Salaam friends,

Here are the things crossing my mind for Increments Weekly. Please feel free to forward this to friends.

🎧 What am I listening to?

I’m listening to Barnes and Nobles George Saunders' interview on his book Liberation Day. I listen to George Saunders when I don’t feel inspired to write, or if I’m stuck in the middle of writing a story. His voice and perspective always offer a way forward for me as a writer, and I imagine he can be useful for all artists wrestling with the creative process.

🍿 Movies I’m watching?

Father Stu starring Mark Wahlberg as the American boxer Stuart Long, who is “a boxer-turned-priest [that] inspired countless people during his journey from self-destruction to redemption.”

🧰 Tools for life

I used to pay for Audible yearly subscription, because I love listening to audiobooks while driving or taking a walk. I was often left with more downloaded books than I’m able to listen to, so I was overpaying for a service I wasn’t fully taking advantage of. Then a friend told me about Libby, which is an online platform with hundreds of E-books and audiobooks. All you need is a library card and you can download almost any book you want. This is how I read books before I interview guests on my podcast, it’s how I skim listen through books I’m unsure about purchasing the hard copy, and how I listen to my favorite books.

Here are some I have particularly enjoyed:

Range by David Epstein
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
Flowers for Sarajevo by John McCutcheon
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

There is often a wait time for popular topics, which encourages me to listen to them once my turn comes as opposed to procrastinating until ‘I find the time’.

🔖 Quote I’m pondering

“I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am, also, much more than that. So are we all.”

— James Baldwin

📸 Through My Lens

This is a picture of the sun rising in NYC. I'm standing on the Brooklyn Bridge looking in the direction of the Manhattan Bridge.

Please give me feedback on Instagram. What do you want more or less of? Or other suggestions? Just me a message @mohamedthewriter

Thank you for reading, and keep on creating!

Mohamed