Hi all,
Over the past 3+ years I’ve been doing a lot of introspection (even more than usual) and some new understandings and experiences have cropped up. A little summary: Continue reading Philosophical Musings part 7
Hi all,
Over the past 3+ years I’ve been doing a lot of introspection (even more than usual) and some new understandings and experiences have cropped up. A little summary: Continue reading Philosophical Musings part 7
This will be effectively a Philosophical/ Theological Musings Part 7, and probably my most counterintuitive post ever.
Recently I was contemplating (as you can tell I often do) what strength is and what it’s done for me. All my life I’ve highly valued strength, the ability to persevere and survive hardship, and especially physical strength which I’ve heavily relied on to get me through.
For most of my childhood I’ve also believed that emotions are weaknesses. Since my teens I’ve been training myself to ease up on that, to the point that I can distinguish positive from negative ones and can have some degree of knowledge of what makes me happy and sane.
This is officially a landmark. I’ve now passed the 4th anniversary of my irtidad. Yes, it is now over 4 years since I left Islam!
Allahu la akbar! (Allah is not greatest) Continue reading Celebrate good times!
It’s now been over three and a half years since I became a murtadd (ex-Muslim). Once again my perspectives on life have shifted and rearranged.
This is what I believed in back in Part 3:
The update:
(Though the male one can be a bit of a bastard. I’m not backbiting, I tell him to his face! LOL.
And I swear he looks familiar…)
(Taken from https://lonerwolf.com/different-types-of-love/)
Western films & TV series promote the idea that most to all of these forms can be found in a sexual partner. This is patently wrong. I’ve therefore decided to develop other forms, especially philautia. It is my new religion, if you will.
Based on that I’ve decided it’s time to truly love my uniqueness. Not just like or appreciate, love – my introspection, my thirst for learning, my lust for action, my distaste for recreational drugs, my anti-conventional views, my creativity, etc. Right now the most loving things I can do for myself are eat my fill of food every day and write a new piece – poem, story, film script, theatre script, whatever!
2017 is going to be an interesting year.
This Sunday gone (21/08/2016) I went to Aunt Jean’s Afrikan Culture Market. Most of it consisted of speakers raising issues about building up the ‘black’ community*. Two of the speakers brought up something they personally witnessed: an interracial couple (‘black’ man-‘white’ woman) walking down the street, holding hands, kissing, smiling, and just unable to get enough of each other. A few seconds later came a ‘black’ couple, but according to one speaker you wouldn’t have known they were a couple. She was making sure to walk ahead of him, they weren’t holding hands, kissing, not even smiling at each other. Nothing!
* On a side note, everyone seemed to agree there was a general lack of “manly identity” among us. I’ll go into that in another post.
According to them there’s a palpable lack of affection between ‘black’ men and women – and pride! We’re proud of not being lovey-dovey toward each other! My now ex-girlfriend confirmed exactly the same thing back in her country. It’s like Africans, men & women alike, are too tough (read: cowardly) to express genuine emotion.
This begged the question in my mind: WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Some answers came to mind.
Number 1 – Christianity. Not exactly the most affection-friendly religion out there, what with all the “original sin” and even “marital sex is a necessary evil” doctrines.
Number 2 – It doesn’t match our image of being strong. We’ve bought into the typical dichotomy of strong vs. loving, when it may be more helpful to think of loving as another expression of strength.
Number 3 – Internalisation of the stereotype of lacking emotion, especially men. Because we see it in films, TV shows, music videos (especially modern rap), Youtube vids and like so often we identify with it.
Number 4 – A lot of Africans (pre-colonial that is) come from cultures where intimacy and affection aren’t celebrated. Men and women are expected to just carry on with life as normal, perform their gender roles and done.
Number 5 – Most of us, especially the younger generations at present, don’t trust each other. Women think men are out to bang everything that moves, and men think women are constantly trying to rob the blood from their veins!
Number 6 – ‘White’ people don’t like ‘black’ affection. Deep down ‘whites’ are genuinely disgusted at the prospect of us loving each other, because it implies solidarity and any public solidarity is taken as an act of aggression. Not to mention the current media focus on interracial relationships, implying love can’t exist among our own. Many of us, again especially men, believe it.
This is why ‘black’ love really is a revolutionary act.
Number 7 – We’re English.
But all this moaning gives me a good excuse to lay on more beautiful pics!
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