Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz, and I'm the son of a divorced mother. She's really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about life. Too many women in this world feel alone. They
worry about the judgment of others and they struggle with their mental health.
But when they listen to the rare girls podcasts where empowered women share
their voices and tell their stories, many women will feel inspired to live
a life of freedom and to overcome all insecurities.
They will feel it is a safe space to find their confidence to remember
their unique beauty and to feel their self-worth and they will connect with the sisterhood of
rare girls who encourage their success and support their dreams.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Cynthia Meraj.
Cynthia was born in Romania and is mixed with Lebanese but currently living in Germany
and studying international business in Holland,
as well as working as a translator of Romanian German.
She loves traveling, shopping,
and she is a spiritual girl into manifestation.
Cynthia, how are you today?
Hello, and thank you for your invitation.
I'm fine today.
How are you?
I feel blessed.
I feel very, very positive
and excited to know much more about you.
So I'll begin with this nice first question,
which is, Cynthia, if your friends could describe
your personality, what would they say about you?
And also importantly, do you think that people
who knew you in Romania will say different things
compared to the new people who became your friends
in Germany and Holland?
And that's a good question.
First of all, I don't think they will say
something different because I'm the same person
in all my three countries, in Romania,
Lebanon and here as well. I would say since I'm very spiritual, I am a very deep person. You can
talk with me whatever you want and we can have any kind of discussion. But in the same time,
I'm a little bit impulsive, I would say. Kind of get angry very fast. But I'm trying to correct
No worries. I will ask all about all those, because that's very, very important. Let's
begin with your impulsive side. I don't think it's as negative as you might imagine, but
let me connect it with a sense of femininity. Because if you think about it and you think
about spirituality, there is a thought that femininity is between the feminine static,
which is kindness and being warm and friendly
and feminine dynamic, which is chaos.
And therefore, of course, chaos is part of femininity.
Let me speak to you about that.
Nowadays, we live in a time where there are many women
who maybe are told different things
about what it means to be a woman
and they don't really know,
should I be more masculine?
What does it mean to be feminine?
Does being feminine mean you're a bad person
and you're not ambitious?
does it mean? Like all that sense of stuff. For you, since you have that chaotic emotion,
you are probably more in touch with your femininity. How do you perceive yourself as a woman? How do
you balance your masculine energy with your feminine energy? Do you have or were you exposed
to such thoughts that people say, oh, what is the right way to be a woman? What's the wrong
way? Tell me more about that. First of all, I don't think there is a right or wrong way.
Um, I think we create this energy based on our experience, like based on our life experience.
For example, as you said, for me, it's just a paradox because I have, um, from one side,
my father who is telling me, you don't have to write the right to talk too much.
Just do whatever your husband will say.
Don't speak too much.
Just listen to the others.
And on the other side, I have my mom who says, like a strong Balkan mom, who says,
do whatever you like, do whatever you want, speak as you want, when you want,
and kind of this kind of stuff.
So to be honest, since I'm born in Romania, I kind of listen to my mom
more than my dad, by the way, they are divorced, so that's why it's a
So yeah, as I said, I think this energy is based on the experience you have and what you lived until now.
So there is no right or wrong way, as I said. No, there is no right or wrong way. It's just how you feel to do it.
Thank you. That's very interesting.
and it makes me also wonder to understand since you said you're a deep person and you
are into spirituality. Before I speak about manifesting, what is the meaning for you of
being a deep person? And since you are someone who's impulsive, do you tend to have a paradox
where you want like crazy people and bad boys because you can be like impulsive with them,
but at the same time sometimes you take a break with introverts who are deep?
Or how do you balance both sides? Because sometimes they're contradictory, deep people tend to not get bored easily, but impulsive people get bored very fast.
Exactly. I'm both of them. I'm getting bored of relationships immediately.
Like if you're not that kind of person that I'm into psychology a little bit.
And I would say that it's correct when the doctor says
that girls with divorced parents are looking
in their relationships for their dad.
So if I don't have the feeling
you're a little bit like my dad, then I'm bored.
Then I don't want you anymore.
So yeah, I'm both of them.
But with my friends,
I'm trying to don't get impulsive that fast.
And yeah, as I said, they can talk with me whatever they want, and I can get really like,
I really put myself in their situation and I'm trying to give them my best advice.
It's not the best with my relationships with the boys, I mean, but I'm trying my best.
Thank you.
And you said you look for someone who has parts of your dad and you, and you said
that your dad before tells you things like, you shouldn't talk too much, you shouldn't
do such things. What does that mean to you? Do you mean that you prefer more mature men who
gives you protection and a sense of that you are the little girl or whatever it is? Or is it more
that you like to change a man who's like more misogynist or something and you're like I will
change you because you remind me of my father or how does it work? Oh no no I hate misogynists
No, there is a big no.
I think since I didn't have my father on my side
that much in my life,
I prefer someone that reminds me of him
and I prefer someone that is trying to protect me.
Of course, I don't want someone that is like
trying to tell me you don't have the right,
but I prefer someone who is telling me I can help you.
I can support you.
That's the way I think.
I would hate if someone is telling me,
don't speak, you are stupid or something.
No, that's a very big no.
But as I said, I would like someone to support me
and someone from who I can learn something.
Thank you.
And let's speak about spirituality and manifestation.
You are in three countries
with three different religions often in many ways,
like one in Lebanon, you can have different parts or sects of Christianity, as well as Islam,
you have Romania, which is Orthodox, and you have Germany or Holland, which is more Protestant,
Catholic. Do you follow any of these religions or do you believe more that you are spiritual
in the sense that you connect directly to God, to the energy of the universe?
What are your perspectives on how you connect with the divine power?
Since I'm born in Romania, I'm very religious, I'm orthodox, and I'm trying to connect these two,
because I really believe God is the universe.
And as you pray, it's the same you are talking to the universe, in my opinion.
And so in the moment you are praying and you are saying, God, please help me in this way,
and you are telling the universe in the same time what you want to achieve.
So for me, it's the same, I'm trying to connect these two.
Thank you.
And you spoke about your spiritual side.
I'm curious to know how do you believe in destiny and what's your perspective
on it?
Do you believe things are meant to be and you're supposed to meet your soulmates, etc.?
Do you believe you create your destiny?
Do you believe some parts of your life are predetermined and others are free?
How do you see life for yourself?
I think nothing is without reason, nothing.
Also that I came here in Germany when I was 14 years old and it was very hard at the beginning,
but it was for a reason because now I achieved something
and I really believe the way God sent it to you,
it's meant to be.
Of course, in some moments of your life,
you can change it a little bit,
but at the end it is how as God wants.
Thank you.
And usually women who are spiritual,
they tend to feel people's energy,
they develop their energy, they're into energetic,
maybe you have crystals, etc. But when you meet new people, what makes you feel,
this is my type of person, we should know each other forever to be part of each other life,
and someone else, they might be great, but you're like, I don't feel it. What do you think
that is meant for that kind of chemistry? Is it that energy vibrates in the right way?
Is it souls that are meant to meet? Is it just values that are similar or different or
Because you love being crazy and impulsive you're looking for people who are always taking maximum risk or how does it work for you?
I'm trying to combine. I would say in the weekends
I prefer people that are crazy and takes the risk, but in the week
I want people that are calm and that are thinking about their decision in life
For example, I have two best friends
Before that, I'm asking about the zodiac sign.
This is the first question.
I'm a Scorpio and I prefer water signs.
That's the first.
Coming back to the point,
I have two best friends.
One of them is really responsible and she's thinking all the time.
What should I do tomorrow?
How I would plan my day?
How should I do everything?
and she's like very responsible and she's planning everything and she's giving her best
in trying to not not making mistakes. On the other side, I have my other friend who
just saying it like that doesn't give a fuck and she's living her best life. She doesn't
care about anything. She's just going the flow and I am somewhere in between.
Great. There are many women nowadays who feel stuck in their comfort zone,
maybe their life is because they're following
what their parents said,
or they're afraid to start their new project
that they're dream of because they think what if I fail?
And then people will think I'm a bad girl and a loser.
You who can combine both parts and be impulsive,
taking the risk and having the courage
while doing some planning,
did you deal with this where you felt sometimes
you're living part of your life,
not in the way you wanted and you needed to break free?
And what's your advice to those women who are dreaming about really living life in their way,
but they are worried? What if other people judge them? What if they make a mistake and fail?
I had this period of my life. It was at the beginning when I came to Germany.
I would say that in that time because I couldn't talk the language, I didn't have any friends.
I just wanted to go back to Romania. It was very hard.
but I had to study and then start living my life.
In that moment, I felt, oh, here is not my place.
I don't want to be here.
I just want to go back in Romania.
But then I understood, no, I'm here for a reason.
I have to work hard and then I will see what will be.
So I just did what I felt in that moment.
I just, I don't know how to say it in an easy way.
I just followed the way how it was.
So I studied, I worked hard, I tried to ignore the negative signs next to me.
And then now I'm happy and I'm fine with that situation.
My advice to the women that are struggling with this part is that your feeling will
never lie to you.
So if you feel you can do it, then for sure you can do that.
Just make whatever you feel and listen to your heart and to your soul because these signs will never lie to you.
Thank you. And I believe over time, especially when, you know, many of the teenage girls and when you were in that phase,
A lot of them, they're looking now at more and more photoshopped photos of women, even
AI generated in Instagram, they compare themselves, they feel ugly, and they lose their self-esteem,
and often they think, oh, I'm not as beautiful as other women, I'm ugly, I should not
succeed, I should hide my face and myself and all that.
And some of them can find ways to find their confidence and others need help.
For you, did you go through a phase where you compared yourself to other women and then you are able to take care of your mental health or what's also your advice to those girls and women who might be struggling now feeling ugly because they look at Instagram all day?
So at that point I would say it has positive and negative parts. Let's start with the positive
one. I would say that seeing girls that are looking good and that they're living their best
lives can have a good impact on you as well because then you are trying to give your best
and to get at that point. On the other side it could be a lie because almost nothing on
Instagram, it's true. And I have the feeling that nowadays, we
are trying to live only to have something to post on Instagram,
which is not correct at all. From from my point of view, I
would say, don't believe what is on Instagram, because nobody
will post actually, the the the the bad parts of their life,
the negative stuff, they were just trying,
they're trying to present only the good ones
and how good they are and how good they are living,
which is not true.
Everyone has downsides on their life and also high sides.
But of course they're trying to present it
only as good as they hope it can be.
Thank you, that's good advice.
And you as a more impulsive kind of girl,
and you said you get bored easily.
Why did you choose international business,
which is often a boring topic?
How do you keep yourself in that routine
of needing to study?
I know you said during the weekend,
you bring out your wild side,
but during the week you are much more about planning.
But still, if you get bored, it's still boring.
How do you deal with it?
I'll be honest with you.
It was a mistake.
It was a very big mistake. First, I wanted to enter marketing, but unfortunately my university
is not doing it in the way I thought they do it. Then I changed to IB. The part that makes
me happy is that they have a little bit of marketing inside this program and that
keeps me alive, I would say.
It's hard and boring.
I don't recommend it.
Maybe it's also the fault of my university
because they are doing it in a very wrong way
and they're not supporting us at all.
This is also a big problem of my life right now.
It has nothing to do with me as a person
because as I told you, I'm working as a translator.
I'm more into creativity,
like languages and stuff like that.
But I don't want to give up now.
It's my impulsive part, which is telling me no,
you have to do it until the end.
I like that.
And since you love adventure and excitement,
you're living on the border between Germany and Holland,
which is not a very exciting place.
Why aren't you living somewhere
like LA or Miami or Ibiza or Dubai,
where you have a lot more opportunities
to have dynamic, exciting new things happening
multiple times per day.
Okay, so I came here because of my family.
My mom had a job here, so we moved from Romania here.
Then I started to study and going to school, so I cannot stop right now.
You're right, it's very boring here.
I'm planning to change that in the future.
I love that, and I can feel that you're an ambitious woman.
Can you share what are some goals you have in your life?
You said you love marketing.
Is it to work within the marketing field,
to start your marketing agency,
to start a business and brand and market it?
What are some things that you dream about
and how do you encourage yourself
so that you like, some people will say
who you are to think the blah, blah, blah.
How do you overcome such criticism?
My plans are to combine these things.
I will combine the things that I can talk one hard language, which is German and with
the marketing.
So maybe hopefully in the future, I will have my own business for translations.
And about the people that are talking bullshit, no, I don't care.
These are only people that cannot do something with their own life.
That's my opinion.
Since you have the time to talk about other people's stuff, then you're nothing, then you don't have something better to do.
I agree 100%. Thank you so much, Cynthia Meraj, for your time, for sharing your voice, your story.
It was my privilege and my honor to have you in this podcast. I wish you all the success.
And that life will smile on you always and be easier and easier.
because like you said, everything happens for a reason
and sometimes difficulties can happen
just so that you appreciate when you get to the thing
even more and feel happier.
Thank you, thank you a lot
and hopefully one day we will meet each other.
