Ishaa

“I told a friend about these letters, about how you and I don’t discuss mundane concerns in these notes, but instead explore our creative and intellectual interests. He seemed intrigued and mentioned that it was a good strategy to escape our routine.
Rest assured, I don’t see these letters as an ‘escape’. (A rather poor choice of words, don’t you think?) They give me a chance to express myself. If that’s a form of escapism, I suppose we’re living in a strange world.”
― Taha Kehar, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“I don’t think people are capable of understanding the people they love. This may come across as somewhat cynical because we’re frequently told about the healing power of empathy. But we often forget that empathy is a rare commodity. People are innately self-serving, especially when it comes to love. It is impossible for them to love every facet of our being; they only love those elements that serve their own narrow interests. The parts they neglect are invariably what they choose not to understand. Unfortunately, they develop a myopic view of our identity based on their own perceptions of us.
Ideally, love isn’t about extracting what we can from others. Instead, it requires people to give each other the space to blossom into full-fledged individuals. In a South Asian context, we allow love to become where people are stripped of their individualities.”
― Taha Kehar, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“She learned that no matter how hard you try, sometimes it’s not enough. She learned the only person you could trust, the only person you could truly rely on, was yourself.”
― Ashley Elston, First Lie Wins

“The jokes we tell or laugh at subsume our deepest vulnerabilities. We often struggle to comprehend the sheer intensity of some experiences. Our mind – that cruel beast – tries to soften the blow by teaching us to laugh at things that trouble us the most. Dark humor intrigues me because it originates from pain, irrespective of whether it's conscious or unrealized.”
― Taha Kehar, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship