A Subjective Review of All My Sketchbooks
My art journey has been marked by an ongoing sketchbook practice. In fact, I've painted on sketchbooks more than canvasses. Painting on canvasses (no matter the size) was a more formal affair and needed more mental prep. There was also certain amount of pressure and expectation for me to produce something good whenever I painted on a canvas.
Lessons from my long art break
Over the past year, I haven't been painting much. Sporadically, now and then I would dust off my sketchbook and do a few half-hearted sketches but otherwise, I've been in a creative rut.
My Favorite Online Art Resources...
When I started painting a few years ago, I became hooked on YouTube as it quickly became the greatest and most accessible (not to mention free) resource for learning art. I started off with mainly YouTube tutorials and through a few YouTube artists I was following at the time,
Road to Self
Someday, a man will marry you,
Not because he loves you,
The Lie
The only weapon I have,
The only revolution at my disposal
To A Palestinian Child
One day, I will watch you playing in the olive groves
And under the lemon trees.
Remembering
This is a companion piece to my poem “First Love”. It is an ode to the potency of memory, no matter how brief a relationship is. As Neruda famously wrote: “Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”
What 2019 Taught Me- Reflections, Life Lessons and a Personal Journey
We are now almost a month into the new year, so I thought I would take stock of 2019 and all the life lessons it has taught me which I hope I will carry forward into 2020.
Appendages of Gold or the Culture of Male Worship in Middle Eastern Societies
A few months ago, a friend and I were taking a walk and she started telling me of a recent telephone conversation she had with her mother in which they were discussing the family property and how to equitably divide it among herself and 2 siblings (an elder brother and sister).
My Life on Keto
At the beginning of this year, I ventured into the world of Keto. Now there's been much buzz going around this new nutritional diet/lifestyle/major life change...however you want to look at it, it is all the rage.
Quarantine Sanity Guide
As many of us around the world are in quarantine, and some in 24-hour lock down for a few weeks now, I thought I would share some simple tips and tricks I've incorporated into my daily routine that have helped me get through the days in relative peace.
The Damaging Effects of Unsolicited Parenting Advice
A couple of days ago I watched the season finale of a show called "Little Fires Everywhere" which drew stellar performances from Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. The show is about mothering, and how race and class inevitably play a role in our parenting choices.
The Vision Board As A Way To Access Hidden Desires...
Around six months ago, I created my second vision board ever. But the whole experience was more than just cutting up images from magazines and pasting them on a foam board. It was a little bit more involved than that. A friend of mine invited me to a vision board workshop held at her therapist's house.
A book review of Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic"...
I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert, and have been for a long time. I've read most of her major bestselling novels: "Eat, Pray, Love" (duh) "Committed", and her phenomenal novel, "The Signature of All Things". And while I love her in any genre, I feel she does non-fiction so much better than fiction.
Going Back to Basics: A Review of Stephanie Buttermore's "All In" Food Journey
During the past couple of weeks of lock down I've stumbled on a fitness Youtuber, called Stephanie Buttermore, by pure happenstance. I continued watching her videos because unlike other fitness influencers out there, this one has a PhD and some of the most engaging content I've seen on YouTube related to fitness and nutrition.
Winter Memories of My Summer Garden 2021
I am sitting at my dining table, wrapped up in snug sweaters and warm socks, looking out the window at a world buried in snow. As much as I love the cozy isolation that winter affords I can't help but turn to thoughts of warmer weather.
A Message of Hope for The New Year 2022
As 2021 winds down to a close, people around the globe are bidding adieu to another particularly difficult year...and good riddance.
Best parenting self-care advice: Take time out from parenting!!!
In our society, women, especially mothers, are constantly on the defensive, feeling like they have to justify their parenting decisions, their life decisions, their career choices from the barrage of judgements coming at them from every corner.
My Summer Balcony Garden 2022
I just spent the morning cleaning up my balcony garden in anticipation of the season of winding down that is upon us. Just as fulfilling as planting seeds in the spring and early summer, it is equally therapeutic and deeply satisfying to clear out the yellowing leaves and dying plants, harvest the last of the vegetables, give the pots a good washdown and the balcony floor a good sweeping.
My Experience with Postpartum Depression (PPD)
I gave birth to my daughter in January of 2016 in the UK. I was 36 at the time. We were living in Cairo, Egypt but had gone to the UK so my daughter can have a British passport, as her father is a British citizen.