The Last Thoughts of a Busy Mind

Stories are how we experience lives other than our own. They are how we look at the world through different lenses. That is why totalitarian regimes like the Islamic Republic try their hardest to censor and control them. Since the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police, the world has witnessed IR's attempts at creating narratives, and how they would punish anyone who stray from it. But censo...

Since the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police in mid-September of 2022, many lives has been disrupted and many people have given up anything resembling sanity just to keep going; but why? Why do they care so much? Why it seems like the endless wave of cynicism and hopelessness has not affect them? Why do they keep going? Because one cannot escape the voices that one cannot forget, the voi...

One of the important things in the movement following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police, is the disruption of many traditionalist values that felt "inherent" to the region. As one learns in an oppressive society under an oppressive regime, you need to wear masks to keep yourself safe, at the cost of keeping yourself sane and happy. Now it's time for people to recognize the masks the...

Sometimes life in a certain way becomes like second nature to one. Sometimes it seems it's always been this way, and thus it's fair and normal for it to stay that way. Sometimes it feels like change will never come. One of the most important aspects of the revolution following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police is that it broke that feeling. It was never normal, and it always needed...

Minorities have been an integral part of the revolution in Iran following the murder of Mahsa Amini by morality police. For so long the Islamic Republic has silenced the many minorities in Iran. They have shown them that they have no voice, and they have shown them that they will never care for them. When one looks at the Iranian public comes face to face with this fact, there's a ray of hope for...

Life in the Middle East has historically been a struggle between powers for a chance at survival. A chance that led to many totalitarian regimes spring up in the region, and give the visage of Middle East as the land of "endless conflicts". When one is born here, one is told that conflict and restriction are normal; but they're anything but. With the murder of Mahsa Amini by the Morality Police in...

Identity (especially cultural identity) for a system like Islamic Republic that is built on isolating its members and embedding them with hopelessness to keep them meek and servile, is like the plague. They try to cover up the roots and replace them with their ideology, because for divide and conquer you need to divide first. But all their works proved weaker, when after the murder of Mahsa Amini...

When trying to uphold a revolution as massive as the current one in Iran following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian morality police, it's easy to forget that sometimes it is literally a war of attrition. The Islamic Republic will use any means necessary to break the populace and breed hopelessness, and the best way to combat that is by learning to keep going. By caring about oneself as muc...

Mental Health is a complex and nuanced subject, and it needs a complex and nuanced discussion; but that is harder and harder to happen in a patriarchal traditionalist society that has a patriarchal and traditionalist government at the top of it. Not only is the importance of mental health is undermined, the government and regime itself adds to the scope of mental problems. When a system is so pre-...

Throughout the revolution following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police in Iran, it's important to look at multiple facets of society that would be enraged and try to change the system. Though cultural and societal reasons are the primary reasons, one cannot underestimate the economic sector either. With rampant mismanagement and corruption, the economic state of the people of Iran is...

Keeping alive the hope that one day a new and brighter day will come is of outmost importance in times of revolution and civil movements. That hope can be sustained much easier when you know you are not alone, and moments of unification between people against a greater evil can be inspiring and hopeful, even if dampened by losses too big to comprehend. That is what has happened in Iran, following...

One of the things that the people asking for a change in regime in Iran, since the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police, have been asking for is a regime that doesn't hold their religious and ideological view so high that it gives them autonomy to execute and murder anyone who isn't part of their "group". Under the rule of an oppressive regime, one needs to stick to the "official" narrativ...

Since September 17th, 2022, there has been calls for a massive regime change and uprooting of the Islamic Republic in Iran. The events started since the murder of Mahsa Amini by the morality police for bad hijab. When the world is full of turmoil and the winds of change are blowing, it's hard for one to just return to life the way it used to be, and not look at it as a way to what life may need to...

For the past month, the Iranian public have been protesting in many shapes and forms against the tyrannical Islamic Republic regime, after the death of #MahsaAmini by the hand of the morality police. These protests have included people of all ages, all genders and all ethnicities as they once more show their contempt for the Islamic Republic and the draconian laws of the regime; but some have chos...

Despite believing in a world of human nature first and human nationality second, sometimes one cannot escape the realities of belonging to a specific region of the earth and living under a specific government. That government can shape many things in the individual; from fears and beliefs to anxieties and in many cases, the cause of death. This is the tale of one's life under one regime, and the o...

Frustration can stem from many different avenues, from dealing with people of other professions to the inane feeling of helplessness and loss of time. Wherever the frustrating root grows from, the tree and the fruit is the same. With frustration comes anxiety and anger, it brings forth antagonistic tendencies and rears the ugly head of restlessness. That is what frustration is, and one sometimes n...

When one has been involved with a situation or an institution for a not inconsiderable amount of one's life, severing ties and moving on might feel more significant than thought before. When one severs ties with an institution that shaped a lot of what today is like for someone, going away and trying to open a new page feels more like opening a new chapter, rather than just another page.

For the past year, from August of 2021 to August of 2022, a little series called "The Good, the Bad and the Interesting" has been appearing on a little channel called "AK88 Studios". Now that it's been one year since the start of that series, it might be good to take a look at what happened in the past year and discuss the deeper feelings associated with creating videos. TGTBTI - We Didn't Start t...

Once in a while comes a show, with the exact humorous tone suited for one's sense of humor and a good mystery to integrate into that humorous tone; and on top of that manages to balance these perfectly and add an intriguing cast as a cherry on this deliciously created sundae. When a show like that comes along, it's imperative to discuss that show; and that show is "Only Murders in the Building".

With so much cynicism in the everyday world, it seems harder and harder to look positively at the world and try to abide by the virtues of inclusivity and connectivity; but that's why when a true inspiration like "Scatman" John Larkin comes along, it's important to realize his message and try to abide by it. Because to put simply, if the Scatman can do it, so can everyone! ONE HIT WONDERLAND - "Sc...

Even for introverted people who enjoy the confines of their safe havens, traveling sometimes can bring with itself good memories and new perspectives. If that travel comes after a major illness, one can find themselves enthralled with the experience of traveling. If that travel is to one's hometown, it might even bring with itself new challenges and new looks.

With the advent and the oversaturation of "public intellectuals", it's hard to not notice a growing number of them who spew their political and social ideologies as indisputable facts; and one of the more prominent one of them is a Canadian professor who rose to fame by getting involved in a cultural war of his own making, Jordan Peterson. Sometimes, one hates Jordan Peterson and what he represent...

After the missed chapter, first of its time, "The Last Thoughts of a Busy Mind" is back. The specter of a disease has roamed the human world for the past two years, and the mental decay and the existential emptiness that it brings sometimes can rival its physical symptoms. So when one, despite care and effort, doesn't manage to escape the slippery hands of the specter, sometimes it's imperative to...

When one looks back at most of the insecurities and the mental anguish of one's young life, the answer inevitably can be drawn back to the people who raised one from an embryo to a full-fledged adult. Their mistakes, their behavior and their actions creating a man or a monster within one's life. Parents, simply, need to understand.

There's a phenomenon called "mundanity", which is described as the quality of being mundane. When one's views of their own expectations are skewed, mundanity is oftentimes seen as a negative and oftentimes as a curse. But, mundanity is not set in stone. When one's definition of "mundane" changes, maybe mundanity is not as mundane as it once were.