“Let me first ask you two questions and answer them as truthfully as you possibly can!” he wrote in an email.
“Question 1) Let's say hypothetically that we are all animals in clothes ~ what type of animal would you say you were Wafa and why? Question 2) Tell me your favorite bird of all birds and why?” and he added:
“Answer in as many words as you wish. The simpler and clearer picture you depict the better!”
How serendipitous, I thought. Only a few days ago, after a long-distance argument with my man, a loud thought popped up in my head and I twitted the following:
I wish to be neither a mother nor a housewife. I aim to soar like an eagle, roar like a lion n make the world my oyster. http://t.co/CdGbt9t8
Hence, without hesitation, I knew which animals I was “under my clothes.”
“I am a big cat, a lioness, to be exact, and an eagle,” I wrote back.
“I have an insatiable curiosity, always looking to rationalize and understand things to better guide my destiny. Like the eagle, I seek to view the world from high above, the eagle's perspective, far away to view the whole picture, and yet stay alert to detect the smallest hurdles and opportunities on the ground.
Like a lion, I am a warrior, competitor, and survivor very much at ease in a man's world and allowing no one to tame me. Imagine I worked on Wall Street, where less than 10% of senior financial advisors-VPs are women; and this in spite of my background. I was born in Morocco, of Arab Muslim parents in a backward patriarchal society. No wonder I left my native land as soon and as fast as I could for Europe and then America, and I didn’t even learn English until I was twenty-four.
Finally to complete this portrayal, I am also a typical Athena, the Greek Goddess, born out of the split-open head of the mighty Zeus, fully grown and dressed in golden battle armor. Athena’s profile which was sent to me by my daughter not long ago bears an uncanny resemblance to mine. Indeed, until only a few years ago, I fit exactly her description. Today, a new found spirituality helps me temper my ego and feistiness and find greater peace and acceptance. At the same time, I retained the deep seated values that have guided me throughout my life, love, compassion, justice and integrity.”
“I bet you were not expecting an essay,” I joked. “I’m surprised myself how easy it was for me to reveal so much from just two innocuous questions. My only hope is that you find this description clear and simple enough even as there’s nothing simple about me, I’m afraid."
