When you see the light go on in the eyes of someone whom you’ve been guiding along on a process! Today I feel like I had not one, but two breakthroughs! One of my sessions at Downsview Public library is attended by one boy mostly, who’s been coming pretty darn regularly. When he first began […]

I guess I have to change the way I measure how engaged the kids are when I’m storytelling or presenting. I’ve always looked at how much they move. If I can hold them completely spellbound, where they forget to even move, so they all start stretching when the last word is said, then I thought […]

Time flies when you’re really busy! And having fun! The second statement, the ‘fun’ one, I’m not so sure about right now. You know how when things are so intense, you’re just trying to keep everything straight, that you can’t really know if you’re actually having ‘fun’ or not. Well that’s where I’m at right […]

My cousin died last week. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon It affected me deeply. This was not just any old cousin, he was three months older than me, the second oldest in my generation, and now, with my older sister gone and him gone, I’m the oldest, and it feels…weird. It feels kind of […]

The first time I did my Saturday storytelling session at the Downsview Public Library I did it in the children’s section because I thought the kids would gravitate over and listen. Two kids did, and their mother sat with them and one person peeked at me around a bookcase, from where she was sitting, so […]

Maybe it helps that I do believe that everything I do, and everywhere I am, I am meant to be doing or being in that specific moment in time. There’s no such thing as no impact. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there are times I wish more people would take advantage of […]

Alhamdu lillah, this is the second week of the Artist in the Library residency. I’m feeling a little better about the refugee situation. As soon as possible, we’re going to be donating to some refugee camps in Jordan. We’re budgeting for about $500. (I wasn’t going to say the amount but hey, if it encourages […]

I know I promised more posts about my trip to Spain and Portugal. I had it all planned out, I’d write about Don Quixote, that most famous of Spanish heroes and his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza, but life interrupted. It was funny. All during my time in Spain and Portugal, I was having such a […]

This is what I wrote in the little journal I took with me on the trip: Subhan Allah, what an amazing trip it’s been. I guess places have different associations in your mind. In terms of Portugal I kept thinking of this delicate Portuguese storyteller I met in Iran, who blew everyone away with the […]

I’m sorry for taking so long to do a blog post. I’ve been away on vacation and it’s been so overwhelming catching up upon my return that it’s taken me a while. It’s like I’m digesting all the things I saw in Spain and Portugal, all the ideas that percolated through the sand in my […]