Raw chocolate.

I'm naturally wired to work on different projects at the same time. I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I'm an Arabic interpreter, ghost writer, and support businesses with various needs (marketing, admin, strategy). I'm not above any one aspect of supporting businesses. With the rest of my time, I'm reading, writing, hiking, meditating, doing energy work, pilates, and eating...or thinking about food, especially raw chocolate. It's good to take pre-chocolate chocolate breaks as often as possible.

The first story I ever wrote was in ninth grade Social Studies class, when the class was asked to write about a a personal experience that had a major affect on us. I lived in the Middle East a few years prior (between the ages of nine and twelve) and inadvertently got caught in the middle of protesters / clashes / gas bombs after school one day.

My writing process has evolved. I used to blame the weather for not allowing the words to come out perfectly on the page the first time. I used to think there had to be a perfect set of conditions that allow writers to be brilliant in their profession - because how else could perfect words be written in a perfect manner that appeared on the page at just the right time?

There is no right time to write. Ideally, I like to write after a walk or hike in nature. This helps shift my focus from whatever else has been occupying my mind into creative mode. Then it's much easier to sit down and write whatever comes to mind. If I get writer's block during the process, I start surfing the web or read something online that may or may not have to do with the subject matter. For whatever reason, this helps me get back into the flow of writing. I also tend to write better after answering emails. If I'm blocked, I'll send an email to someone (or respond to an email) and then go back to the Word document. This generates fewer 'staring at the page' moments for me. Eating chocolate doesn't hurt either.

I'm not sure this was the first story I ever read that impacted me, but Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham brings up so many colorful emotions. The pages were colorful. The words were short, rhymed and packed a lot of punch. It was fun to read all the ways why Sam-I-Am did not like green eggs and ham.

It's sort of like a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip. There's a lot of wisdom in a short amount of space. As a kid, though, I wasn't able to fully process the impact of reading until I was older. I didn't realize how attracted I was to storytelling, and how it supports skills with personal and professional relationships. Stories connect us to ourselves and everyone around us. Stories keep us curious, entertained, informed and shape our belief systems. Storytelling is important, but it's equally important to realize that all stories are told from specific angles. We attract and accept stories based on our internal lens, or views on life.

Ultimately, stories have supported me to speak my voice. In the end, "be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind," Dr Seuss.

I have a clear glass table with a pile of paper, docs, etc. in one corner. If the desk happens to be messy, I will clean it up (or move the pile to the floor) before I start working. The interesting part is that the desk may get messy within five minutes, but I can't start with a mess. I'll generally clean it up when I'm done.

I have a glass mason jar with pens, lead pencils, highlighters and different colored pencils -- this is a permanent fixture on the table. It reminds me of creativity. I tend to stare at the mason jar for inspiration (or when I'm tired at staring at a blank screen). "C'mon red pencil, what do you have for me today?"

I grew up mainly in southeast Wisconsin, and lived in the Middle East for three years. I'm an American with Palestinian roots. My upbringing influenced me tremendously. The Middle Eastern side of me is very much a story teller, one that loves and identifies with analogies, poetry, dancing and creative expression. Middle Eastern societies tend to dance around a subject with colorful dialogue w/out necessarily telling you the exact point. They'll repeat things in different ways, and I find that is my natural form of expression. However, there is a direct and punctual side of me. I don't like to be late for meetings or make my readers wait too long before making a point.

My personal writing is a reflection of the two cultures -- I communicate from three perspectives: Middle Eastern, Western and personal recipe of the two.

What does it mean to be happy, holy and healthy? What does it mean for me? For you? For the world?

Can you walk on your own yellow brick road? If you can’t find one, spray paint your way into happiness. If that doesn’t work, buy yellow shoes. It sounds simple, but it’s not the case for many people, myself included. I learn the hard way that life doesn’t have to be so hard or difficult. I now know that it’s very easy to attract love, happiness, prosperity and health. The question is, why do so many of us attract fear, pain and hurt in our lives? How do we attract more of what we want and less of what we don’t want?

These are the questions I seek to answer as I describe my own journey and hope to inspire others on their path to enlightenment.

The greatest joy is freedom of expression. Sometimes words are beyond words. It's difficult to put into words what writing does for me, except to say that it feeds my soul. It's an experience. It just is. There are some books that I would gladly make love to, but that would be awkward... for the book, the pages, and I'm not sure my dignity would be intact after the experience.

I don't see others as fans, merely supporters of my work -- who are hopefully inspired by it in some way.

I have several projects in the works. I'm great at starting them and tend to put them aside until strong signs appear in my life that say, "Hey, remember the time you wrote ten pages about lemon trees? Now is the time to finish that book. It's going to be an inspiration to lemon seeds every where. Do it. Now."

Seriously though, I'm current working on a ghost writing project and expanding my latest book, happy am i. holy am i. healthy am i. I had an aha moment after it was published. More details coming soon.