Entries by Haroon

A Trilogy of Grief – Part 1

Today is March 3rd, 2023. Finally, De La Soul’s back catalogue has been released on all digital platforms.  I’ve been waiting for this moment…I don’t even know how long.  I just know that digital streaming felt strange.  At least for this hip hop head.  I’d go onto Spotify, but I couldn’t stream most of my […]

2021 Reflections – Part 1

2021 had its fair share of surprises. Here in London, we came out of lockdown. What would that mean for me? I had no idea…there was a lot of uncertainty too. As I close out 2021, I realise it’s been almost 5 years since I ended my marriage and stepped out of my comfort zone […]

Creativity Heals

I’m not a therapist. I’m not an expert on mental health……..But, it (mental health) is something I’m grappling with constantly. I wanted to end this over the New Year. New Year’s Eve to be precise. This came off of the back of a euphoric high a couple of days prior to this depressive low. I […]

Time For a New Story

The narratives we tell ourselves are important. Partly because what we tell ourselves is what we’ll live out. There’s no escaping that. But also because we have a tendency to centre ourselves. Which is dangerous. It also means we can hurt others…. Let’s look at love (and sex). Over the years all I’ve ever done […]

Notes on Grief

It’s been a strange week.  Once again I’ve been playing hide and seek with grief. It is my big bro Ty’s birthday week. Last night it was his birthday and I celebrated his birthday at a gig held in his honour. It was attended by his fans, friends, family. Grief isn’t linear. Grief has no […]

Give Yourself Permission To Be Creative

“Play the fool.” Ethan Hawke I love this quote and it’s a great takeaway from Ethan Hawke’s TED Talk. In fact, this talk is jam packed with great quotes. Here’s another from Ethan Hawke: “If history has taught us anything, the world is an incredibly unreliable critic.” I wish I’d written this particular quote, hell, […]

Choose Yourself

Trigger warning: References to sexual abuse It’s May 13th, 20201. Ramadan is over. It’s Eid. I will NOT be celebrating it with other people. Specifically, I will not be celebrating it with family. I have no desire to put myself in a situation where I have to interact with my abuser. A man who repeatedly […]

Reflections on Father’s Day: 2021 Edition

January 2017 I had a mental breakdown at 3am in my car. I was dropping a friend off so she witnessed my meltdown. I proceeded to list reasons why I was sobbing and couldn’t string together a sentence. I won’t bore you with the list. Plus a lot of that shit isn’t mine to share. […]

Keep Going

I love Bryan Cranston. Dude made me laugh hard for years in Malcolm in the Middle. Then he gave a nuanced and interesting portrayal of Walter White in Breaking Bad. That show and his character made me confront uncomfortable things about myself. That’s what great storytellers do. I’m about halfway through reading his memoir “A […]

Living With Autism and ADHD

I have autism and ADHD. I’m 40 years old and I received my diagnosis for both conditions when I was 39 years old. I won’t pretend to be a guru about either condition. I’m doing my best to furiously sprint up an insanely steep learning curve to understand both conditions. Both neurodiverse brain types have […]