by AnnSheybani | Dec 24, 2017 | Life, Reading, Uncategorized
Like a junkie with a 14-gauge needle, my mother used books to blot out reality. Curled up in her chair, immersed in a novel, she ceased to be aware of anyone or anything around her. When she put her book down, exposed herself to the rage and tension that contaminated...
by AnnSheybani | Dec 10, 2017 | Life, Uncategorized
All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.–Blaise Pascal I was sitting in a mindfulness breakout session in Dublin last week when the leader wrote this quotation on his whiteboard. It was one of those...
by AnnSheybani | Nov 19, 2017 | Life, Uncategorized, Writing
I was driving along the highway in Connecticut when I fell behind a mini Cooper with one of those vanity plates that made me want to hit the brakes. It had two words on it: Xin Loi. It’s a long story how I know this, and neither of us has time to get into it, but Xin...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 19, 2017 | Life
I was twelve when I recognized my power to attract grown men. That’s when Mr. M, a science teacher in my junior high school, smelled the vulnerability on me, and groomed me for his sexual conquest. He trusted, for some reason I didn’t understand at the time,...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 9, 2017 | Life
Thought I’d dust this post off and bring it back. I needed the reminder, perhaps you do, too. One 15-minute conversation with my mother, and I know how I got this crazy. She’s why I wake up in a cold sweat convinced that I have to organize my garage—right this...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 2, 2017 | Life
Do you think people are chosen for awards and recognition because they shine so brightly the world can’t possibly ignore them? That they get plucked, in all of their magnificence, from total obscurity and dropped center stage? Do you think the golden few that get the...
