by AnnSheybani | Nov 10, 2025 | Life, Writing
My friend and I were seated together at a conference. I could practically feel the sparks coming off her, so consumed was she by the desire to be plucked from the crowd and brought onstage for an exercise. Leaning forward, she gripped the chair-back in front of her,...
by AnnSheybani | Nov 3, 2025 | Life, Writing
In 2010, Marina Abramović did something insane.For seventy-five days straight, she sat in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Six days a week. Nearly eight hours a day. No breaks. No food. No water. She didn’t speak. Didn’t move. She... by AnnSheybani | Sep 18, 2025 | Life, Writing
I was on a blind date, sitting across from some guy I’d met on Match.com, when he asked what I did for a living. You would have thought I was a street walker, the way I started hemming and hawing. I was so mortified to tell him I was a chemical... by AnnSheybani | Aug 24, 2025 | Life, Reading
Decades have passed, but the two and a half years of illness are still fresh in my mind. I can still hear his voice calling me from the hospital after exploratory surgery. From his tone, I know something is terribly wrong even before he tells me. He’s supposed to be... by AnnSheybani | Aug 17, 2025 | Life, Reading
Every day, I talk to people who are looking to up their game by writing a book. They’ve done amazing things in their life and in their business and they want to share the wisdom they’ve gained. For many, writing a book is a brand new circus trick. It... by AnnSheybani | May 30, 2025 | Life, Writing
I recently put together an anthology about single pieces of advice that changed people’s lives—real stories from real people about those small inflection points that shift everything. When it came time to promote the book, I asked the contributing authors to...
