So I figured
that the title, From Souk to Nafs
deserved a bit of an explanation.
I’m sure a
lot of native English speakers are familiar with the expression From Soup to Nuts.
Soup to Nuts: American English idiom meaning, more
or less, from beginning to end, and
anything to everything.
After a lot
(And I mean a lot. See: number of
times Edison tried unsuccessfully to create the light bulb) of failed names and
general debate about the name of The Blog (as I affectionately—or perhaps
not-so-affectionately—dubbed it during the creative process), we arrived at From Souk to Nafs, which is, of course,
a play on the aforementioned expression From
Soup to Nuts.
Arbitrary
Arabic words stuffed into an English expression because they sound the part?
How little
faith you have in me.
Haven’t I
already told you that I overanalyze? Everything?
(I have.)
So, we have From Souk to Nafs, my lovely blog title.
Some of you
may be aware that a souk is an
open-air marketplace found in various Middle Eastern countries, for example,
(*ahem, ahem*) Morocco.
Nafs is translated as soul, self, psyche, or
ego.
We now have a
marketplace and a soul, and I’m sure some of you are thinking What the heck? Where are you going with
this, Genevieve? And you are perfectly sane in thinking so.
Surface
level: What could possibly be more opposite/different than a marketplace and a
soul, just as soup to nuts seems rather arbitrary?
My actual
reasoning: My exchange is going to encompass a lot, and right now, the possibilities
are unrestricted: they can be everything and anything. It can be as wide and
diverse as the marketplace is from the soul. On one end, there is the bustling,
crowded, lively marketplace with a hundred little vendors. A perfect cacophony
of the thrums of life and people and newness. And on the other, there is a
quiet, introspective entity that only I can access. A tranquil, reflective part
of myself that is removed from the beautiful noise of life. I will experience
them both—they are not just symbols—this hub of people and this awareness of my
own being. I hope that I will not just experience the flurry of new people and
new places. I hope that I will be able to grow, but also ground myself, and
discover bits about myself that I have never before uncovered or understood. I
have heard that these exchanges change people, and even though it scares me a
little bit, I am ready to change, to find those bits of myself, and have a
deeper awareness.
And so my
journey will take me from what seems to be the active center of everything to
the recesses of my own soul/conscious/self/etc and everywhere in between. Soup
to nuts, souk to nafs.
Maybe I’m not
explaining this right. Maybe this makes absolutely no sense at all. Maybe it
only makes sense in my head. But that’s okay.
Because that’s
the only place that it needs to. ;)
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