I remember Nowruz when I was in Iran many years ago.
It was a mysterious time, and Nowruz was just enhancing those times.
I had buried those days in my heart, and only kept them as precious memories.
I went back to Iran a few years ago.
I remembered our Nowruz trip to the beautiful North of Iran, to the Caspian Sea,
and little seashells when we were collecting them as kids.
Such beautiful nature. So peaceful. So strong. So mysterious.
And I did not know I could fall in love with the sea like this again.
Every morning I witnessed the sun passionately met with the sea.
Never late. So hard to leave you. I left my heart to the sea and asked sun to keep it safe.
I know there's a jewel in there.
Without knowing long ago, I started a journey to the unknown.
Not knowing Nowruz, meaning "new day," has a secret that revealed itself when nature is renewed.
A new beginning, a new birth.
On March 26 1994, which was the seventh day of Nowruz, I had contact with something much bigger than me.
And a secret was revealed.
My heart, surrounded by light, love
A seed was sprouted, and I have never been the same.
Nowruz has a secret.
Since 2017, I've been celebrating Nowruz with my family and my sister over Skype.
We just all get together hang out on Skype and celebrate.
When Trump signed the travel ban, I was in Iran.
I had just finished my first semester of law school and had gone back to hang-out with my family for the winter break.
But when I was in Iran, the ban was signed and I couldn't come back.
My whole life was here.
I was in the middle of my degree, so I was accepting it.
I was in a coffee shop just writing down my thoughts and accepting the truth that was my life back then,
when I suddenly found that I could possibly come back.
Within an hour I had packed and gone to the airport.
And I came to the U.S. It was the fifth week of my semester at law school, and there was noway I could go back and finish it.
So I decided to withdraw from law school for a year and just be here until I could go back to it.
It was really sad.
It was one of the toughest things that I've had to deal with in my life.
And since then, celebrating Nowruz over Skype has become the norm in my family.
But it is what it is, and I have a beautiful community here.
The Iranian community and my other friends who make sure that I always have something to do over Nowruz.