In 1987 my great grandmother was visited by her very dead mother-in-law, Hatun.
In a dream.
The dream made it clear that a girl would be born into the family, and that if she didn’t name the girl Hatun, the family would be cursed with a long unitnerrupted line of baby girls (ew I guess?), and Hatun would just keep haunting until someone fixed it.
Not long after, I showed up.
So during a traditional Iraqi baby naming ceremony, my grandmother sprinkled popcorn onto my newborn head, and whispered “Hatun” to keep the curse at bay.
I now had the unofficial middle name my parents didn’t want.
And my little sister, who is a girl, was born just a few years later.
While the ceremony didn’t exactly work, I’m named after a woman so set on getting things done that she'd show up in your dreams if thats what she needed to do to make shit happen.
I like to think that this is a characteristic I inherited.
I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of humanity and systems. My graduate work at PNCA (the Masters is in Design Systems) focused on design's ability to intervene in and help dismantle systems of oppression. I also hold a BA in Religion (another system) from Tufts University.
Let’s talk.
inbar.soffer.sharon@gmail.com | resume
In a dream.
The dream made it clear that a girl would be born into the family, and that if she didn’t name the girl Hatun, the family would be cursed with a long unitnerrupted line of baby girls (ew I guess?), and Hatun would just keep haunting until someone fixed it.
Not long after, I showed up.
So during a traditional Iraqi baby naming ceremony, my grandmother sprinkled popcorn onto my newborn head, and whispered “Hatun” to keep the curse at bay.
I now had the unofficial middle name my parents didn’t want.
And my little sister, who is a girl, was born just a few years later.
While the ceremony didn’t exactly work, I’m named after a woman so set on getting things done that she'd show up in your dreams if thats what she needed to do to make shit happen.
I like to think that this is a characteristic I inherited.
I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of humanity and systems. My graduate work at PNCA (the Masters is in Design Systems) focused on design's ability to intervene in and help dismantle systems of oppression. I also hold a BA in Religion (another system) from Tufts University.
Let’s talk.
inbar.soffer.sharon@gmail.com | resume