to bucket list-destinations where we put a sticker on our chest and we drink Mai Tai buckets.
5. This summer I decided to take the first step towards living who I am deep inside - the 13-year-old playful and loving kid. And then, I will help the human race grow forward from a well-balanced place, where the manterrupter gets interrupted with a loving smile and a wink.