Salwa.
I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss the way you sit on that chair of yours, one leg over the other, dressed to the nines, nails and hair always on point, always elegant, always immaculate. I’m going to miss the way you roll your hair every night. Your daily 12 pm beer -…
September
It’s autumn. Every autumn, memories rush back. So many memories of when we were just kids preparing to go back to school. Those days just before. I remember the streets of my hometown and how they looked with the changing colours of the leaves. How the streets were bustling with children and their parents buying…
Women’s Day
It’s proving difficult to write about today. Not because there are no words to say. Not because there are no women that come to mind. Not because there are no thoughts or emotions to express. But precisely because there are too many of all of those things and more, making it difficult to do this…
Ordinary
Ever since my trip to Lebanon this Christmas, I’ve been feeling uneasy. It’s always been painful to leave home after the holidays. Even after 18 years living abroad, the moment I hear “taxi’s here” as I start to roll my suitcases out the door, I feel my heart sink. Every year, it hurts. But this…
29
I’ve just turned 29. Woke up with a sneezing fit as usual – good to know some things don’t change. As I was making my coffee, I found myself trying to remember what my birthdays looked like in the past years. I remember my 19th very well. I was in my second year of university…
Write about something for which you feel strongly.
Day 10 of my writing challenge This is something I feel so strongly about that I might start writing a book about it. Although I could never do it justice, not the way my father can. We grew up to countless stories about my father and his three brothers from back in the day. How…
Post some words of wisdom that speak to you.
Day 9 of my writing challenge “Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.They come through you but not from you,And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts,For they have their own thoughts.You may…
Share something you struggle with.
Day 8 of my writing challenge I’ve not written for a whole week because nothing I was writing felt good enough. I struggle with many things but this is one that affects me the most because it triggers other underlying insecurities like a lack of self-confidence and a fear of failure. There’s not much to…
List 10 songs that you’re loving right now.
Day 7 of my writing challenge I’ve always been the person to be embarrassed of my music playlists. I was never the “cool” kid who knew the “cool” songs. When I was a teenager, I even tried to force myself to listen to the bands and songs that everyone was listening to but it wouldn’t…
Five ways to win your heart.
Day 6 of my writing challenge You can ask Mark what he did but here it goes: 1. Stimulating conversation. 2. The smile. 3. I never thought this would be one of them but definitely to be able to make me laugh. 4. Athletic (and still smell good after exercise). 5. A certain “je ne…
List five places you want to visit.
Day 5 of my writing challenge Despite having boarded a flight so many times, I actually haven’t been to very many places at all. I’ve mostly moved back and forth between two or three countries. I’ve visited a few European cities, and a few in the Middle East. A few others here and there but…
Write about someone who inspires you.
Day 4 of my writing challenge Yesterday I glanced at Day 4’s writing challenge and I’ve been worrying about it since, which is why I’m posting 1 hour past my deadline. I’ve been staring at my screen, typing words and hitting the backspace button repeatedly. Then I decided to Google search the definition of “inspiration”…
What are your top 3 pet peeves?
Day 3 of my writing challenge I find that I always come up with new pet peeves. Someone will laugh and I’ll be like “such a pet peeve of mine”. Someone will say a word and I’ll be like “such a pet peeve”. So it’s safe to say I have way too many and I…
Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot.
Day 2 of my writing challenge “انتي بتحبّي تلاقي شي تكوني زعلانة عليه يا بنت. ليش ما بتعرفي تكوني مبسوطة؟” مرّة من شي ١٠ أو ١١ سنة، في حدا كتير كنت حبّو وقدرو واتفق معو رغم فرق العمر قلّي هالجملة. هيدا الشخص خسِرناه هو وعم بيكافح ضد مرض ما بيستسلم الّا ما يدَمّر ويربح. ما…
List 10 things that make you really happy.
Day 1 of my writing challenge Being praised for a job well done at work. My wake up call from Freya (my cat) tip-toeing on me every morning. Having conversations with my dad in our home in the winter time over wine and escargots. Having conversations with my dad in our home in the summer…
A Writing Challenge
It’s always been really difficult for me to commit to anything; whether it’s a diet, the gym, a plan to go out or even anything that I actually enjoy doing like reading, drawing, writing… I know I can’t be the only one who struggles with this. I find the world we live in so increasingly…
Bitter-Sweet
How good it feels to be flying back home for Christmas and how sad it feels. How good it feels to have empty seats on both sides and how sad it feels – where is everyone this year? How good it feels to step out of the airport in Beirut and how sad it feels…
One day closer
The alarm rings at 7:30 am. I hit snooze. And it rings again at 7:38. Then at 7:45. I hit snooze again. And again… until I finally wake up right when it’s time to start working. Of course, this is the case when I work from home. The other days I do the same thing…
The guilty pleasure of homework
When I was a kid in school, I loved when the teacher gave us writing homework, whether it was for English, Arabic or French class, although my French has now gone a bit MIA. I would sit at my desk in the room that I shared with my sister, open my “exercise book” and start…
Ohmayaa 