welcome to scriptd/unscriptd
Hi all! After years of writing for others, I realized that I had lost something along the way: my own written voice. Everything I wrote was for someone else, had to fit into a frame, and had to be polished and strategic. That’s fine, but it left me with no room to write for myself.
So that’s what this is for.
MY LOVE FOR STORYTELLING
Folks who know me know that I love GOOD storytelling. I love a good book that makes me cry. I love a good video essay with a fresh take. I love a good album that tugs at the heartstrings. I love a good show that does all of the above.
I just love a good moment —the kind that feels like it’ll last forever because it evokes something real in you. An emotion, a memory, one that sparks something in you.
Which should make sense. I am Somali. I come from a long line of storytellers. One of my Awoowe’s was Ismail Mire, a poet and freedom fighter who was so great that he could sing his countrymen into peace or war, and my Awoowe Caaqil Ali Madax is a uniter who has spent close to a century leading.
If you know my parents, it tracks. If you knew my grandmother (aun), you would understand it even more. My sisters, my nieces and nephews, cousins, a family full of yappers, as we’d call it.
WHAT IS THIS GOING TO BE ABOUT
So that’s what I am doing here, talking about the scripted AND unscripted moments of life. Sometimes that’ll be about sports. Sometimes a book or a movie, or a show. Sometimes a good video. Sometimes just me, yapping.
The other night, I was watching the season premiere of ‘The Morning Show’ on Apple TV when one of the most unbearable characters, Cory, dropped a gem that is sorta the embodiment of this project:
“I believe in the unifying power of great storytelling, the ability to transport people, and make people feel like humans again.”
Shit has been absolutely brutal. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is falling apart around us. It’s hard not to go numb. But we have to get out of it somehow. Here’s my way.
CONTENT I AM CONSUMING THIS WEEK
Song: With You by Jorja Smith
Book: The Summer Between Us by Noreen Nanja
Movie: Saiyaara on Netflix
Video Essay: analysis | why conservatives (and cynics) don’t seem to like Superman
See ya on the next one inshallah!