We live in an age of dissonance. We live in a time where the search for oneself becomes an identity crisis. We live in a city where instead of finding ourselves we become the reaction of circumstances. We escape on small vacations hoping it would help rejuvenate us, but instead you come back realizing, “there has to be more to life than this”.
I have heard it too often in Jeddah amongst my friends, “What am I doing here”? You know what I realized; it has nothing to do with the city and everything to do with the birth of a new generation open to change in a place where knowledge is lopsided: “please don’t challenge or question” is the motto here. How can you carry the torch of change in a city that constrains you; your views, your opinions, and your actions are judged; if you are different you become the topic of conversation amongst shallow society. What we don’t realize is that while the rest of the world is moving forward, we spin round in circles. Expectations about our future are set by older generations, and because we have a sense of responsibility to carry forward family names we have a duty to recreate the past, rather than shape a better future.
In a social gathering not too long ago I heard someone talk about their ancestors; they came from the mountains of Yemen and are considered to be from the lineage of the “Ashraf” of Mecca. That’s wonderful history lesson but he just kept going on and on and on… with every word that came out he would inflate his chest like a proud peacock. That doesn’t make you a better man, doesn’t give you an air of superiority to bathe in, it doesn’t glorify you, it is just a nice story to hear. This is just one example of many.
We are a select and lucky few who were sent abroad and by “we” I mean those who follow my similar upbringing and path; we opened our minds, eyes and hearts to a world far more challenging than our own when we moved and studied abroad. I will be the first to admit how terrified I was, how lost I felt, I kept to myself, to my own comfort bubble. Only when I returned to the Middle East did I realize how sheltered we are, how narrow and impeding to our progression people around us are- because they don’t dare question they accept and move on. I was taught don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to challenge. That rarely happens here. We don’t move forward because we are locked two steps back and it’s partly because we don’t live with peace. Can you imagine Steve Jobs actually stayed in Syria rather than being adopted by American family? Let’s just say the only Apple we would know is the one we eat. We exist in a constant state of strife and war, with other countries, other political views, religions and with our selves… We don’t move forward, we spiral downwards.
Everything sacred about the human mind and heart becomes tainted here...It is human nature to question, to seek answers, to learn more to want our freedom. Jean-Jacque Rousseau once wrote "man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains" he also wrote "We are born, so to speak, twice over; born into existence, and born into life; born a human being, and born a man." The human being part, you can thank your parents for, the man part, that's the trickier one... do you want to be a man bound to chains or break the mold?
I have heard it too often in Jeddah amongst my friends, “What am I doing here”? You know what I realized; it has nothing to do with the city and everything to do with the birth of a new generation open to change in a place where knowledge is lopsided: “please don’t challenge or question” is the motto here. How can you carry the torch of change in a city that constrains you; your views, your opinions, and your actions are judged; if you are different you become the topic of conversation amongst shallow society. What we don’t realize is that while the rest of the world is moving forward, we spin round in circles. Expectations about our future are set by older generations, and because we have a sense of responsibility to carry forward family names we have a duty to recreate the past, rather than shape a better future.
In a social gathering not too long ago I heard someone talk about their ancestors; they came from the mountains of Yemen and are considered to be from the lineage of the “Ashraf” of Mecca. That’s wonderful history lesson but he just kept going on and on and on… with every word that came out he would inflate his chest like a proud peacock. That doesn’t make you a better man, doesn’t give you an air of superiority to bathe in, it doesn’t glorify you, it is just a nice story to hear. This is just one example of many.
We are a select and lucky few who were sent abroad and by “we” I mean those who follow my similar upbringing and path; we opened our minds, eyes and hearts to a world far more challenging than our own when we moved and studied abroad. I will be the first to admit how terrified I was, how lost I felt, I kept to myself, to my own comfort bubble. Only when I returned to the Middle East did I realize how sheltered we are, how narrow and impeding to our progression people around us are- because they don’t dare question they accept and move on. I was taught don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to challenge. That rarely happens here. We don’t move forward because we are locked two steps back and it’s partly because we don’t live with peace. Can you imagine Steve Jobs actually stayed in Syria rather than being adopted by American family? Let’s just say the only Apple we would know is the one we eat. We exist in a constant state of strife and war, with other countries, other political views, religions and with our selves… We don’t move forward, we spiral downwards.
Everything sacred about the human mind and heart becomes tainted here...It is human nature to question, to seek answers, to learn more to want our freedom. Jean-Jacque Rousseau once wrote "man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains" he also wrote "We are born, so to speak, twice over; born into existence, and born into life; born a human being, and born a man." The human being part, you can thank your parents for, the man part, that's the trickier one... do you want to be a man bound to chains or break the mold?
