But more importantly, why aren’t YOU?
I was with a friend when the topic of dating and marriage came up. I’m in my thirties and single, so this seems to be a topic of curiosity with many of them, especially younger ones.
My friend, who is more than half a decade younger than me, was just starting to date again after a nasty breakup, and had asked me this question: what do you look for in your partner?
I listed the obvious first — honesty, wisdom, maturity, loyalty, independent thinker, etc. Oh, and someone who doesn’t expect me to do their laundry for them or cook…
I don’t have writer’s block; neither should you
When people say they have writer’s block, I’m not entirely sure what that means. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not like I don’t ever struggle to put words on the screen. I do. Often. But that’s not because I don’t know what to write about — coming up with ideas isn’t a problem for me.
Often my version of “writer’s block” has to do with something much more rudimental — lack of research/knowledge of the topic at hand, poor outlining or planning, or some kind of existential crisis, like dropping down a level or two in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs…
I miss the office
I have been self-employed since well before the pandemic. I’m not new to the laptop workforce. And I can honestly speak on behalf of nobody but myself that I do not particularly like this lifestyle.
I have no idea how people get anything done from home. Back in 2012, after Hurricane Sandy made Manhattan inaccessible, I had to work out of my Bushwick apartment for almost two weeks, and I swear, I got absolutely nothing done! If this had continued for a few more days, I likely would have gotten fired. And I’m not even exaggerating.
Fast forward a few…
Writing an amazing story takes effort that most of us have no time for
Let’s face it; most of us bloggers and content creators do not even dream of seeing our work in The New Yorker or the New York Times. And no, it’s not the competition that scares us; it’s the quality. No matter what we say in public, how much we complain about our introversion, or our inability to make the right connections, we know the truth deep down. We’re not good enough. We just don’t have what it takes.
That’s right; most of us do not have what it takes. Sure, some of it may be a raw, inherent talent that…
But I still have hope for a better future even if I’m not around to witness it
I’m a first-generation immigrant. I came to the US almost two decades ago and after leaving a country drowning in suffocating patriarchy, I thought I finally found some respite.
But of course, the American dream of a utopia is a total sham. Don’t get me wrong, I’d choose this country over any other I have known any day. And I’ve known a few. But at the end of the day, America, just like the rest of the world, is plagued by its own sets of issues. Racism, bigotry, xenophobia are just a few of those. …
Life sans access to a library forces me to turn to digital reading
A few years ago, when I moved to the house I live in now, I had to leave almost all of my books at my parents’. I live in a small bedroom in this house with three roommates who live in three other small bedrooms. Needless to say, I don’t have a lot of space. I also hate clutter. I had aced the KonMari thing before Marie Kondo made it a thing. If you stepped inside my bedroom, you wouldn’t know that I love sniffing books. …
Learning to ride is the easiest part
Let’s say that I have now checked off one of the top 5 things from my bucket list — I have learned to ride a bicycle. Yes, it is indeed something the youngins learn across the world. But I hope you’ll reserve your judgment for a minute because I happen to be an exceptional human being! Normalcy doesn’t apply to me!
But, thanks to that, I have now experienced that which well over 90 percent of adults in America could not — I have learned to ride a bicycle at the age of 38. …
Man… why?
I won’t lie, I’ve been feeling a bit high-strung these days.
COVID, death, depression, and years of pent-up anger and frustration can do that to you.
Add in the fact that all of us seem to be running out of ideas to make money, and instead, looking at Medium to pay our bills, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a mini-avalanche inside your brain.
The trigger to set off the bomb?
Well, that came in the form of an email this morning from a publication (here on Medium) I applied to write for.
Yes [responding to my request to…
Medium has a bug. There is a godawful publication with clickbaity titles about Medium itself that keeps showing up on my feed. You do not even have to click on these stories to know they’re clickbaits; that’s how bad this pub is. But perhaps because I made the mistake of clicking one of their articles in the past, the almighty algorithm now won’t leave me alone. Exasperated, I tried muting this pub, but guess what? Nada! Stories kept showing up on my feed like the plague! In fact, more than half of my “recommended” stories are from this pub. Like…
Bring ’em on guys ;)
When bills are piled up high on your kitchen countertop, your rent is half a month late, and you’re about to be evicted because not only do you have to contend with paying your overdue rent but also the mountainous late fees, the last thing in your mind is whether or not you’re getting hate comments on your blog post.
It doesn’t matter, because the only thing that matters is if those comments are making you money.
I’m at a time in my life where I don’t need to worry about rent or bills every single month, but that feeling…
Maliha
She/her. I write about what I know and what I’m trying to make sense of.
