We Need A Golden Age

Hello my dear readers, it’s been a while since my last post, I admit. I’ve been enamored with school, which is always the case really. Also, I haven’t been so much inspired lately to write about a certain topic.

That is, until today.

In my spare time I usually either watch anime, or read about things that quip my interest. What has been grabbing my attention lately is sciences in general. Physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, the whole lot of them. I was reading on how scientists have been able to prove that the moon is  moving farther away from the earth every year, almost 14-inches,  and that at some point through out the next centuries, we might not have a moon anymore. This truly grabbed my attention, but I was more curious about the scopes they were using. I googled it (thank you God for google), and read about it.

But then, I grew more curiouser. Who invented these scopes? I googled it, and was taken to wikipedia. You know what happens in wikipedia, you’re just taken from one page to another and then another, and finally I find myself opening the page about cameras. I found no interest in them, really. I was about to shut it off, but then the name Ibn Al-Haytham came on, and my curiosity flared up like a cat’s.

I clicked on it, and read.

I was amazed.

For those who don’t know who Ibn Al-Haytham was, he was a well renowned Muslim scholar who’s known for being the father of optics, that is the study of sight of the behavior or lights. A little background on this great scientist, he’d been ordered by a caliphate in Egypt to regulate the floods of the Nile river. Seeing as he couldn’t do so, Ibn Al-Haytham acted that he was mad, so that the caliphate wouldn’t kill him. Instead, he’d place him under house arrest, and with that Ibn Al-Haytham was able to discover how we’re able to see.

In old days, people believed that our eyes provided beams of light so we may see, much like Superman. Ibn Al-Haytham found that ridiculous, as he claimed that even when we close our eyes, the sun is still there to provide light for us. As he was kept under house arrest, he’d conducted a scientific research that was able to lead to our modern day camera.

I couldn’t believe it. All these years I’d thought that someone other than a Muslim was the one who introduced the idea of a camera. To think that someone from our own religion did such a thing, not to mention he was an Arab. It was amazing. I was ecstatic, and I wanted to know more about Muslim scholars.

Soon enough, I found the Golden Ages of the Islamic World and read more and more about it. And as I read, I grew frustrated by the minute, maybe even by the second.

At the end of my readings, I was outraged. Why? These great achievements, these great scholars, these Muslims, why haven’t I heard of them before? I do know some, and I was aware that there were scholars at that time, but I never knew many had helped the world with their discoveries. I was furious! Why did I never know such things?

And then I realized, it all comes back to my education. Never had I heard my teacher speak of such scientists, never have I learned that the father of modern surgery was Al-Zahrawi, a man who was well known for his surgical methods and creations that to this day some tools are still being used! All I ever heard of what Muslims did at that time was spread Islam all over the world. The rest was about Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, and all these Westerners that made me wonder as a kid whatever success have we ever done in this world other than spread our religion?

But there are Muslim scholars who studied our religion! Yes, yes, I know about them, and kudos for them for doing so. However, don’t you think if you knew about these scientists in throughout our education that we would’ve been inspired more to create and discover? I look at the United States, and throughout history people say that they were able to create and to discover because they were inspired by the scientists before them.

I must admit, as a child, I’d wondered why all we ever did in history was go into war. Spreading religion is great, but I wanted more. I wanted to know of those who were able to change the lives of people, even if little, with their creations. Alas, I was given nothing of that through out my education, and I went looking for other scientists. I was convinced in High School that we were barbaric at one point in history, and we only rampaged through countries.

What if I’d known of these great scholars as a child? What would’ve happened? Would I’ve been even more proud to be an Arab, a Muslim for the matter? I already hold pride for my religion, but to know that these men and women (yes, there were female scholars at that time) were inspired to discover because of our Quraan makes me even more proud. I would’ve puffed my chest to the foreign kids and gone, “Well, Ibn Al-Haytham created those cameras in your hands, so nananananana”.

My point is that education is everything. I’ve mentioned this in a post before, but this is a little more specific. Education is everything, because through it, we get to know who we truly are. Why do you think Americans are so proud of themselves? Because of the accomplishments those before them made.  Some might say that there were many accomplishments at that time, and the one most important was of spreading religion. Yes, I agree. However, knowing only of the spreading of religion is not enough. We must know more of our own cultures, of those before us, and of the accomplishments they made so that we may soar again and have another Golden Age.

I don’t care if they were from different different branches of our religion. Their discoveries were  important to the world, and to us. To know that is important for our pride. And I think we need to tell our kids something of the lines of “Hey, did you know that the first person that attempted flying was Abbas Ibn Firnas? The Wright brothers followed him centuries later.”

I think this alone will make them proud to have Arabic blood running through them. Not only that, but to make them even more proud to be Muslims.

Till the next post!

EDIT: Thanks to @Seetafa on twitter for linking me to something that’s really great! Visit this website, and discover our Muslim heritage! http://www.1001inventions.com/

Generation Nothing

“And now, with the new high technology you can–”

Boring. 

“Time is running out! Buy now–”

No.

“Are you tired of cleaning up your–”

Shut up.

There was nothing new on TV. It was the same old crap that would come up every fifteen minutes, but was there anything else he could do?

No, there wasn’t. The thought of doing something else other than watch TV was simply out of the question. The fact that he had to get up just to do something felt horrific to him. Shuddering from that thought, he bent down and picked up the Pepsi he’d been drinking from earlier as well as some french fries.

He shoved the fries into his mouth as if he were a hungry baboon that was lucky enough to find a ripe banana, immediately gulping it down with his soft beverage. He burped, feeling the satisfaction of eating something so chewy run through his body.

He flipped through some more channels, not caring about what he’d do later on that day. Would he go out with his friends? No, he didn’t feel like it. TV shows were more entertaining, they wouldn’t get into arguments with a person so easily, they’d just entertain a person. What about going to the supermarket to get some food? No, he could just order fast food to his house. That’s why they’re called fast. All he thought about at that moment was, ‘I wonder when F.R.I.E.N.D’s is showing?’.

“Now with our newest report. The Security Council of the United Nations passed a new resolution that places even more embargoes on Syria in attempt to prevent it from committing anymore acts against humanity . Syria’s latest–”

Immediately he changed the channel, not caring for what was happening to Syria. Allah was with them, and that’s what he believed in. What can a simple man such as himself do to help them? Donate? No, he won’t donate, because he was positive there were others that would donate. Besides, he could use the money he’d donate with to buy him a game he could spend hours playing on. Does that make him possess a frozen heart? No, he’ll still keep them in his prayers… or prayer, whichever.

All he cared about was movies, food, his own joy and happiness. Why should he care about people he’d never met? He continued on shoving fatty delicacies into his mouth while flipping through more channels. Was there really nothing good to watch right now?

Sakafa.

“Joseph Kony, the most wanted man on the International Criminal Court’s list. This man has abducted over thirty-thousand children only this year, training the young boys to become soldiers in combat, while the young girls become sex slaves to his vast army. Invisible Chil–”

He flipped the channel again, giving out an exasperated sigh. Every damned channel was talking about this or that, things he wasn’t interested in. He only wanted to watch F.R.I.E.N.D’s. Was that so hard to ask? He felt like he had nothing to do with what these channels were talking about. He was aware that he’d heard of what the man did to those children. Were these children he knew? No. Were they children of his country? No. Then why should he even care? And even if they were children of his country, it would be hard for him to care.

Allah was with them, that’s what he believed in.

It was at that thought familiar music came on. He dropped the remote by his side and grinned, suddenly adjusting his posture so he could feel more comfortable while he was watching.

“And welcome back to Arab Idol! Today our contestants will…”

Now this was a show he could connect with. Fun, excitement, joy, no one to care about except for those who truly deserved his vote. That was a show. He watched intensely, his nerves being on the edge of cracking. He was connecting with those young singers, who sang their hearts out to win this program. He felt their emotions, their sorrows and wishes.

You can do it!

And when the show ended with the person he truly admired being eliminated, he’d felt sad. Why was the world so cruel to this person? He truly deserved winning, he truly deserved a better life. And not once, while he thought of this, did he think of the situation in Syria, or about Joseph Kony. He didn’t even think of the children in Palestine that were suffering the most, because their lands were being taken away from them.

He only cared about what’s on TV. Advertisements, shows, entertainment, he only cared about materialistic things. He’d become a living blob that only thinks about itself, not even trying to connect with those he found no interest in. Actors, actresses, people on entertainment, he cared about them, only because they make him happy. Other than that, why should he care?

And if he did care, he wasn’t motivated. What would he get out of helping people? There was no money in it. No one would give him a certificate. He wouldn’t be even famous. His motivation basically had to be bought to do such boring things. Helping people sounded ridiculous, and not worth a person’s time.

No, he only cared about himself. He’ll get a job, work his way up, become rich and then spend it all on himself in things he couldn’t buy at the moment. That was the joy he could get out from his life. Living the life of the rich. He’d get to meet famous people, and maybe even the celebrities he’d liked so much over the years.

And he isn’t alone.

He’s a part of a larger group, a generation. A generation with no dreams or hopes. A generation that don’t feel compelled to help their fellow man in any way possible. A generation that’s greedy, that’s driven by corporations, and that’s been brainwashed by their government’s false promises. A generation of tweets, retweets, liking, disliking, and rebloging. A generation with no minds or hearts.

He was a part of Generation Nothing. 

 

 

 

Technological Children

Hello, my dearest readers. It’s been a while since I’ve written something, and I admit to that for I was busy the last month or so. Not only that, but I’ve been having a little bit of writer’s block, and I do hope you would forgive me.

Now onto the post.

I’ve been reading and watching a lot lately about child education. You might ask, why child education in particular? It has nothing to do with your field of study! Well, I’ve been interested in children for a very long time, and the fact that teaching a child something can change the course of their life fascinates me to no extent.

Bringing up Geeks by Marybeth Hicks was a book a read a few years back for the sake of my kid sister. It speaks about how you can support a child into becoming a geek, meaning you can sculpture them to become people who are interested in technology. With this fast pacing world, we do need to engross this interest in high technology, and give them the type of awareness in which they’ll be able to cope with high technology in their everyday life.

Many critics say that children are quickly interested into technologies without even having to teach them, it is because they’re shiny equipment that they can play with. However, we should guide children into using the right technologies. What’s right about getting a child an iPad and downloading only games on it, where we can download a highly educational mathematical program? Nothing. That’s where we as adults are making mistakes.

There was this highly interesting TED talk that made me realize just how intelligent children are, and how we as adults try to nurture that intelligence. Sugata Mitra is a Professor of Educational Technology. He’d focused most of his studies on child development, especially in the aspects of technology. He’d conducted many experiments, which are absolutely fascinating.

As you can see through the following video, he mentions the project he had worked on in India. I was astound. Children taught themselves things that no teacher could’ve, or what teacher would’ve prevented. And then, I realized that it was all related to child curiosity. Children in those experiments he did were wildly curious, and they wanted to learn more. They felt no pressure for teachers, no stress from their parents on getting high grades, and no one held expectations for them. In fact, he mentioned in the video that the places he placed his experiment at were poor places.

What I loved even more about his experiments is that he made children work together as a team, something we’re lacking these days. We always thrive on individual work in schools, and only then we suddenly remember the concept of team work in university. By that time, most people prefer working with themselves, due to the lack of trust around other people.

So after watching that video, a thought occurred to me. Why can’t we, a nation that is rich with money, attempt projects such as this, or even fund for it? I’ve been noticing, through my own sister’s education, that our learning system hasn’t evolved much. The only difference there is that their memorization is less than what I had. What an outstanding difference, I must say.

Children, like it or not, are our future. We keep discarding them as creatures that make no sense, creatures that hold boring conversations, and who have so much energy that we can’t handle. Why not harvest interests of technology (the proper kind, mind you), and allow children to explore the world around them. These children can be called the internet generation, because back in my days the internet was not sufficient enough to search things on. Now, you can find plenty of information on it, learn about other cultures, meet different people, and do so much more! The possibilities are endless, we just need to use it!

I hope this post really gets to someone, because I think for us to empower our own nation, we need to start with our kids.

Thank you!

 

 

 

Jars of Jelly

Hello, dear readers. I know it’s been a while since I posted something, and for that I apologize. Being a law student isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

Before I go into this post, I’d like to clear something up. For those who aren’t familiar with internet slang, I will clarify the meaning of Jelly.

Jelly: Being jealous, or hating

For the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing a lot of stories that surround either girls being jealous of other girls or boys, and vice versa as well, which made me wonder. Why do feelings such as jealousy take over us and make us blind? Is there a scientific reason for it? Or is it related to how we were raised as children? Or is it psychological?

Personally, I think it’s all three. Jealousy is an emotion activated by our brains when we feel threatened by something, and feeling threatened is a very animalistic trait. And so it starts the moment we are born. Ever wonder why babies cry when they see their mothers holding other babies? They feel threatened, and from that jealousy begins to works its way into the babies brain. It’s why raising children to not be jealous is very crucial.

As for the psychological part, there are many forms of jealousy such as romantic jealousy, siblings rivalry, workplace rivalry, etc… We all know them, we’ve all seen them in one form or another. There’s no question about that.

And then comes envy.

Envy is known to be one of the seven deadly sins that is mentioned in the Bible, as well as in the Qura’an as “حسد”and we can see this word in the verse “من شر حاسد إذا حسد” . So it’s that emotion where someone feels inferior to another person, desire their achievements and wishes they didn’t have it.

I find it interesting to see how we become so enamored by this single emotion that everything else around us means nothing. Let’s say, if you’re someone with a number of fantastic talents, and then a friend of yours has this one talent that they excel in. You feel threatened by this, because he or she may outshine you. And so you forget all of your other talents and try to figure out a way to perfect this talent of his/hers , wanting to take away that talent of theirs, so that you are on top again.

Isn’t that silly? I believe it is.

I’ve been noticing this a lot in our community. We try to find ways to become the best, because our families have us convinced we are the best. Realistically, no one is the best at everything. No one is perfect. There has to be a balance in the world, so we can function properly. Everyone must look at their own talents, their own capabilities and work on that rather than follow what others are doing.

I’ll give you an example, and a realistic one. Omar Hussien and Fahad AlButairi. These two are fantastic comedians, and they excel at what they’re doing. They have their own youtube shows, and they really enjoy what they’re doing. Suddenly, you see a number of young men trying to do what they’re doing. They open up a youtube show, and attempt to joke around like those two. I don’t mean any disrespect, really, but some of them are not even funny. I’m positive that they have talents in other things, but they’re too focused on outdoing Fahad or Omar. Some people even mention them on twitter telling them they should give up what they’re doing because they fail at it. They’re simply trying to take away Omar and Fahad’s confidence so they don’t feel threatened by them anymore.

So do these people who are envious and jealous, are they happy?

British philosopher Bertrand Russell made it clear that envy is a reason for unhappiness, or a reason that leads to unhappiness. It’s as Buddha said once, “Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”

So in a sense, envy is an insult to your own self. If we really take the time to discover ourselves, to feel that we are all truly different, and each and everyone of us is destined to do something in this world even if it isn’t big. We shouldn’t allow these feelings to take over us and make fools of us, because those who abandon their own talents for some selfish desire to overcome another person is an ignorant fool who will be miserable the rest of their lives.

Till next post!

Born

The sound of his heartbeats echoed through his body. They were slow, each pound sounding more metallic than the one before. He felt it all around, his insides, his muscles, his skin. It ached. His body ached in a way where nothing mattered anymore. But his body was used to this ache. His mind, his heart. They were used to it.

He felt hot. The sweat that was snaking its way from his forehead down to his chin, he could feel its presence. He didn’t have the urge to wipe it off, though. In fact, there was no urge to move at all. Moving itself didn’t make any sense at the moment. He was simply too tired.

Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath. Air. He never thought that it would taste so differently. Everyday, he opened his mouth and swallowed chunks of it, never really sensing that there was something off. And now, he did sense that. It tasted acidic, polluted, dirty. Through out all of his life, he had been breathing filth, pure unfiltered filth.

A chuckle fell from his lips.

He’d been born into a world of sinners. A world of hate, lust, and greed. It wasn’t a surprise that their air was also filthy. As his arms rose towards the dark skies, he began to laugh. He’d been born into a world of insanity, a world where the poor rot beneath the rich, where the orphaned are abandoned and the sick are left to die. He’d been born into a world where politics ruled them all, and no one was free.

He continued to laughed, but with every breath he took, his chest began to ache and tears somehow managed to make their way out of his eyes.

They claimed that this was a happy world, but in reality it wasn’t. Death tolls increased, diseases were like wild fires and money was spread thin. Governments plotted against their own, and their own plotted against others. Life itself was becoming meaningless.

No, life itself was meaningless

He’d been born into a world of anarchists. A world of factitious leaders, of wars and genocide. A world where lies were truths and truths were lies. And it was no surprise that the world was distraught, that nothing was in order. Rebellion uprising against governments, for the sole desire to live, to breathe the polluted air.

His heart began to ache more, but he couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t deny the world he lived in. He lived in a horrible world. A world of prostitution, where one sells their own organs to eat and drink. A world where a fair trade is merely a trade of souls.

Tears were now streaming down his face as his frustration against the world he lived in was doomed to become unbearable. He hated this world. He wished to escape it. He wanted to leave the filth, the pollution, the dirt, the greed and lust that were infecting this world.

It was all clear to him. What he had to do was all clear.

His chest was heaving heavily as his tears kept pouring on. His tears then turned into sobs, as he placed a hand on his chest, crunching up already worn out shirt. “We as a generation are doomed! We as humans living on this planet are doomed! We have no lives! And I would rather give up my life than live it like this!”

And he did.

He was born into a world where even his death was treated as a number.

© Ghada Al-Muhanna, 2011.

Fire in Jeddah

First and foremost, I would like to give my condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the fire. I hope they rest in peace. And for those injured ones, I wish they have a quick recovery.

Now.

I’m frustrated. I’m extremely frustrated. Have we really reached the point where students and teachers throw themselves out of windows to save their own souls? Isn’t there something called a fire procedure? And if there was, wasn’t it implemented properly?

I’m reading many tweets, looking at a lot of pictures and watching videos about what’s happening in Jeddah, and I can’t help but feel sad about what’s happened. Those women, those little girls, none of them had a clue what was happening and I’m sure many of them didn’t even know what to do. I agree about how this is fate, how God had written this. However, that’s no excuse for not having a full working procedure plan! That’s no excuse for not preparing for these accidents!

If there was a procedure, there would be less injuries and less children who will be traumatized by this accident. Some children will  have a reaction of not going to school, because they’re not safe there! Schools are supposed to be the safest places on this planet. They’re suppose to offer children first class safety plans. If that’s not there, then what else do these kids have? Why must parents risk the lives of their children, their own flesh and blood, if they’re not safe?

I know, I’m no expert here. I’m just a student. But I am a citizen. I’m a citizen who cares about what happens in this country, who wants the best for it, who wants its people to live and prosper. If we don’t care about this country, then what do we have left?

We have nothing.

We should stand united, and help each other. Even if you can’t leave the house, you can join in solitude. We were born in a society that teaches us the importance of family. Isn’t a country just one big family?

But what’s next?

To all those older brothers and sisters who worry about their younger siblings, you could contact the schools and ask that they should have fire drills. Or you could tell your parents to call, whichever makes you comfortable. For those who are capable, you could write  articles and tweets about the matter and ask for fire drills! Youtubers, show us how important fire drills are!

In the end, I will leave you with this cartoon I used to watch as a child. It had an episode dedicated to this. Why can’t we do this as well?

Toying with Creativity

Hello, dear readers! I hope I haven’t prolonged my absence in posting. If I have, I do apologize. Yesterday, I had the honor of doing a Tedx lecture for Alfaisal University . And through out the event, I’ve met so many astounding people that really made an impact on me. I’m so grateful that I’ve met them, and to be honest, I will never forget that day.

My talk yesterday was mainly about creativity, and how you can toy with it. However, the talk didn’t last for very long, and I only gave a glimpse of the idea. Now I’ll give a more in depth talk on this blog on the idea.

What exactly is creativity? Well, there have been a number of interpretations of creativity, but most agree it is the act of creating something new. Thomas Edison was the creator of the light bulb as we all know, and it is a device that has truly enlightened our lives (specifically in night). So we can say that Edison exercised creativity when he was making those light bulbs.

But what are the elements of creativity? What did Edison have to do for his creativity to shine through and make him create?

Well, in my own opinion there are three elements of creativity.

These elements once combined together give out the essence of creativity, they allow you as a person to create or rather to experience creativity and be driven to creating something that many might not have done yet! But first, let me talk about each element separately to get a better understanding of the whole idea.

We’ll start with imagination. Now, I’m sure imagination is those mental images we get almost everyday. Before we go to bed, we start imaging about that upcoming test we have. Or maybe we imagine about our future lives in five, ten or maybe even twenty years! Imagination is in all of us, but the kind of imagination I’m talking about is a little different. What I mean by it is we have our minds think up these wild images. Once you grasp a wild image, let’s say this wild business plan where you open a hospital themed restaurant, you begin to enter into the second element, which is insanity.

Insanity. I’m not speaking (writing, really) about the mentally disordered. We all have walls around us, we all have these chains that restrain us from doing the things we wish and desire, maybe even become what we want. We always see that in our community. Someone doesn’t do a certain thing because they might be called out on it. That guy/girl is so crazy for doing this. Who are those people to judge if we can or cannot do it? If they thing it won’t work, then it won’t work themselves, not for you or me.

Let’s go back to Thomas Edison. When he started with the idea of having light in this tiny glass, many laughed at him. Is this man mentally insane! That’s what most at that time thought. They truly thought he was insane, and that he belonged in an asylum. At some point in his life, he was shunned from society in fears of effecting other people with his insane ideas. Did that effect Edison? No. He continued on until he did create the lightbulb and amazed the world with it.

In my opinion, Edison was insane. He broke out of society chains, left his own comfort zone and created his own new invention. Not only do we see this in Edison, but many other scientists, artists, even actors and actresses since they leave their comfort zone to take over new personalities and to me I find that astounding. It’s because as humans we don’t realize that once we are out of comfort zone we might actually achieve something.

But what about illogicality?

Illogicality is an adjective for being illogical. Let’s take a look at kids. They’re the most illogical beings on this planet. To them, 2+2= 22. They can’t make sense of anything. And in our educational systems we crush that illogicality by giving them the tools and knowledge to go through life. That itself is not a problem. What I find the problem is that not only do they crush that sense of illogicality, but rather they crush creativity with it.

Again with Edison. At that time, do you think it was logical that light would be come out of a round glass? Not at all. But he continued to be illogical, and he created the lightbulb. Another example would be J. R. R Tolkien. Through Lord of the Rings, nothing seemed illogical. Elves, dwarfs, humans and the rage that happened in between. And this ring that seemed to dominate the whole story. He created languages for the story and to many that itself was illogical. Why did he need to create languages since he was writing in English? Why was he being so illogical?

Because he was also being creative.

Kids. Kids are more creative than all of us. They hold these three elements, or rather, they possess it. In schools they murder these elements. They ask kids to be logical, to stop being insane and not to imagine things in class since they’re working on this boring math equation!

Our school systems need to learn that creativity is important. To me, it’s more important than knowledge. Because when we create, we are willing to let our minds go and wander free to do whatever it pleases. While knowledge only allows us to increase the ability to create.

When I was a kid, I’ve always been somewhere else. I’ve never been in the present. I’ve always imagined things in school, when I get back home I go insane and act out the scene I put in my mind with my marbles. Yes, marbles. I used all of these three elements. And the feeling of being able to create is so magical. When i write, I feel like I’m between the stars, that I’m in space flying with my arms wide open! Nothing can stop me. Nothing can hold me back and tell me to come down.

And we all know that space is continous and it’s never ending. This also applies to creativity.

Creativity will never end.

 

Smoke

Smoke. That’s all he could see in front of him. In a sense, it calmed him down.  How its silky gray color moved freely in the air with no restraints, slowly dissolving. He felt a connection to it. A desire to be like it, and disappear into thin air.

He chuckled to himself at that thought, and took another long drag from his cigarette. Blowing out, he watched it with all serenity as it moved elegantly, like it was dancing a forbidden dance. How beautiful must it be to be smoke, he’d thought.

 Not once did he cough when he smoked, even for his young age. He was used to it. They had told him not to, but who were they to control him? Who were they to decide whether he should smoke or not? He can do whatever he pleased. He was a free man, just like the smoke in front of him. He was free.

 Glancing at his watch, he realized the lateness. He wanted to stay longer, to observe the smoke’s elegance and its majestic way in moving, but he had errands to run. He stood, pocketed his hands and took leave from the steps of his house.

 He pressed his lips together and looked up. Ah, the dark blue skies of Riyadh city, he thought with a grin. He liked it. He liked how dark the sky was, how blank it was, and how it didn’t have a single shining star. It was like he was looking into a mirror. He liked that very much.

 He also noticed that the moon wasn’t in the sky. A surge of happiness ran through his veins. He could feel his blood rapidly pumping through his body, his heart thundering against his chest. No, this was more than happiness. This was exhilaration. He started to lightly chuckle, remembering how they liked looking at the moon. His chuckle then gradually grew into laughter, a maniacal one.

 He kept on laughing as he walked through the streets of his neighborhood, not caring if anyone woke up. He was feeling extremely happy, and none of his neighbors could stop him. Not even they could stop him.

His laughter subsided when he decided to stop. He’d realized that his feet took him to the neighborhood’s grocery store. It was still open even at this time of night. How convenient, he thought, taking a step into the store.

The man there knew him, so he waved his hello at him. He waved back. Manners, manners, that’s what they taught him. He smirked. Taught.

He took a can of Pepsi, and M&M’s.

Placing the items on the counter, he began to chuckle once more as his eyes came in contact with the gums that were placed at the counter. The Indian man eyed him for a few moments, wondering what was amusing.

“No more,” the young man guffawed as he picked up two packets of gum. The young shoved one packet in front of the man’s face. “Did you know they liked this kind of gum?” He told him. “They used to always tell me to go get it. They won’t ask me that anymore!”

The man stood there silently, eyeing the boy. He wasn’t sure what was going in that young man’s head, but he knew it wasn’t normal. Deciding not to interact with this boy anymore, he gave him the bag and told him the amount he needed to pay.

He paid and left. Laughter overtook him. In between breaths, he would remember them and get the urge to do it all over again. The sensation he’d gotten when he did it was extraordinary. His had been shaking with delight as his breaths quickened, his lips struggling against his broad grin, his face dripping with sweat.

Tonight was a glorious night.

There wasn’t a need to rush back home, as he’d decided to show his siblings his masterpiece in the morning. The colors would look better in broad daylight. Not to mention his sister’s favorite color would pop.

As he kept on walking, he shoved his hand into his right pocket out of habit. There his fingers felt something smooth against its surface. He hadn’t realized he’d taken his cellphone along with him. He stopped halfway through the road and pulled it out. He should call someone. Instantly, one person came to mind, and so he dialed.

At first there wasn’t an answer. With a frown, he tried twice more. No answer.

He eyed his cell, growing impatient by the minute. Why wouldn’t that person answer? On the fifth try, there was an answer. Finally.

“Mmmmm?” a voice mumbled through the phone.

“Hala, uncle! How are you on this fine night?” He asked.

The uncle grumbled on the other side, “don’t you have school?”

“Yes, I do. I thought I should call you, though. You know, have a little uncle and nephew time.”

“Are you pulling my leg? It’s 3 AM, for heaven’s sake. Go to bed,” his uncle moaned.

“Well, I just wanted to call you to tell you something.”

The uncle sighed. “Can’t you postpone this till the morning? Or better yet, just tell your dad.”

“Dad’s not here anymore. That goes for mom, too.”

“Your mom didn’t tell me she was leaving the city.”

“She didn’t. She’s gone.”

There was a long pause.

“What?”

“The thing is, there’re gone. In other words, they’re dead. I think it’s better for you to come here and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Listen, if this is some sick joke, I swear to God I’m going to beat you to a pulp. This is nothing to joke about!” his uncle said.

He chuckled, “Why would I lie? They’re my parents. They’re dead. Not breathing anymore. Oh, before I forget to mention this…” he paused, relishing his moment, “I killed them.”

Suddenly, there was a beeping sound over the phone. His uncle had hung up on him. The young man shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at his phone. It seems that his uncle didn’t want to see his parents.

What a shame. He’d put in so much work for this.

It might have taken him some time, but he had finally made it home. Pushing the door open, he briskly walked into his home.

Home sweet home.

Entering the house, he threw the plastic bag to the ground, which caused a high-pitched echo. He winced at how annoying the sound was and and hoped his siblings wouldn’t wake from it.

He went up the spiral staircase while humming to a tune he’d heard earlier. On the last step, he began to move to it, dancing with euphoria.

Pursing his lips, he eyed his parent’s room and wondered if he should visit them or go to bed. Visiting them wasn’t a bad idea. He could have his last conversation with them before they’d take them away.

It was only a few steps from the staircase and his parent’s room. Light wasn’t necessary, he knew exactly where the bed was and took his time in reaching it. He sat beside his mother and looked down on them both.

“Hello Yumma. Hello Yubba.” He whispered down at them in a loving tone, placing a hand on his mother’s head, caressing it gently. “I really hope you enjoy your afterlives. I know I’ll enjoy my life without you. Oh, don’t worry about the kids; I’ll take care of them. It’s my job as the eldest, right?” He smiled, leaning in and kissing his mother’s forehead.

“Oh my God, what have you done?!”

Looking from his mother, he saw his uncle frozen in the doorway. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t see his face, his reaction. He frowned, regretting that he didn’t prepare for this visit.

“They’re gone. Gone for good,” he smiled, “And I’m free, just like smoke.”

Hypocrisy is Thy Name.

Let’s admit it. Everyone’s a hypocrite. No matter how hard you try to deny that, we’re all little hypocrites. However, the level of hypocrisy differs from one person to another. Now I might be a hypocrite by telling you that I hate this certain subject and I think it’s demeaning and morally wrong, but in fact I’m so very into it to the point I can’t drag myself out. Now I’m a hypocrite for telling you this. I’m claiming that I hate something, whereas in fact I’m totally in love with it.

From what I see, the amount of hypocrites in our community has grown to the point of exhaustion. It makes me so upset to listen to people tell  these lies, which are perceived as advice, and then those same advice givers go do it themselves. How much of a hypocrite are they? Aren’t they ashamed? Not only are they lying to themselves here, but their ruining their images.

“Psh. My image is safe, I don’t care about that.”

I’m sorry, but your image will eventually be ruined. No one will trust you, no one will ever believe a word you say. Even your own breaths won’t be believed.

It makes me wonder. Why do we have to live this way? Why must we give people this pretense that we live life purely? If I wasn’t a true supporter of a certain opinion, but I still defend it because of this certain image I have in front of people, am I really myselff? Not really. It’s not only deception of people, but rather a deception of yourself. You wouldn’t be able to face yourself in front of the mirror and truly see yourself for who you are. You’d be a liar.

A lot of hypocrites feel bad about themselves, and you can notice that. If you have that one person in your life, and I’m sure everyone does, who does the opposite of what they say, you can notice how miserable they look and feel about themselves. I believe it’s because our minds know who we really are, and it’s sending out signals that we’re really not like this, we’re actually better people, we’re people who don’t worry about their image, people who are willing to become themselves and throw away that worry of being judged.

Yes, we live in a community where every fragment of an action is judged. Should you care, though? What if people do judge you? That only means you’re doing something different. It means that you’re willing to break boundaries you’ve created around you and explore yourself. Who are you? What do you want to do with your life? How are you going to spend the rest of your days? These are the questions you’d ask yourself rather than; Should I agree with them so I won’t be judged? Why don’t I just buy that thing I really don’t like since I want to be like everyone else? How about I support this team that I don’t really like?

Hypocrisy will always roam around in society. They live in all societies, really. However, we can attempt to lower the number of hypocrites in our society. If we just start by teaching kids (maybe even adults) that they shouldn’t lie for fame, or lie for the sake of being courteous or just for the sake of becoming a better person. It doesn’t really make you better.

Pretending to be someone else is better to be left off for actors.

I know I’d rather be myself, than some fake plastic person who has no opinion of their own.

Who would you rather be?

I Got Them Dream Killers

“You’re kidding, right? You must be kidding.”

I’m quite sure everyone heard this sentence at one point in their lives. It could be when you tell a story that many think is so farfetched. Maybe when you brought the wrong book your teacher goes on and says that sentence. It applies to many situations. The situation I’m talking about is when you share your dreams.

“I want to be the next Steve Jobs.”

“You’re kidding, right? You must be kidding.”

I admit, it’s quite depressing to hear people laugh down at your dream. It happened to me so many times. As a child, I had quite a lot of aspirations. I once fantasized of being a scientist that would send astronauts to space to discover planets in other galaxies. The reply I’d gotten from so many was a laugh, a pat on the head and a “don’t dream too big, child.”

But why? Why shouldn’t I dream too big?

Since we live in a society where some people look down on women as inferior beings, I had dared to ask if it was because I was a girl. Truth be told, I expected a yes. I even had a swift comeback where I would prove that throughout history many women had accomplished many things, both in the academic and scientific field. I’m not going to go deeper into this since I’d be drifting off, which is what I’m doing now, and I apologize for that.

So.

Surprising enough, the answer was a no. I’d ask, “then why?”

I won’t go into detail about the answer, since it was almost an hour and a half lecture. However, what I can say is that the people who laughed at me, a child of ten, told me I couldn’t do it simply because I’m not like those scientists.

Did scientists not gain their name from distinguished colleges, jobs and accomplishments? I think so. Then how could a child who didn’t have any of those be compared to those scientists? I couldn’t understand.

I couldn’t understand why they were stepping on my dream. Did they have a motive? I doubt, since I was a little kid. Then what? This thought been turning over and over in my head for a while. It disappeared when I went into middle school. I didn’t give it much thought then. I don’t give it much thought now.

How did it come up though?

I have a sister nine years younger than I. Ever since she was two years old, she’d been enamored with fashion. She could tell the difference between fabrics, how a certain type of stitching could effect the style of a dress or a blouse. It’s now known in my family that my sister wants to be a fashion designer. No one has argued with her, no one has ever questioned her. We all support her, in fact. If she desires this, then why not? If she changes her mind later in life, who is to blame her? It’s her choice.

A few days ago she came back from school looking quite upset. I asked her what had been bothering her. She didn’t speak at first, but when she did, she began to cry. Holding onto her, she started to tell me how one of her teachers humiliated her in class, telling her that fashion designing has no future, that the drawings she draws are plain scribbles that mean nothing. When she grows up, she’ll just take any major and do what everyone in this country does.

My sister’s idol is Coco Channel. Ask her any question about her, and she’ll give you the quickest answer ever.

The woman told her she could never go up to the standards of Channel.

I was infuriated. How could someone tell a child this? Not only she had stepped on her dream like a bypassing cockroach, she had humiliated her in front of her whole class. When did ever reach to the point of humiliating kids in front of others? I admit, I’ve been humiliated many times in front of my classmates, but never anything related to my dreams.

Keep your dreams to yourself. That’s what some people tell us.

Why? Why should I? I’m damn proud of my dream. My sister is damn proud of her dream. Why should we have people crush and kill our dreams because they didn’t find theirs?

Some point in your lives, you must have had this dream, this desire to be something. It might have died, but when you think clearly it’s probably because someone made fun of you for it.

I can’t deny it, and neither can you, that there are many negative people in our community. We always view ourselves as lower to those from the outside, even though the only thing that differs us from them is the support they get from their own community.

Don’t you always wonder why America has the most number of innovators? It’s because in most of their communities, thinking about your dreams is supported. Wanting to accomplish your dreams before you die is supported. But for us it goes this way; get married, you can’t accomplish your dreams anymore. You should be realistic. You’re going to get kids. You need money.

Personally, I won’t let anyone pummel my dreams, whoever they may be. If I get married, if I have kids, I’ll take it on a slower pace. I don’t have to give it up.

And for those of you who either haven’t found their dreams, or gave up on theirs, all I have to say is keep searching. If you think positively (yes, I’m going all The Secret with you) about your dreams, they will come to you. Believe me, you have no idea how shocking it is when you realize what you’re dream is.

Until next post!