Welcome to enjoy the journey: a lifestyle blog!

Come along with me and see how I enjoy a life full of love, growth, and happiness.

Experience the user-friendly platform however you please: app, blog, social networking, book club, scholarly research, recipes, and more!

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About me:

Imagine if Oprah Winfrey, Ina Garten, Julia Child, Bobby Flay, and Anthony Bourdain had a spirit child; that child would probably be a lot like me.

Heyy! I'm Enjoyiana Nururdin, M.A. My name is pronounced "on-jee-ahna nerd-een" and I use she/her pronouns. I am 24 years old and a Wisconsin-native. I am a multi-talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated journalist and creative storyteller. My areas of interest surround cuisine, politics, Blackness, womanhood, spirituality, music, and positively exploring how to overcome the many obstacles of life. I am a daughter, a sister, a foodie, a girly girl, a political crusader for justice, a writer, a shopaholic, a shower-singer, and an avid reader among many other things.

I'm also entering the entrepreneurial phase of my life, I want to create as many things as I possibly can - introducing my new baby, enjoy the journey: a lifestyle blog! As I move on with my life post-college, post-pandemic, and post-a lot of other things, I am empowered by pursuing what my spirit tells me to. Creating this platform for all of my ideas and inspirations is just the tip of the iceberg!

When I think of what I want my website to be, I imagine a startup media network with a breadth of information and a community of beautiful people aligned with the focus of the betterment of Black womanhood and humanity across the globe. I also want it to be safe space where I can connect with others interested in human rights, advocacy and positive change. As I live my life and cook, sing, learn, grow, and evolve, I want to share my journey with the world in hopes that others can find their path and be their best self.

My background:

As a young, Black woman working in some of the most renowned and acclaimed but predominantly white, and male media environments, I have made it my personal mission to pursue Black, feminine-focused, and historically and politically accurate stories that acknowledge the realities of racism, white supremacy, sexism, misogyny, heteronormativity, ableism, ageism, and numerous other injustices. Throughout my undergraduate career pre-pandemic, I was running the rat race and running myself into the ground. I wanted change, but I didn't have that language to express what I was experiencing nor could I find an appropriate outlet for my feelings. I was dealing with generational trauma and imposter syndrome. I dedicated my time and energy to my professional career, but I didn't want to work my way up the ladder and hope that somebody would give me a seat at the table. I wanted my own table in a whole other room in a whole other building. My desire for activism and social change got in the way of me trying to establish a perfect-image and personality for broadcast political journalism. I soon realized that I was internalizing a lot of the old-school way of thinking that was causing me emotional distress and dampening my spirit. I began searching for answers in a place I had always felt at home, books. I began re-reading books about blackness and womanhood in a modern society and fell in love with the words of bell hooks, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Patricia Hill Collins. Suddenly, the things I was experiencing made a bit more sense. I gained hope again and pursued my masters degree in politics.

I am a recent graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Class of 2022, and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism alumni, Class of 2021. At Columbia, I was the youngest and only Black person - Black woman - in my concentration of over 20 journalists. I majored in politics and focused on putting Black womanhood at the center of all of my pieces because Blackness and womanhood is the most complex combination of identities that exists. I also wanted to draw more attention to the unique problems Black women face from an intersectional perspective, while also exploring how we can overcome those obstacles and self actualize in a number of ways. I wrote about blackfishing in social media, Black women in city politics, and mutual aid networks in Black and Brown neighborhoods across New York City and how they came together to battle food insecurity.

Upon graduation, I was blessed to receive the work opportunity of a lifetime with Blue Chalk Media. I worked as an Associate Producer on the show "From the Source" with Chef Katie Button for a short while, and I am grateful for the chance to get closer to my dream of having my own cooking/talk show. They were an amazing company to work with and they were so welcoming and patient with me as I entered a new phase of multimedia content creation. It has always been a dream of mine to attend culinary school (someday soon!) and it was totally worth while to have spent years talking to myself while cooking in my childhood kitchen. But while I worked remotely during the summer, and dealt with personal issues, I struggled with my mental health, and even this dream job couldn't provide relief. There was something missing and I needed to find it. I went through my first spiritual awakening. I decided to quit my job. I made the decision to focus on myself.

Now, as I continue on my spiritual journey, I am taking my knowledge and sharing it with the world. I'm still learning and growing every day. I will continue to use my passion for politics and humanity to engage in scholarship and community based journalism that focuses on how we can continue to be better as a human race and right the wrongs that have caused so many pain. We need love in the world, however we can include it in our daily lives. This blog is focused on sharing the love through knowledge, and encouraging others to find their own peace in self-love, growth and happiness.

As an academic, I heavily subscribe to critical pedagogy and Black feminist thought in addition to my interests in political theory and economic philosophy. Through these schools of thought, I believe we can begin to undo the harm caused over the past few generations. We are entering a new era, and I am proud to contribute my talents and passion toward the cause of helping people though education, conversation, and love.

Education is a power that nobody can take away from you. Conversation embraces the power we each hold as a global community. Love keeps us together.

We all deserve to live healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives, and there are extreme powers at play in this world that have prevented so many of us from doing so and they need to be called out and reckoned with. Rather than accepting that things are the way they are, I work to engage in conversation that honors the power of subjectivity in every individual’s life experiences and humors the thought of a world where we achieve peace and unconditional love. We’ve lived in and accepted darkness and destruction for so long. Enough is enough. The buck stops here. Join me if you will.

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What you will find on this website:

My website is still under construction as I am creating content on the go in addition to working, living life and doing other things. Wix offers a beautiful platform with numerous features including user profiles, groups, videos, podcasts, blog posts and more and I want to efficiently maximize my work. The best way to experience the website is to click around and find something you like, or click the button to download an app for a seamless user experience.

get the app!

Here are upcoming projects and content you can expect to find on my website:

enjoy the journey: a lifestyle blog

the majority of written content will fall under the blog section of my website. there are seven categories I created that correspond to enjoying the journey of life:

lifestyle - focusing on understanding and enjoying life and how to make the most of it. (mental health/wellness/self-growth)

story - written prose, articles, features and more centered on blackness. (anthology/short stories/community-sourced journalism)

music - dealing with black music makers and their sound. (r&b/rap/gospel/soul)

spirituality - exploring the depths of black spirituality. (divination/reflections/prophetic word/meditations)

food - recipes, food reviews, and the tastes of black cuisine. (soul food/culinary arts/meal-prep)

podcast - the audible space where I process life through my eyes. (story time/life/politics/conversations)

world - documenting and discovering travels and adventures around planet earth. (current events/knowledge/international affairs)

enjoyiana's collective: updates and messages

enjoyiana's kitchen: menu and recipes

"It's a Black Woman's World" Project

"It's a Black Woman's World" Book Club

enjoyiana's notebook and scholarship

Please be on the lookout and stay tuned for content in the future! I promise to try and be more active on social media so you can be in the know when new stuff is on the website. If you have any ideas, comments, questions, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me! I would love to make new connections and collaborate with others. Thank you so much for checking me out, for your support, and for visiting my website. I hope you find something that interests you in your personal life, and that helps you find love, growth, and happiness. Enjoy!