Editor's Letter: Locations and Spaces
Dear beloved reader,
I was instinctively going to start this by saying, “I hope this letter finds you well,” but I’m going to phrase it differently because I know that opening is getting a bit annoying. I hope this finds you safe and healthy. And if you are not well, know that I completely understand. As I write this, I can honestly say that I am not well either.
I originally planned to write this letter the dawn of my nineteenth birthday, around two weeks ago, but with the nature/state of our world, I felt at a total loss for energy. I felt socially anxious despite having minimal physical human interaction. It was difficult for me to face a blank document. The impact of the pandemic seeped directly into my personal life. Uncertainty became the most prominent feature of my existence.
I, who has always been deeply ambitious and excited to take on more projects/work than I can realistically handle, could not bear the thought of doing absolutely anything at all. Every time I attempted to “work”—whether on Unootha, on art, on school—my body resisted. My mind resisted. I resisted.
A prominent characteristic of mine is that I tend to be very compassionate and understanding of other people’s circumstances (as everyone should be…), but I would never extend that same level of compassion and understanding to myself. Every time I sat down and struggled to complete a task, or missed a deadline, or took longer than I initially planned to to write an editor’s letter, I would severely reprimand myself. I feared that if I did not keep up my routines of “work”, then all of the things I’ve done before would be rendered completely meaningless. That maybe I would be rendered meaningless.
At 19, the only “achievement” I’d like to attain is to be completely and utterly content with not achieving anything at all. I want to fully practice the belief that I can just be, and that is enough. With this letter, with this issue, I extend the permission for you to do the same. You exist and that is enough. I am so glad you are here, whether in wellness or in misery.
With love,
Fatima Al Jarman
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
P.S.: On a perhaps lighter, kind-of spooky note, I find it so interesting that we’re currently living in a world of maintaining physical space between each other (i.e. social distancing) and confining ourselves to very specific locations, and that the title of the issue is locations and spaces… Nouf, Shayma and I had pre-planned this issue since around May of last year, so this is some illuminati level sh*t, I think.
P.P.S.: I would also like to extend my gratitude to all of the wonderful writers, artists, filmmakers and creatives that my team and I have had the pleasure of working with throughout the making of this issue. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for trusting us. We will work to make Unootha the best platform it can be.
