In the midst of so much destruction, of an undeniable time of struggle across the nation but especially in DC, it can feel wrong to be so enthusiastic about the good things and the new things that are unfolding.
Tag: writing
Progress is Not Linear
Progress isn’t linear, life rewards risk-takers, discomfort is growth, and other things I tell myself to get through a hard time.
Year in Review: 2023
In my worst year ever, I found creative inspiration everywhere I looked.
Do I Need to be Locked in a Book-Filled Glass Cage in Order to Write?
(Warning: Major spoilers below for the television show You). In the Netflix show “You” an obsessive serial killer boyfriend locks his procrastinating writer girlfriend in a glass cage located in the the basement of a quaint New York City bookshop. He has to keep her prisoner there because she discovered all his murderous deeds, […]
Nothing a Literary Lecture Won’t Fix
A little more than a year ago, I was feeling out of sorts and depressed. Trying to make a life in Jerusalem, write my book, and even just fill my days felt like a struggle. Once, I burst into tears in my Arabic class and my teacher took my outside and was like “What is […]
My Grad School Reading List
I submitted my graduate school thesis, which is the first 70 pages of my novel. I feel pretty okay about it (not great, because my novel isn’t finished yet). I’ll head to Paris for one last time in July, but already I’m mourning this program ending. Do I really not get to go to Paris […]
The More You Learn, The Harder it Gets
I’m three-quarters of the way through the low-residency MFA program at New York University and I can say with some confidence that after three intensive residencies in Paris, monthly writing deadlines, and the mentorship of several accomplished authors, I am now a better writer. I can also say with confidence that because I am a […]
Je Suis Charlie
Yesterday morning when I was walking to class in Paris, the city was all police cars and sirens. Oblivious being that I am, I blocked out the noise, figuring perhaps Paris is often loud with sirens. Near Notre Dame, I realized there was a bomb siren going off. This I chalked up to “Oh, must […]
100 Posts Later
This blog post marks my 100th since I started blogging shortly after arriving in Yemen in 2012. On August 23 of that year, I posted my first blog post, Marhaba from Yemen on YemenEm.com, which later became TheDameinSpain.com. Over nine months of living a (practically) cloistered life […]
What’s the Story Here?
When I was twenty and working at a newspaper in Michigan, I was assigned to cover a belly dancing class at the library. I arrived to a henna-haired women in her late fifties whooshing colored scarves around and instructing the four children who were participating. Four children. How was I supposed to write a story […]
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