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Why I listen to French music and wear purple sunglasses!

Noor Elhayat

  
During my high school, I was forced to study Arabic literature. Literature book worms will think at this point that it must have been interesting. Nah! most of those texts were boring. Soulless. Too idealistic to relate to your everyday life. I honestly hated them. The moment I graduated, I never touched any Arabic books. Ever. For so long I remained clueless about what Arabic writers publish out there in the market. I was too busy reading in English.  
When I started to study English literature, I discovered for the first time how beautiful words can be. People like Oscar Wilde, William Wordsworth, Emiley Bronte, Sylvia Plath have all contributed to get me hooked. I was in real love with English literature. It was not the language that interested me, it was rather the thoughts, the concepts, the the freedom of expression. I was so much in love with English literature, or that was what I thought at the time. 

Last week, all this has changed. I attended a workshop with a renowned Arab author from Kuwait, Abdulwahhab AlSayyed, who proved to me that Arabic literature can be “humane” too. It can touch your feelings and take your breath away out of excitement. Not all Arabic literature deals with mourning over the past or praising a certain persona in a refined language. He proved to me that language is only a means to carry thoughts, and the thoughts I found in the Arabic books he recommended (including his own) were a treasure. Beyond words.

The workshop changed my perspective in looking at Arabic literature. But it has also changed the way I judge things which I tried only once so long ago, disliked, but never gave a second shot ever since. It taught me that change is inevitable, and that no experience or expectation remains the same. 

Thanks to the change, I now listen to French music, eat Japanese desserts, and wear purple sunglasses. 

What is next?

I don’t know! May be some yellow shade of lipstick!

 
  

P.S: all pictures are taken from Google.
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Hi,

I’m Noor and I’m a Saudi writer. I like to read, eat bagels and dance.

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34 thoughts on “Why I listen to French music and wear purple sunglasses!”

  1. Hi Noor,
    I think you should definitely try the yellow lipstick!
    As usual your post strikes a chord, and you are soooo right, times changes our perception of so many things.
    Perhaps it is US who change, rather than time itself? I think maybe we develop and (hopefully) mature as persons as we age and this surely must make us look at things in a different way than maybe when we first came across that something we now see anew. Whatever it is, it is refreshing and I’m pleased you are discovering new aspects in writings and life itself.
    Keep up the great posts!

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    2. You said everything I was thinking. I left a reply recently on another post that carries the thought a little further. Yes, youth is a time for learning, exploring new ideas and thoughts as we gain wisdom as we age. So often, though, there comes a time in life where most people get stuck. They think they are to old to change. They have no interest in learning anything new. “That’s the way I’ve always done it” or “That’s just the way I think” People get old and they don’t want to learn anymore. I live in a retirement community and I see this all around me. They wait to die. But what if that waiting is still 20 years away? Or even 5 or 10? They waste this precious time looking at what they have lost and don’t think to replace it with new things they have gained. “What’s the point. I’m going to die soon.” When the body is breaking down they let the excitement of living slip away and wait for death because maybe they think they’ll go to a utopia called heaven. Maybe that utopia isn’t really there and they wasted their last season for nothing.

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      2. Almost – It’s about ‘what’ we learn when life happens. People don’t always learn. That’s why they keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. But without the mistake, you can’t learn. Too bad I can’t go back and redo a few mistakes I made in my life!

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  2. Hi Noor,
    I found this post inspiring as you were by that newly discovered author. As much as I see the beauty in words as well, it’s tough to find time to read. When I do, I’m so tired it only puts me to sleep. My love for writing and this post will make me find moments to indulge in my new inspiration as well. Thank you! 🙂

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  6. Sadly that seems to be a common experience. Whether due to policy or just bad teaching, many people learn in school to hate the Arabic language generally and its literature in particular. Inshallah all of this will change as more people discover the hidden gems in our midst.

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      1. Once, in a Inglot store. Didn’t suit me coz of my skin tone I think. Looked too bright. Maybe darker skinned people can pull it off better, Idk. Dark blue looks to be glamorous colour.

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  8. Hello Noor, I also have a pair of purple sunglasses, but maybe they are not so sturdy as yours. Mine have round lenses. I call them my John Lennon glasses. Most of the worlds great books are available in English which is great blessing. Perhaps you have a future as a book translator?

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    1. Lol at John Lennon glasses! I agree for the part where most world’s great books are available in English. Unfortunately I hate translating though! 😀 I think that’s the job of someone else not mine! If I’m to translate anything, I would translate my own articles to Arabic! Thanks for your comment Harry

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  9. I’m sure you look great in your purple sunglasses and yellow lipstick 🙂 – RE: Arabic literature (translated into English of course) – I’ve seen the bad and the good. I’ve certainly ran across some stuff I consider far too radical for me as you stated above. I enjoyed your perspective on this subject.

    I like what you have to say Noor, so I nominated you for The Lovely Blog Award. You can check it out on my blog if you like. Someone nominated me and according to this particular blogging award protocol, I am to nominate others. Tag – You’re it…

    Appreciate you! Have yourself a beautiful day 🙂

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  11. I’m a literature worm and am thinking Arabic can’t be that bad. My second language is Swahili which is more or less arabic and I really love swahili literature

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