Mona

“The internet, as its proponents rightly remind us, makes for variety and convenience; it does not force anything upon you. Only it turns out it doesn’t feel like that at all. We don’t feel as if we had freely chosen our online practices. We feel instead that they are habits we have helplessly picked up or that history has enforced, that we are not distributing our attention as we intend or even like to”
― Nicholas G. Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

“أَبْحَثُ عَنْ أُغنِيَةٍ تَصِفُ قَلْبًا فَارِغًا لِلتَوّ
تَشْرَحُ اكْتِمالَ فُقدَانِ الثِّقَةِ
تَرصُدُ الدِّفءَ الـمُتَسَلِّلَ مِنْ الذَّاكِرَةِ
حِينَمَا يَصطَدِمُ بالضَّيَاعِ

أُريدُ أَنْ أَغْسِلَ ذَاكِرَتِي
وَأَترُكُهَا تَجِفُّ فِي شَمسِ العُزلَةِ الـمُخِيفَةِ
أُريدُ أَنْ أُوَاجِهَ عُزْلَتِي وَلَا أَحتَرِقُ

سَأَخْلَعُ رَأْسِي
قَلِيلا
وَأَتَمَشَّى
بِرَقَبَةٍ مَقْطُوعَةٍ
ونَازِفَة
.......
2011م

...”
― غادة خليفة, تسكب جمالها دون طائل

“ﻣﺎﺑﻘﻴﺘﺶ ﺑﺴﺘﻐﺮﺏ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻠﻲ ﻳﺮﻭﺡ
ﺍﻟﺨﺒﻄﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻲ ﻣﺶ ﻓﺎﺭﻗﺔ
ﻻ ﺍﻟﺤﺰﻥ ﻋﻠﻢ ﻓﻴﺎ ﺯﻱ ﺯﻣﺎﻥ
ﻭﻻ ﺻﺎﺭ ﺑﻴﻐﺮﻳﻨﻲ ﺍﻟﻔﺮﺡ-أﻥ ﺟﺎﺯ-
ﺇﻋﺰﻓﻠﻲ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ﺃﻥ ﺷﺎﻟﻠﻪ ﺗﺒﻘﻲ ﻧﺸﺎﺯ
ﺃﻧﺎ ﻋﺎﻭﺯﺓ ﺩﻭﺷﺔ
ﺗﻐﻄﻲ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺧﻮﻓﻲ !”
― مي رضوان, الشنطة البمبي

“Even the earliest silent readers recognized the striking change in their consciousness that took place as they immersed themselves in the pages of a book. The medieval bishop Isaac of Syria described how, whenever he read to himself, “as in a dream, I enter a state when my sense and thoughts are concentrated. Then, when with prolonging of this silence the turmoil of my memories is stilled in my heart, ceaseless waves of joy are sent me by inner thoughts, beyond expectation suddenly arising to delight my heart.” Reading a book was a meditative act, but it didn’t involve a clearing of the mind. It involved a filling, or replenishing, or the mind. Readers disengaged their attention from the outward flow of passing stimuli in order to engage it more deeply with an inward flow of words, ideas, and emotions. That was—and is—the essence of the unique mental process of deep reading.”
― Nicholas Carr, What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains