መጽሐፍቶችን በpdf📚

Cocktails of Misery: Writing and Discomfort

This is peculiar but undeniably true, at least in my experience: the less comfortable I am, the more I write. Conversely, the more comfortable I am, the less I write. In my view, comfort tends to stifle creativity. So, if you notice an increase in my writing output, it's a sign that I'm experiencing discomfort in some way or another. For a writer, this peculiar phenomenon isn't something to lament—it's similar to finding beauty in the chaos of a thunderstorm, where each lightning strike illuminates the page with brilliance.

People often say that being in love inspires more writing, but in reality, it doesn't. In fact, love provides too much comfort and can stifle creativity. When you're with a partner who's almost perfect for you, writer's block is likely to follow. I've experienced it myself, so I know what I'm talking about. Maybe another type of love might fuel creativity. An affair maybe? Haha... I'm not condoning affairs outside of a partnership, but when it comes to talking about art… perhaps love born from such situations could boost the pen of a writer. At least an affair introduces a lot of discomfort—guilt, anticipation, moral dilemmas—which could be the catalyst for an exceptional piece of art. An ordinary love is a writer's block waiting to happen. Too much comfort... I am just saying.

Let me share this intriguing situation: In March 2023, I was diagnosed with some form of malignant cancer. It was like a slap in the face, a punch in the stomach, and it felt as though God was chastising me undeservedly. From March to May, with uncertainty looming, my life hung in the balance. Until the doctors determined the type and extent of the cancer, I felt like a zombie. But during that waiting period, as I grappled with an existential crisis, I wrote several beautiful poems and fascinating essays. I wonder if this cocktail of misery is what my writing needs to flourish. To be absolutely honest, for me, the poems and essays I wrote during that intense discomfort were some of the most beautiful ones ever.

In June 2023, I underwent surgery to remove the malignant cancer that threatened my life. After the operation, the real discomfort began, unlike anything I'd experienced before: difficulty breathing, eating, and speaking, compounded by the physical and emotional effects of the medication. But guess what? In July, I started writing my second book. My creativity reached its peak. Story after story flowed from my pen, all during a difficult healing process. Finally, in September, my book was published, and it was a huge success on Amazon. I even got interviewed by BBC Amharic.

Where do I stand in this discomfort now? The cancer is gone, but its effects have permanently changed my identity. Apparently, during the operation, they heavily bruised my vocal cords and damaged the nerves in the area. So, my normal voice is gone. One's voice is a significant part of one's identity, so losing it felt like losing myself. I still struggle to eat. Finishing a very small meal takes me an hour. I've become a walking choking hazard. So, when I eat, I have to chew everything to pieces and always have a glass of water nearby to avoid choking. The new Tigest is someone who chokes a lot. I'm malnourished and dizzy most of the time because I can't eat enough. Eating has become more of a chore than a pleasure. I couldn't even enjoy my recent vacation in Ethiopia because every gathering involved a meal. People couldn't understand why I wasn't eating. What they couldn't see was that I was constantly hungry. Thank God for avocado juice in Ethiopia, as if God, in his twisted sense of humor, chastised me while simultaneously providing an abundance of avocados, as if to say, "Here's a consolation prize for your suffering" 🙂

I remember one time, after observing me for a while, the owner of a restaurant I frequented with my husband said, "You're not a big eater, are you?" He was wearing a hat with a picture of a horse on it. I smiled, but all I could think was, "You have no idea. I'm so hungry I could eat you, the hat, and the horse right now." I can't deny that there were moments of sadness in this discomfort. There were times when I sobbed uncontrollably because of hunger. When the sadness persisted, I would silently make fun of myself by saying, "Tigest, at this very moment, you could have been a perfect candidate for a hunger strike"... hahaha... It's a shame there's no revolution or cause I can participate in, but if there were, a hunger strike would indeed be a piece of cake. It is what it is!

But to come to our main point, the beauty of this high level of discomfort, I must say, is that my pen experiences orgasm after orgasm, non-stop. My love for reading is even more heightened now. The writing that emerges from this discomfort is a beautiful escape. I'm still under the care of doctors, and they're still trying to help me eat well. But if I look at it positively, this cocktail of misery isn't so bad after all. So, when you see me writing a lot, know that I'm simultaneously in pain and euphoria, accepting my reality. - Tigest Samuel

"ኀሊዮት" የተሰኘው መጽሐፍ እንዳይታተም ! !
***

ቴዎድሮስ ተ/አረጋይ "ኀሊዮት" የተሰኘ የ19 ኢትዮጵያውያን በተለያዩ ጊዜ በመጽሔት ላይ የተደረገላቸው ቃለ ምልልስ ነው። በተለይ "ሮዝ/አዲስ ጉዳይ" በተሰኘው ተወዳጅ መጽሔት ላይ የታተሙ ናቸው። የእነዚህ ሰዎች ቃለ መጠይቅ እንደሚታተም ስመለከት ቴዎድሮስ ባያሳትማቸው ይሻላል አልኩኝ ለእራሴ። ምክንያቶቹንም አንድ ባንድ ለማሳየት እሞክራለሁ።

ቴዎድሮስ ተ/አረጋይ የተመረጡትን የ19ኙን ሰዎች ቃለ መጠይቅ ሲያደረግ ለመጽሔት ግብአት ታስበው የተሰናዱ ወቅታዊ ጉዳይ መሆኑን መታወቅ አለበት፤ እርግጥ ሐሳቦቹ ዘመን ተሻጋሪ ሐሳቦቹ ከሆኑ የአርትኦት ሥራ ተደርጎባቸው መታተም ይችላሉ። ሆኖም ግን ቴዎድሮስ አሁን ሊያሳትመው የተዘጋጀው መጽሐፍ ሐሳቦቹ ለአሁኑ ጊዜ ተደራሲ አይመጥኑም። በዚህ መጽሐፍ የተካተቱት ሰዎች ዝርዝር ስመለከት አብዛኛው  በወቅታዊ ጉዳይ ላይ የሚያተኩሩ ቃለ ምልልስ ናቸው።

ለምሳሌ ፦ ማዕረጉ በዛብህ  ስለ ጋዜጠኝነት በተለይ ስለ ልማታዊ ጋዜጠኝነት የተደረገ ቃለ መጠይቅ ነው። ቴዎድሮስ ይህን ቃለ መጠይቅ ለመምህሬ ማዕረጉ እንደምታሳትመው ቢያውቅ "ምን ነክቶ ነው።" የሚል ይመስለኛል።

ዳኛቸ አሰፋ (ዶ/ር) ከአሜሪካ መጥቶ አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ የፍልስፍና መምህር የሆነበትን አሰልቺ ታሪክ ከመናገሩም በላይ አንድ ተማሪ "በልማታዊ መንግሥት" መመረቂያ ጽሑፍ ሊያቀረብ እንደሚፈል ሲነግረው እንደ ከለለከለው ወሬ ከማውራት ወጪ ለአንባቢያን አንዳችም ዕውቀት የሚጨምርለት ወይም የሚያገኘው ቁም ነገር የለም።

አቦይ ስብሓት ነጋ  ቃለ መጠይቅ የአንባቢ ጉጉት ያሳድራል ብዬ አልገምትም። ምክንያቱም የህወሓት /የኢህአዴግ ርዕዮት ዓለም ትንታኔ ለመስማት ጊዜውን የሚያጠፋ አንባቢ ይኖራል ብዬ አልገምትም። እንዲሁም የገብሩ ታረቀኝ የተማሪዎች ትግል አንባቢ አሁንም ፍላጎት ያለው አይመስለኝም። ከዚህ ቃለ መጠይቅ አንድ ነገ ትውስ ይለኛል። እሱም አቦይ ስብሐት ስለ ህዳሴ ግድቡ ፕሮጀክት ተጠይቆ፣  "ዓባይን የደፈረው መለስ ሳይኾን፣ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ነው።" ማለቱ ትዝ ይለኛል። ከዚህ ውጪ የተሻለ ሐሳብ መኖሩን ትዝ አይለኝም።

የመስፍን ወልደ ማርያም ደግሞ ወቅታዊ ዱላ ቀረሽ ቃለ መልስ ሲኾን ባልሳሳት መጽሐፋቸውን ሳታነብ ቃለ መጠይቅ ማድረግ እንደማይቹና እንዳባሩ የምትገልጸው ቦታ ከመኖሩ ውጪ አንዳችም ፋይዳ የለውም።

የአያልነህ ሙላት (ጸሐፊ ተውኔት) ፥ የኃይሌ ገሪማ (ፕ/ር) እና የኃይሌ ገ/ሥላሴ (አትሌት) ቃለ ምልልስ በተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች ከመቅረባቸውም በላይ ከድግግሞሽ ውጪ ያን ያህል ቃለ ምልልሳቸው በመጽሐፍ ታትሞ መቅረቡ ያን ያህል አስፈላጊነቱ አይታየኝም።

ሌላው ጃገማ ኬሎ (ጀነራል) ብዙ መጽሔቶች ላይታሪካቸው ተደጋግሞ የተነገረ ከመሆኑም በላይ ፍቅረማርቆስ ደስታ "የደጋው መብረቅ" በሚል አርእስት የሕይወት ታሪካቸውን አሳትሟል።
የነጋሶ ጊዳዳ (ዶ/ር) ቃለ ምልልስ ምንም የሚጨምረው አዲስ ነገር የለም። በዳንኤል ተፈራ "ዳንዲ የነጋሶ መንገድ" በሚል አርእስት ቃለ ምልልስ ያደረገውን የሕይወት ታሪካቸውን አሳትሟል።
ፕሬዝዳነት ግርማ ወ/ጊዮርጊስ "ነበር" በሚል አርእስት ታትሟል። በዚያ ላይ የሳቸውን ቃለ ምልልስ ለማንበብ የሚጓጓ አንባቢ ይኖራል ለማለት ይከብዳል።

ይህ "ኀሊዮት" በሚል አርእስት ልታሳትመው ያሰብከው መጽሐፍ ከታተመ የአንተ አድናቂዎች (እኔም አንዱ አድናቂ ነኝ) ሊገዙት ይችላሉ። ሆኖም ግን እስከ ዛሬ ከሠራቸው ምርጥ ሥራዎች የወረዱ ይሆናሉ። ቴዎድሮስ ይህንን ከፍ ብሎ  አስተያየት ልሰጥ የቻልኩት በሥራ ከፍ እያልክ እንጂ እየወረድክ ማየትን ስለማልሻ መሆኑን በትሕትና እንድታውቅልኝ እሻለሁ።

ይልቅስ  "ፈርጥ" ፥"ፅጌረዳ" ፥ ፀደይ መጽሔት ላይ ያቀረብካቸውን ብታሳትማቸው ይሻላል ባይ ነኝ። ለምሳሌ ፦

ስለ ጥላሁን ገሰሰ፥ ማሕሙድ አህመድ፥ ይልማ ገብረአብ፣ ጥበቡ ወርቅዬ፥ የሙሉጌታ ተስፋ "የባለ ቅኔው መሐላ" የተሰኘውን ግጥሙ ላይ ያቀረብከውን ማለፊያ ዕይታ፥ "ፀደይ"  መጽሔት ላይ ስለ ሙዚቃ አመጣጥ ያቀረብከው ረቂቅ መጣጥፍ እንዲሁም "ጽጌረዳ" መጽሔትና ጋዜጣ ላይ ታቀረባቸው ከነበሩት በሳል ቃለ መጠይቆች መካከል የድምጻዊያን እና የዜማና ግጥም ደራሲዎች ላይ የጻፈከውን ወይም ቃለ መጠይቅ ያደረግከውን ብታሳትማቸው ይበጃል።  ዘውጋቸው ደግሞ አንድ ዓይነት ከመሆኑንም ባሻገር በኢትዮጵያ የሙዚቃ ጥናት (በድምጻዊያን፥ በግጥምና ዜማ ደራሲዎች) ላይ ትልቅ አስተዋፅኦ ከማድረጉም  በላይ  በመጽሔቱ የሠፈሩት  ጥልቅና ምጡቅ ሐሳብ በመሆናቸው ዘመን ተሻጋሪ ናቸው።

መልካም ልደት ለፕሮፌሰር ሀይሌ ገሪማ🎂


[ የአፄ ቴዎድሮስን ታሪክ ወደ ፊልም እስክሪፕት ቀየርኩና ፕሮዲዩስ እንዲደረግ ወደ ሆሊውድ ሄድኩ ። አንድ ፕሮዲዩሰር ታሪኩን አንብቦ ወደደውና ''ለምን ዋና ታሪኩን ቴዎድሮስን ሊረዳ በመጣው ፈረንጅ ዙርያ እንዲያጠነጥን አናደርገውም ?'' አለኝ ። እኔም እስክሪፕቱን ተቀብዬው ወጣሁ ። ከዚያ በኋላ የሆሊውድን ደጅ ረግጬ አላውቅም]

ፕሮፌሰር ሀይሌ ገሪማ
ወጪ የሚኖር የውስጥ አርበኛ