Emptied

From Beirut to Paris, recent terrorist attacks have kept the world on the edge of a universal breakdown due to warring spiritual, political and socio-cultural forces.

And with the Turkey-russia jet downing making headlines worldwide, it did not take long for hashtag-infused World War III scenarios to flood the Internet.

Meanwhile, the planetary turmoil did not seem to affect the Lebanese population as some citizens gathered to make the world’s longest man’oushe while others were busy having aesthetic debates over Christmas decoration, in a striking pandemonium of national priorities. “We’re going nowhere.” I’ve heard this line countless times (and probably used it countless times in the course of weather talk-type conversations about current world events) over the past few weeks but was never particularly tempted to delve into its subtleties, until I finally acknowledged to be living in a country deprived of concrete destinations. A country emptied of all substance, yet terrified of emptiness.

And since most of us Lebanese believe to be going somewhere but somehow always end up in the middle of nowhere, why not try to reverse the trajectory this time by making nowhere our next stop, literally?

Going nowhere is not bad for you. I see it as more of an adventure. You never know what nowhere will turn out to be. Nowhere has no limit. Going nowhere is freedom in its simplest form. And yet our carefully boxed collective mind struggles to embrace the ampleness of this freedom.

So today, I'm going nowhere. Might actually stay there for a while. And to everyone asking why I'm going nowhere, I say: go nowhere with me.