آواخر الشتا

خير الكلام

لا تعاشر نفسا شبعت بعد جوع فإن الخير فيها دخيل..

وعاشر نفسا جاعت بعد شبع فإن الخير فيها أصيل ...

اغلق أذانك إذا كنت لا تستطيع إغلاق أفواه الاخرين ...

فالاحتـرام فــن ليـس كل من تعلمه أتقنــه ...

والمال يجلب لك أصدقاء المصلحة ...

والجمال يجلب لك أصدقاء الشهوة ..

أما الأخلاق فتجلب لك أصدقاء العمـر ,,,

My Hijab... My Choice

Almost 10 years ago, I decided to wear Hijab. I remember the first day I told my parents about my decision and their reaction was surprising at the time. They were totally against it when I felt no shame in it whatsoever. I knew exactly that they were just concerned that I was too young and would take it off at anytime I want. They thought that I saw that Hijab was the new hot thing, or even worse and I was just fascinated by those new Imams or Duah who were all over Egypt at the time preaching young people about Hijab, prayers....etc, things that now I believe are truly superficial and won't make a difference if your heart is not full of belief, love and purity.

I still remember how I was fully convinced with my decision back then. I still remember that I was the first among my friends who decided to wear it right after my 14th birthday. I still remember how I lost loads of friends right after it, when they thought I would be a new female "Sheikh".

Now, I believe that that decision back then was one of the strongest decision I have ever made. I realize now that I was strong enough to make a life altering decision at such young age when none of those around me gave me the support I longed for. I still remember the first day I put it on and wore my school uniform and stared at myself in the mirror and thought that I was way less attractive, but then I told myself "So what?"

Maybe, my hijab was not so proper according to many people, but in those 10 years, I have learnt a great deal of things. On the spiritual level, I am still working on myself. I know I am still weak, but I hoping to be better and working on this. However, throughout those 10 years, I have learnt what responsibility is. I have chosen Hijab and I am sticking to it. Sometimes, I have doubts about it like any doubts anyone can have about anything in life. But, I make sure that my doubts are valid before I take any decision I might regret.

Today, a dear friend of mine has shared with me her decision to take off her veil after wearing it for 7 years. I am not convinced with the reasons and believe that she might regret it later on. But for you my dear, you have my total support, I wish I had had before 10 years ago.

Best of luck, my dear friend.

Sometimes....

My crazy moments!

Sometimes I don't wanna hear your pretty little romantic stories, as it reminds me of how lonely I am.

Sometimes, I don't want anyone pointing at my flaws, I am very aware of my own awful flaws.

Sometimes, I act crazy and say loads of bull shit that I truly believe in, but all I need is lame support from people even if it's a lame stupid smile. I know that you will never believe in my thoughts, but that fake support works, sometimes!

Sometimes, I build up walls and complicate simple things, just to see if people are willing enough to understand.

Sometimes, I want people, even strangers, to give me hope and say "Everything is going to be okay."

Sometimes, I want people I care for to sense it when I feel the blues and ask me "What's wrong?"

Sometimes, I want old friends popping out of nowhere and say"Hey there, we should meet up," and take the trouble of clearing their busy schedule to actually see me.

Sometimes, I want people to be creative and go beyond their limited imagination and surprise me. I love surprises.

Sometimes, I am overwhelmed by that fake strength that many people show.

Sometimes, I want to hear about others's vulnerability. It makes me believe that some people are still humane.

Sometimes, I say things I never mean. Why do I say them? I have no damned idea!

Sometimes, I talk to myself.

Sometimes, I create stories in my head loaded with love and optimism. But, I do my best not to believe them and get back to the stupid reality.

Sometimes, I cry in random places. In bed, in the movies, below my shades and among people, but I am too smart to show it.

Sometimes, I wanna leave it all... the job, the house, the family and friends and run away. Where to? I am still trying to figure it out.

Sometimes, I feel no shame in talking about my personal issues in public like what I am doing now. Seriously, I don't care.

يلعن الغربة وسنينها!

النهاردة حسيت بس قد ايه أنا محظوظة إني عايشة في مصر، مش عشان عيد الثورة ولا عشان أنا إيجابية بزيادة، بالعكس أنا شايفة إن في حاجات كتير متطمنش وخايفة برضه من بكرة، بس عندي إيمان إن البلد حتقف على رجلها من تاني زي ما وقفت مليون مرة قبل كدة!

محظوظة إني مصرية عشان مش عارفة أكون غير مصرية... قابلت كتير من جنسيات مختلفة وقابلت برضه مصريين ياما عايشين برة ونسوا إنهم مصريين بجد، بقوا مسخ ملوش معالم لا مصري ولا أجنبي متعرفلوش ملة ولا دين...

كنت زمان بقول مفيش مستقبل غير برة مصر، دلوقتي مقتنعة تماماً إن مفيش مستقبل غير في مصر.

لو حشحت جوة بلدي يبقى أرحم من إني أكون مليونيرة بس من جوايا شخص مشوه وعايش برة بلده بيحلم باليوم اللي يرجع بلده عشان يدفن فيها...

الحمد لله على إني مصرية

As Cold As It Gets!

God dam it! One of those days when climate change is being at its worst and we are shivering like never before. It has been snowing in Alexandria a couple of days ago. Maybe this would give you an idea of what we are through right now.

Woke up today very late after a very sad conversation with a friend. I could not sleep till very late after I had read another sad short story with a heroine under my name. LOL! I thought to myself that macrocosm is being mean to me.

Then, it seems that I could not get enough of the sadness and sorrow I had yesterday and decided to add to it more fire. Now, I have ruined a lot of good things. My fingers are about to fall off from the icy weather and my brain is about to shut off from the lame negative regretting thoughts.

Merde!

Another Great Song I Like

It's Not Just a Dress!

http://sansretouches.wordpress.com/ 

As many of you know I have started blogging about Fashion recently, and that has made people wonder about the reasons made me do so, especially I have not been known as a Fashion Diva of any sort. Well, it hit me one day when I was surfing many groups on Facebook of young creative women who decided to pursue their passions and do something different. Whether they are photographers, designers or artists, many women have started their own businesses producing unique stuff of a great quality and for reasonable prices. 

I found the idea absolutely great especially that we, in Egypt, are not that productive people despite our massive consuming power. When you visit any mall now, you find all kinds of foreign brands that are usually too expensive and not necessarily of a great value. Not only did we stop producing for our own consumption, but we unconsciously decided to drop our own culture. There is a story behind every dress; it is not only about how you look, it's about what you stand for and symbolize. When we import a dress, we import a whole new culture and gradually forget about our own. When you see young women wearing hijab with skinny jeans and short tight tops, you know for sure that something is wrong. When people look like freaks and you can't tell what a certain outfit represents, it becomes clear that a change needs to be done.

A country like Egypt with its rich heritage and culture that brings about the beauty of other cultures; African, Middle Eastern, Arabic, Islamic, Coptic, Midetarranean, and Ancient Egyptian, has certainly what it takes to stir a lot of creativity and can be a real potential for creating our own trends not just in fashion but in any field of life and even in our mentalities. 

When we import clothes or various products, we also adopt different, new and not necessarily good values. When you decide to buy a sweater and go to H&M for instance (a place where you absolutely guarantee that all products are foreign and a place that is considered as a must go for people from different classes in other countries like the UK), you can see that a lot of girls would face a problem when buying especially when it comes to sizes and prices, for instance. The fabrics themselves are different. In winter, you can find either too heavy coats with furs that you would think are good for places or other people as the Eskimos. Even when we decide to import, we do so without taking into consideration whether those imported goods will suit us or not. Instead of making our own products and satisfying our increasing needs ourselves, we decided to become mere consumers who are not even strong enough to control what they pay fortunes for.

A shame, right?

Thus, I have been amazed by those designers and artists and decided that I should do something as well to help especially that many of them have started working on reviving our forgotten heritage and feature some young creative people whom I run into whether in real life or on Facebook. 

Now, that Sans Retouches blog has grossed about 1900 followers in just 4 months, I have been overwhelmed and inspired a great deal by people's support and absolute creativity.

Thanks everyone for your support even if you have visited my blog for one time only. You have made me believe strongly that this blog might grow indeed and help feature other young talented people who seek support, publicity and surely customers :)

Cheers!

Dream a Little Dream of Me...