People say writers usually are. What for doesn’t need to be defined. Just longing. My blog 7obsessions, where I published all the poetry I’d written since high school dealt with that. Dreams, love and longing. I searched for it the other day and remember I made it private, probably after deleting all its content. It had some of my best poems. Shyness will drive you to do that. People who have dreams of being famous or are unwillingly pushed to the spotlight are often unsure of themselves. Or is that people with talent? Fear of judgement is the biggest hindrance to creativity in the Arab world. If people weren’t so critical we’d see more storytellers.

I grew up wanting to act. Sometimes I still do. It’s a curse more than anything. I think of Maya Angelou’s quote, “There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” That’s kind of why I created this website. It’s why I write sometimes. I hope to one day find the patience to write a novel. I find it difficult to read or write for very long periods of time. I don’t know if anyone reads this, but I love hearing other people’s stories. They may be just words, but the stories, they aren’t meaningless.