Welcome to Nahla Ink - Online Journal

 

 

Beginnings

If every life made perfect sense and was clear and uninterrupted, it would fall into a monotonous abyss. It would have no colour but white and grey. There would be no questions left to ask and no challenges that had to be faced. What would be the joy of living it? And what purpose would it offer one to get out of bed in the mornings?

Variety, spice and even opposing forces are what give us reason to experience the present moment and drive us to shape a future. For if every life were glimpsed as a tapestry encrusted on a wall, it is only in the various unique colours and patterns that it can be reviewed. And I like to think that only by the greatest contrasts can there be depth and beauty at the end.

And yes it is in the conflicts that we are provided with character and something worth this human existence. It is in the ensuing search for knowledge, in the sharing and helping of others and oneself to find our core values and make decisions – is what builds stamina and gives us a thirst for being.

But what I also know is that for most of us, what really matters is the day-to-day experience and in the gratification of explaining every current situation. We are after all human and fickle in this way. Yet that does not mean to say that there are not rare erudite moments of grace when things, for a split second, make sense all over again. We get to feel and sense the bigger story and may come to understand our role in it.

I also believe that each one of us is subject to a unique reward with the gradual passage of time and circumstance – that of personal lessons gained depending on our place of birth and choice of parents, the tough decisions we make along the way, the beliefs we construct to understand our world and the emotions we must go through to be able to say that we are all the same - Human.

As a writer, I have only my ink and paper to express, with the support and strength of words, that which I witness in my life and that which I have felt, thought, tasted and sometimes feared. Doubly as an artist, my burning desire is to caption my space and my time and to leave them as pieces for others to read, add to perhaps and pass on. It is with this passion in my heart that I open and write this journal.

But do not be alarmed for I won’t burden you with grand confessionals nor bore you with the trivial! I have a select group of friends who have the unfortunate task of listening to these. Unless, as I anticipate and hope, we can build more trust with each other and open up over the following weeks and months.

So to begin with, you will find here my Journal Entries combined with a Features Corner where I will open up a discussion and dialogue of a special topic each month that holds special meaning for me. Hopefully, I want to encourage you, my readers, to add, challenge, exchange and contribute to these.

Then, as you can see, there are a number of other sections and tabs that include: Short Stories I’ve written, Interviews of people I’ve met on my journey, Reviews of books, films and theatre that have caught my attention, Travel pieces telling where I’ve been and the Arab About London part that details some of the measures I’ve taken as a single thirty-four year old woman in search of fun, education, health and romance in this city I call home.