Egyptian Revolution--A View From the Inside, Part 2

We are visiting with my friend, Ahmed Nader Al-Gretly, a writer from Cairo, Egypt. Be sure to check out part 1 of this interview.

There have been uprisings before, but people always backed down when the water cannons and tear gas came out. Why didn’t they back down this time?

There have been uprisings before, but none of them erupted with the magnitude and intensity of this one you’ve witnessed. We have our flaws, but Egyptians are loving tender people. They’re good people who never cease to make jokes when things get rough, we stand by each other. Take a walk in the streets of Cairo and look at their faces, look at the smiles, look at how complete strangers help each other; this is my Egypt, our Egypt. When Egyptians speak, they never say ‘I’, they always say ‘We’ because that’s who we are, we love this country, and on the 25th, we were determent to get it back, to free it from the hands of a greedy government. So to answer your question, fear made them want to escape and hide, but determination made them stand their ground and fight for their country.

Did you have friends that were in Freedom square that we saw on TV? Where any hurt in the clashes?

Yes, I did actually; several of my friends were in the protests on the 28th of January (A.K.A “The Friday of Wrath”) none of them got hurt in the clashes –thank God, but other people did. Tear gas bombs, rubber bullets and even live bullets were fired on the protesters by the riot squads; load and loads of innocent, unarmed civilians were killed on that day, and the days that followed. The hired thugs, the “Camels Incident” left thousands injured and hundreds dead or missing. But you have to understand something; this revolution is a gold mine for conspiracy theorists, who hired those thugs? Who burnt the police stations? All these questions have a cloud of suspicion surrounding it. I don’t blame the riot squads themselves; I blame the man who ordered them to do what they did.

Some members of the squads threw their weapons and joined the protests, some wept while they were beating up civilians, but everything that happened in that period was unacceptable. The government killed its people; they murdered them in cold blood, what kind of human being gave these orders? I’m known to my small group of fans as a gut wrenching horror writer, but this was something else. The brutality of it all, my God! Egypt wept for its children…

A new section of Ahmed's interview will post everyday this week. Tomorrow's question:  The police disappeared around the same day that the prisons were opened. What did people think of that?  
 
You can follow Ahmed on Twitter @ANaderGretly

Good News is Coming!

Darlings,

I received some pretty cool news today. A short story of mine will be published in a magazine! I'll spill the details Monday so be sure to check back.

Quote for the day:

"It is better to shoot for the stars and fall short, than to aim for the manure pile and hit."

 

Exactly.

Believe in yourself and keep working toward your dreams. You are worth it.

Make the Time

I've heard it said that if we are "too busy", then the real issue is a matter priority, not time.

As an aspiring writer, I strive to write, read, edit, work on submissions, and learn more about the publishing industry every day.

As a farmer, I've weeds to pull, plants to water, roadsides to burn, thistles to spray, and customers to help every day.

As a mother of 5 (ages 11-2), I've diapers to change, homework to correct, scrapes to clean...all the many duties that children bring into our lives...every day.

The house... The husband...  The school...

I'm a writer, a maid, a farmer, a wife, a mother, a PTO volunteer, a cook, a taxi...

Are you tired yet? I am.

This past week I noticed my kids were getting a little out of sorts with each other, and yesterday I realized that I was the reason behind it. I’ve had such a heavy workload the last few weeks that I had put my many duties higher on the priority list than my kids. I was still with them of course, but I was focused on all the work we were doing, not on the kids themselves.

So, today I did my darndest to finish all jobs I had to do while they were at school so that when they came home, I could give them my full attention. Farming, housework, and even writing took a backseat to the most important people in my world, and my world is brighter because of it.

We made brownies, we sang, we laughed, we chased each other around just for fun. And the result? My kids are refreshed. I feel more connected and grounded. And the crazy part is, I feel more energized to do all the dull jobs that I put on the bottom of the priority list.

I think the lesson is that I was trying to pull water from an empty well. It's not enough to exist, work, and care for the physical needs of my children; I need to nurture the joy in their lives. Why? Because when I bring joy and laughter into their lives, it feeds my soul.

This is a lesson I have to learn—and relearn—whenever the balance in my life gets out of whack.

What about you? What feeds your soul? Is there something important that you have to remind yourself to make time for?