Let You Be...

I used to see you with my heart

This is the first time, that I see you with my eyes. For the first time, my hands don't tremble when you're sitting next to me. For the first time, I don't feel like I'm flying. It is the first time that I realize, you're much shorter than the sky of my dreams.

Kırık bir kütük olduğunu bildiğin sürece, neden her seferinde ona yaslanıyorsun?

| Aron Wiesenfeld

kaçak kız

Telaffuzunu elemeye ve geliştirmeye başladı.. Ve bir takımyıldız gibi kendi yörüngesinde süzülüyor! Ona suikast düzenlemeye çalışan bir dünya var. Kalıntıları arasında dolaşıp, savrulup dönüyorum Yıkıcı bir retorik savaşı yaklaşıyor Kanıyla ve toprağıyla çarmıha gerilecek! Çöken dünyada makalem özgür kaldı. Evren bilgisayarlı! Beni nasıl kendi inlerine sürüklemeye çalıştılar Özgünlüğün baltalandığı bir bağımlılık Kimliklerini inkar ediyorlar... Benzerlik kalıplarıyla şekillenmeyeceğim! Sanatım doğanın sesini dinlemek Ve uzuvlarım düşenlerden gizli Ruhum karanlıkta tek başına savaşır

-Sakina Al-Sharif

Why is Kafka so important when it comes to European loneliness?

How are his writings still so relevant today? And does his literature really reflect the loneliness we see in European societies?

Who is Franz Kafka?

First, let’s start by getting to know Franz Kafka. Kafka was a Czech Jewish writer who lived in the early 20th century. His writings were marked by strangeness and ambiguity, often tackling themes like isolation, alienation, and the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracy. His most famous works, such as *The Metamorphosis* and *The Trial*, convey a deep sense of psychological oppression and the feeling of being trapped in a cold and incomprehensible world.

European Loneliness – How Did It Become a Reality?

Now, let’s move to the key question: Why is Kafka considered important in the context of European loneliness? To understand this, we need to first look at life in modern European societies. Despite the economic and technological advancements in Europe, loneliness has become a significant part of many people's lives. These societies tend to emphasize individualism and self-reliance, which can often lead to feelings of isolation and existential emptiness. A large portion of people in Europe live alone, and due to highly structured social and political systems, individuals often feel like they are just small cogs in a vast machine. This is where Kafka comes in. His writings reflect this very feeling – the sense that one has no control over their life and is trapped in a cold, impersonal system.

How Does Kafka’s Literature Reflect Loneliness?

Kafka’s works deeply capture feelings of loneliness and alienation. In *The Metamorphosis*, the protagonist transforms into an insect and feels rejected by both his family and society. Here, we see a clear picture of loneliness, the feeling of being unaccepted and misunderstood. Kafka was expressing a profound fear of being disconnected from others and not being able to communicate. In *The Trial*, the protagonist is subjected to a senseless trial by a mysterious and oppressive system. This mirrors the experience of individuals in modern Europe who feel like mere numbers in a vast, soulless bureaucratic machine. Loneliness is not just about the absence of personal connections; it’s also about feeling powerless and disconnected from one’s own life. That’s what makes Kafka’s work so relevant to understanding modern European loneliness.

The Existential Dimension in Kafka’s Works

Kafka isn’t just a writer who critiques systems and bureaucracy. He is also a deeply existential writer. Many people in Europe today feel lost in a world that seems to lack meaning, and Kafka’s writings reflect this reality. The existential themes in his works raise questions about the purpose of life and the meaning behind everything that happens, questions that continue to resonate with individuals navigating a chaotic and alienating world.

- Feda'a Yahya

What is life?

Dostoevsky: It's Hell

Socrates: It's an infestation

Aristotle: It is the mind

Nietzsche: It is strength

Marx: It is the conviction

Schopenhauer: It's suffering

Einstein: It is knowledge

Stephen Hopkins: It is hope

Kafka: The Endings

And you, what is your definition of life?

يقولونَ إني كالبدرِ بَهجةً وأنَّ الجمالَ بوجهيَ ارتَسما

يحيطُ بي المدحُ مثلَ الهَواءِ ولكنَّ ذاتي تُرددُ: "لا" نَسَما

يأتونَ خاطبينَ، وبالعَينِ شَوقُ كأنّي كنزٌ على الدربِ مُبتَغى

وأسمعُ ألفاظَ ثَناءٍ تُقالُ كأنّي لؤلؤةٌ لا تُضاهى سَنا

ولكنَّ نفسي – غريبةُ دربي – كأنّي ظِلٌّ بلا نَورِه اتّقَدا

كأنَّ المرآةَ تُخفي حقيقتي وتُظهرُ وجهاً غريبًا عني بدا

فهل في المرايا كَذبٌ خَفيٌّ؟ أمِ العيبُ في العينِ إذ لم تَرَ الصَفا؟

أجيبوا سؤالاً سَكنَّي طويلاً لماذا الجمالُ إذا لم يُصدَّقا؟

Have you ever had a crush? Have you ever felt a rush? Makes my heart stop, she didn't even blush And I got a crush Oh man I got a crush Got a psychedelic dagger in my heart, tell the paramedics to rush

I hate crushes, I cover bruises with paintbrushes Pour it all in the music now that my bank's ruptured

She never texts me, she never texts me, she never texts me Never texts me, she never texts me, forgot to text me

Well I guess we accept the ones that neglect us And my moms say that we disrespect the ones that perfect us And try to protect us

I really hope that you get this My thoughts are weighin' me down My neck can't handle the necklace Your father says that I'm reckless, I didn't cause all that wreckage

had to give you this message I wrote it straight from the soul and it didn't make sense to text it So I snuck up in your room, put it on your shoulder and in return You sent me back a restraining order.

Jaden - let it breath

Have you ever had a crush? Have you ever felt a rush? Makes my heart stop, she didn't even blush And I got a crush Oh man I got a crush Got a psychedelic dagger in my heart, tell the paramedics to rush

I hate crushes, I cover bruises with paintbrushes Pour it all in the music now that my bank's ruptured

She never texts me, she never texts me, she never texts me Never texts me, she never texts me, forgot to text me

Well I guess we accept the ones that neglect us And my moms say that we disrespect the ones that perfect us And try to protect us

I really hope that you get this My thoughts are weighin' me down My neck can't handle the necklace Your father says that I'm reckless, I didn't cause all that wreckage

had to give you this message I wrote it straight from the soul and it didn't make sense to text it So I snuck up in your room, put it on your shoulder and in return You sent me back a restraining order.

Jaden - let it breath

Libya: From Sands of Time to Storms of Change

Beneath the blazing sun of North Africa, bordered by the ancient tides of the Mediterranean and the vast breath of the Sahara, lies a land whose story has danced with gods, kings, conquerors, and revolutionaries. This is Libya: a nation born from the dust of myth, forged in the fires of empire, and reshaped in the hands of her people.

Origins in the Whispering Sands

Long before cities rose and borders were drawn, the land we now call Libya was home to prehistoric peoples who left their mark in the rock art of the Tadrart Acacus, carvings of giraffes and hunters that tell of a greener Sahara, long vanished. By the Bronze Age, Libya was not one land, but many tribes. Chief among them were the Meshwesh and the Libu—nomadic Berber peoples who grazed their herds along the Nile’s western flanks. Egyptian scribes would scrawl their names in hieroglyphs, sometimes as foes, other times as mercenaries or neighbors. Though they lacked pyramids or written chronicles of their own, the Libyans lived rich oral traditions, passed from elder to youth beside desert fires. Their tongues were early Berber, ancestors to the Amazigh languages spoken to this day.

The Libyan Pharaohs of Egypt

In one of history’s great ironies, these wandering tribes—once dismissed as desert raiders—would wear the crowns of Pharaohs. Around 945 BCE, a chieftain of the Meshwesh named Shoshenq I seized power in a divided Egypt. He founded the 22nd Dynasty, becoming the first Libyan Pharaoh. He was no usurper in chains, but a ruler accepted by Egypt’s priests and people, a man who walked the sacred halls of Karnak and marched his armies as far as Jerusalem. For over two centuries, Libyan dynasties ruled parts of Egypt. They wove themselves into Egyptian culture, marrying daughters into temple lineages and honoring the gods of old, while maintaining their tribal roots in the Delta’s tangled marshes.

Under Greek, Roman, and Islamic Rule

Time, ever the patient sculptor, wore down Libya’s independent spirit. By the time of Herodotus in the 5th century BCE, Libya had become a vague term for "all lands west of Egypt." The Greeks founded Cyrene in eastern Libya, a shining jewel of Hellenistic culture. Later came the Romans, who tamed the coast and named it Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Great cities bloomed, like Leptis Magna, where Emperor Septimius Severus—a Libyan by birth—would rise to rule the Roman world. With the coming of Islam in the 7th century CE, Libya joined the rising tide of Arab civilization. Arabic took root, and Berber tribes embraced the faith, blending it with ancient customs in a uniquely North African tapestry.

From Ottoman Sands to Italian Chains

From the 16th to 19th centuries, Libya was ruled by the Ottomans, often in name more than presence. Local rulers like the Karamanlis in Tripoli built their own dynasties, their corsairs feared across the Mediterranean. But in 1911, the old world shifted once more—Italy invaded, snatching Libya from Ottoman control. The Libyans resisted fiercely under leaders like Omar Mukhtar, the "Lion of the Desert," whose guerilla war against Mussolini’s fascists became legend. Though captured and executed in 1931, Mukhtar’s spirit ignited a flame that would not die.

A Brief Bloom: The Kingdom of Libya

After World War II, Libya was stitched together from three provinces and granted independence in 1951 under King Idris I. For the first time in centuries, Libya was sovereign. But beneath the crown, discontent stirred. Oil wealth enriched a few, while many remained poor. In 1969, a young officer named Muammar Gaddafi led a bloodless coup, ending the monarchy and beginning one of the most controversial reigns in modern Arab history.

Gaddafi's Rule and the Gathering Storm

For 42 years, Gaddafi ruled with a blend of charisma, brutality, and eccentric philosophy. He styled himself as the "Brother Leader", preached his Green Book, and funded revolutions abroad. At times a pariah, at times an ally, he kept Libya's oil flowing and dissent smothered. But the winds of change were rising. When the Arab Spring swept across the region in 2011, Libyans—long repressed—rose in revolt. The uprising turned into a brutal civil war, drawing NATO intervention. In October 2011, Gaddafi was captured and killed. His fall was cheered, but peace did not follow.