Add life to my years instead of just adding years to my life.

My ethnic background is an assortment of: Circassian (north of the Caucasian Mountains in the western part of Russia) Armenian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Levantine (Syrian-Lebanese.)

"Greatness is usually the result of a natural equilibrium among opposite qualities."
--Diderot

I would rather be disliked because of something that is true about me, than to be liked for something that I am not.

I write about my personal life-long journey through countless philosophies, theologies and my experiences in eight different places:

Damascus, Syria--my homeland. Which I visited several times.

Jeddah, Arabia--my birthplace (1987-1994).

London, England--my childhood (1994-2000).

Tampa Bay, Florida. Nine years.

Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Seven months

Miami, Florida. 1 year.

11 years is the total number of years spent in the United States of America--my culture (2000-2011)

Back to Jeddah, Arabia (2011-2013)

Again in England, first in London. One month.

Then in the tiny town of Thornaby-on-Tees in North Yorkshire. Nine months (2013-2014).

And finally Glasgow, Scotland--my seductress (2014-2015.)

I was born a Muslim, I read the Quran many times, and regularly attended the mosque until the age of 25, at which point I found out it was not the faith for me.

Read the Gospels and the Torah (the Bible) a few times.

Got into Atheism, but couldn't last in it more than a few weeks, coz I realized I didn't have enough faith to be an Atheist lol (u can't really prove that a God doesn't exist, u just have to believe that he doesn't while ignoring some substantial cosmological clues that point to the contrary.)

I went to different churches for years to learn more about Christianity, then to Sikh and Hindu Temples.

And now I am satisfied to be a:

1) Sceptic (one who doubts anything that can't be proven.)

2)Deist (a person who doesn't have a religion, but is ok with the idea of a non-interventionist creator--I don't believe in a God who's watching u 24/7, coz if there was an all-wise, all-merciful, all-powerful God he'd/she'd be solving the worlds problems--i.e. wars, natural disasters, famines and poverty--instead of being concerned about who you're sleeping with, whether u believe in him/her or not, whether u miss sunday mass, laugh at a sacrilegious cartoon, or eat a ham sandwich.)

3) Humanist (I believe that the service of mankind is the central aim, not the service of an invisible dude who might be living upstairs, and who should be able to take care of himself/herself and not depend on people to "protect" his/her religion or fight for him/her)

4) Quaker (we call each other Friends, we believe in the priesthood of all believers, no holy men or divine revelation.)

5) Unitarian (no standard set of dogmas or beliefs, it is individualistic and open-minded, the symbol is a lit chalice which signifies the on-going search for truth.)

6) Universalist (believe that if there is a heaven, n if there is a good God; then all people who do good will be there, not only people who belong to a certain sect of a particular religion.)

My additional thought on that is: if God is a big bad bully, then I wouldn't care about him/her, as almost everybody will be in hell for not belonging to the specific denomination he/she wants us to be in, even if they are good people.

And the same way I have spoken many times in my life against political and religious oppression and inequality at the risk of imprisonment, torture, or execution by fundamentalist family members or a despotic government, I would similarily stand up in oppostion to a tyrant from a different world, even if he/she threatens to repeatedly over-roast me in a rotisserie oven for all eternity lol.

Him/her creating us wouldn't give him/her the right to act like a maniac who punishes us whenever he/she feels like it.

The same way a parent who has helped bring a few children to life, and who provided them with food, shelter, clothing and education, has no right to emotionally or physically hurt them just because they have different viewpoints or because they disagree with that parent when they are mature enough to make up their own minds.

My guide is the Socretean Principle of following the evidence where it leads you, and my quest for a morally fulfilment and spiritual enlightenment is continuous. All religions are man-made, (so is science and philosophy) but they are still interesting, because they played good and bad roles in the development and struggles of humanity, and were attempts--sometimes successful, sometimes not-- to make sense of the world and find the true meaning of life, if any such thing existed.

I'm always open to delve deeply into anything that might prove to be fruitful in that regard. (I never became Jewish, but was always interested in that faith, and I'm currently exploring Swedenborgianism, Bahaism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Sabian Mandaeanism and Zoroastrianism.)

Interests

Nutrition and fitness, reading, listening to live music, painting and poetry.

On a Friday or Saturday night, I like to kick back, unwind n drink a glass or two of Cherry Brandy liqueur (any kind), red wine (only Côtes du Rhônes, n very rarely; a Bordeaux) smoke a bowl of pipe (always American Spirit organic tobacco)

Although some of them might have a fancy name each one is about a fiver and I only get one of them a week, n of course I like strong alcoholic spirits and fat Cuban cigars; but I'm trying to stay economical n a lil healthy here lol.

• culture
• writing
• books
• poetry
• beauty
• make up
• education
• dining
• wine
• red wine
• fitness
• drinking
• clothing
• reading
• painting
• music
• live music
• christian
• buddhist
• hinduism
• sikhism
• baha'ism
• atheism
• teaching
• psychology
• religion
• science
• tourism
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

My favourite movie and graphic novel is: V for Vendetta.

I have an eclectic taste when it comes to music. I enjoy classical, pop, rock, R&B, country/western, punk, jazz, hip-hop and blues.

I also like to check out decent track in different languages: Icelandic, Italian, Yiddish, Ladino, Greek, French, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Russian, Circassian, Welsh, Gaelic--both Irish and Scottish--not to mention the spiritual stuff: Hindu mantras in Hindi, Psalms in Hebrew, mystical Sufi meditations in Arabic, traditional Christian hymns in Latin, Kurdish Yazidi chants, Zoroastrian gathas, Bahai n Sabian Mandaean supplications.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In the last few years I shared the most interesting things I did with so many people that I became tired of repeating them, I'm in the process of writing about them in detail and in case your interested, I will let you know when it's published so u can read it.

So these days I prefer to just listen to my guests tell me about their ideas and adventures . This is why I like to host people who are intriguing; even if they have nothing in common with me, if you provide me with a deep intellectual insights or have an exciting life story I will briefly mention u in my future book, in the chapter titled: "Interesting conversations I had with people I met." :-)

Teach, Learn, Share

If ur so sweet n we become best friends, I will get easily hooked on u n say: "please don't go!" even if ur a big group of guys n girls, u could move in with me, n we can be one happy family = D

Call me a dreamy idealist :) but my favorite things in life are epitomal variatons of 4 values: Justice, Love, Honor and Beauty... all of which are inseparable for me.

Since I finished reading Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre two years ago (I actually listened to the audiobook) one of my passions in life became volunteering for children who are orphaned, disabled or those who come from a dis-advantaged background.

So far, I have worked as a Teacher Assistant and Nutrition Psychologist in two different centers for children with Special Needs in Arabia and now I'm volunteering part-time in a Special Education organization in Glasgow, volunteering for three months as cleaner in a Child-care Center (November 2014-January 2015) and as of January, I'm tutoring kids at their homes and in a local primary school.

Countries I’ve Visited

Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Kuwait, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United States

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