An Emirati Eye: Aida Al Busaidy on The Importance of Family

The communication strategist, story teller and Bazaar Arabia columnist talks about the importance of building a family base and how we can learn valuable lessons from our loved ones in our April 2024 issue

It all begins, stays and lasts with family – that could be a title of a book, a song, the answer to a question or even just a conclusive statement. Well, at least in my case.

As I pondered on what could be said of the subject – and thought of the essence of the word, I honestly couldn’t boil it down to any one single meaning or example. If anything, family is what defines you and not something that needs to be defined.

What do I mean by this? A family could be one you are born into – this is the one that we most commonly associate the word with, and tend to think of – but a family could also be one that you choose or one that chooses you, from a clique of friends to a fraternity or professional association. Most familial links are inked on paper like a stamp of approval because you are connected by blood or by marriage and some are through education or work institutions. In the last decade or so people have found or created “fams” through social media, calling their followers or subscribers their family, as bonds begin to form which develop into close connections.

Over the years, my family has grown, changed and evolved. In my late twenties, I was blessed with a loving and supportive husband who is definitely my partner in crime and then together we were doubly blessed with two mini-him and I’s. There’s no real manual, and you’re never taught about creating a family and suddenly being thrust into a central role. You become the base.

It paradoxically became not only my greatest gift but my biggest challenge to understand that being the core of any family – and not only the one you procreate – means you become nurturer-in-chief. But no one teaches you how. Building connections and sustaining them has got to be one of the most tedious yet rewarding emotional and mental tasks one can do and while it may all seem rosy on the surface, it definitely comes with drama.

Some ties get severed through death, disagreements over money and inheritance, and some because you grow apart; I would compare family to branches of trees where you each find your path in life but always go back to your roots.

Acceptance of both the good and the not-so-good is imperative. Forgiveness, compromise, and adding value to one another are lessons that we may not learn through books but can learn through the bonds of a close clan.

Even if your family consists of just one person, I’d argue that it is the single most important aspect of ones wealth, because it signifies commitment, a sense of belonging, a base – where you can share. Even if you are judged, it is done with love because when testing times come, family keep you aloft.

“I would compare family to branches of trees where you each find a path in life but always go back to your roots”

Aida Al Busaidy

Photography: Efraim Evidor. Styling: Imogene Legrand. Make-up & Hair: Arina Zubakhina. Stylist’s Assistant: Janhvi Kohli

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s April 2024 issue