غَمْضة
root: غ-م-ض / noun / definition: a blink
Can you believe it’s been ten years since I enrolled in my Arabic and Linguistics bachelor’s degree?
No way! scream the imaginary crowd in my head. But yes, yes indeed.
I’d stepped into university, fresh off of A-Level stress, printed timetable in hand—and then, in just ten blinks: a graduation, launching my blog, a pandemic, enrolling in an MA, another graduation, travelling, lecturing, my PhD, marriage, a work placement…
Ten whooshes around the Sun seems about right for all of that, but I’m sure that orbit has been speeding up.
And now here I am again, in Majorca, in my childhood home in this little village in the island’s south. I would say something about life being cyclical, but I feel I’m moving very much in a linear path to old age—having spent the Saturday night before my flight in A&E with numbness in all my limbs (and my face) resulting from a very knotty neck and back.
At what point do I accept that my years-old slumped-over-the-laptop posture doesn’t fly anymore? At what point do I take my standing desk seriously and step up to it?
After some attentive pressure and massaging of and around the knots, I was able to sit for my two-an-a-half hour flight with full feeling in all of my limbs, thank God.
(Sitting here, writing this post now though, I feel the pins and needles marching through both feet and my left arm. BRB—time to stretch.)
What was I saying again?
Oh yes, reflections and all that.
One of my recent realisations was that my hobbies and work are becoming more interconnected. In the “yay, I’m doing things I love, narrowing down my interests, and expanding my horizons” way and not the “oh dear, my hobbies are feeling like work” sort of way.
And this makes me think of how I’ve been presenting myself—or, rather, not presenting myself—on this blog.
The whole time I’ve been writing on here, those six-and-a-half years, I haven’t even mentioned my own name. Is it finally time we’re on first-name terms?
Hi, I’m Mennan. Writer of The Arabic Pages and much more. Lover of languages (as you should know), translator of texts, and wanderer of the world. A 28-year-old Cypriot, born in London, with her heart tied to Majorca.
Connect with me on LinkedIn, comment below, or contact me via email. Who are you, what do you do, and what brought you to this blog?
I think it’s time we all get better acquainted.
..مع السلامة
or should I say:
مرحبا..؟
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