All is about expectations

All is about expectations. I have to admit that one of my flaws is to place too high expectations on people. I tend to trust others, and some of those I trusted turned to be real asssholes!!!(excuse my language but I couldn' find a better word)

The problem is that I just don't want to do the opposite simply because, in my eyes, humans do count. The inner feelings that, by not trusting others, I might not do justice someone out there is something I simply cannot put up with. You may call this utter stupidity on my part but that's just the way it is, and I don't want to do otherwise.

I don't want to give examples because this relates to my life, to people who think themselves friends, people who roll up their eyes at your success, people who give you the measure-up test, people who think of you as stepping stones, people who find their own success in others' failure, people who take you for a fool simply because you are different, people who are unable to get things done without your help and then start finding faults with all you do so that they feel they are there alive and kicking!!!

I don't know if life is meant to be this way. All sucks!!! friendship sucks!!! The worth and value I have always put on people has been, much to my chagrin and disappointment, dwindling. Can anyone of you people out there explain to me why no one is really and truly happy about the success of friends and colleagues? Can anyone out there tell me why on earth a lousy 10 dollar note is more valued than frienship, is valued more than the smile you will never give to the person sitting next to you in the tube?? Can anyone out there give me a convincing answer as to why on earth are we afraid of, suspicious of others. Why on earth are some of the opinions we voice being taken personally??

I am bemoaning, I know!! I am not compalining!! I learnt not to, and I learnt it the hard way. I am not angry as some people may think. I AM PASSIONATE, and there is no wrong with being passionate.

All is about expectations!! May be because you might think I expect too much from people. Actually, I don't expect too much from people. I simply expect the BEST from people.

It's been stolen from me, for three years!! And now it's back!!

النفس تبكي

النفس تبكي على الدنيا وقد علمت * أن السعادة فيها ترك ما فيها
لا دار للمرء بعد الموت يسكنها * إلا التي كان قبل الموتِ بانيها
فإن بناها بالخير طاب مسكنه * وإن بناها بشر خاب بانيها

أموالنا لذوي الميراث نجمعها * ودورنا لخراب الدهر نبنيها
أين الملوك التي كانت مسلطنة * حتى سقاها بكأس الموت ساقيها
فكم مدائنِ في الافاق قد بنيت * أمست خراباً وأفنى الموت أهليها
لا تركنن الى الدنيا وما فيها * فالموت لا شك يُفنينا ويُفنيها

لكل نفس وان كان على وجل * من المنـِية امال تقويها
المرء يبسطها والدهر يقبضُها * والنفس تنشرها والموت يطويها

إنما المكارم أخلاق مطهرة * الدين أولها والعقل ثانيها
والعلم ثالثها والحلم رابعها * والجود خامسها والفضل سادسها
والبر سابعها والشكر ثامنها * والصبر تاسعها واللين باقيها

والنفس تعلم أني لا أصادقها * ولست أرشد إلا حين أعصيها

واعمل لدارٍ غداً رضوان خازنها * والجار أحمد والرحمن ناشيها
قصورها ذهب والمسك طينتها * والزعفران حشيش نابت فيها
أنهارها لبن محض ومن عسل * والخمر يجري رحيقاً في مجاريها
والطير تجري على الأغصان عاكفةً * تسبح الله جهراً في مغانيها
من يشتري الدار في الفردوس يعمرها * بركعة في ظلام الليل يحييها
 
شعر للإمام أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I have just finished reading Harry Potter and the deathly hallows (Volume 7) and hated it. After all, it was not Harry Potter's story, but Dumbledores'. 

Just like in a romance, the good ended happily and the bad unhappily. It was fiction, after all. But honestly, I think that the writer was too tired and just wanted to finish it.  

Jerba Today

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman has always meant something to me. This is one of her best songs. I like the lyrics and all that sensation unleashed when she sings. I really feel that she has something to say, something to convey; and this makes all the difference. 

Telling stories

There is fiction in the space between 

The lines on your page of memories 
Write it down but it doesn't mean 
You're not just telling stories 

There is fiction in the space between 
You and reality 
You will do and say anything 
To make your everyday life 
Seem less mundane 
There is fiction in the space between 
You and me 

There's a science fiction in the space between 
You and me 
A fabrication of a grand scheme 
Where I am the scary monster 
I eat the city and as I leave the scene 
In my spaceship I am laughing 
In your remembrance of your bad dream 
There's no one but you standing 

Leave the pity and the blame 
For the ones who do not speak 
You write the words to get respect and compassion 
And for posterity 
You write the words and make believe 
There is truth in the space between 

There is fiction in the space between 
You and everybody 
Give us all what we need 
Give us one more sad sordid story 
But in the fiction of the space between 
Sometimes a lie is the best thing 
Sometimes a lie is the best thing

Free Hugs

I was in the London Hyde Park when a man holding a banner with "FREE HUGS" written on it passed by. I made one step back for a second wondering what this guy wanted to say. At the time, I did not know about the Free Hugs Compaign, but then when I was back in Tunisia I read about it somewhere.

The idea that someone you do not know may be offering you a hug regardless of your gender, age, skin colour, looks, etc. may seem a bit awkward if taken at face value, especially in a muslim country if the two huggers are of different genders (amazingly the opposite may be considered weired in the west. Can a male hug a male? I know this is commonplace now in the West, but is everybody positive on it?)

The thing is that, today, in this ugly, shallow, and materialistic world no body feels safe. The rat race imposed on us by us, by our conditioning is turning us into very ugly monsters. We no longer trust our neighbours. How many of us salute neighbours in the morning? How many of us are ready to give a day's work for somebody who is in despearate need of something? How many of us are happy for others' success? 

This monster haunting us. Our fear of others's success. Our envy of others' success. Who said: man is merely and exclusively a wolf to his brother man? HE IS.

This is why hugs (and may be love) are sought after in the most unlikely places. We are ready to hug a starnger simply because he / she is not a an immediate threat to us being the best of all!!!! I know for sure that the person passing by is despearte for a hug. May be the spouse or the partner or the friend or whomsoever was not much of a hugger, and the hug is by now a kind of ritual we all must share simply and only because we have done so for years.

This campaign for free hugs best illustrates our collective need for a look within and our collective failure as human beings.