Araz Gray

Blog RSS Thoughts, Articles, Memories, and Events

Thoughts, articles, memories, and events by Araz Gray.

How to Be Yourself?

How can we really be ourselves? What does it even mean to “be yourself”? Aren’t we already ourselves? This two-word question actually has a simple answer. Being yourself means not trying to be like someone else. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t compare yourself to others, especially if you’re multidi... Read All

Blogging Is Alive, More Alive Than Ever

These days I often hear people say that social media has caused blogging, and more importantly, the hyperlink, the very foundation of the web, to slowly fade away. I completely disagree, because here’s how I see it: Back when social media wasn’t so widespread, those who truly had something to say... Read All

Write for Your Friends, Not Your Enemies

I’ve often wondered why blogging, one of the few genuinely valuable creations of the internet age, sometimes feels like the hardest thing in the world to do. Is it really that we have nothing to say? Everyone living in this world has stories worth telling. Some are lived, some imagined. Sometimes yo... Read All

Testing a New Work Schedule

At the suggestion of a friend, who actually got this time management method from one of his expert buddies, I decided to divide my day into three parts and stick to it consistently: 12 hours of work starting at 4 AM, daily tasks from 4 PM, and a 6-hour sleep from 10 PM. In this post, I’ll be writing... Read All

Bringing Baran Theater to Tabriz

In early September, my friend Arezoo contacted me and said there was a theater group in Mashhad that had performed in various cities and now planned to come to Tabriz. They didn’t know anyone here and were looking for someone to guide them with coordination and preparation for the show. The group... Read All

Reflecting on 2017 and My Goals for 2018

It’s the final days of 2017, and I was reflecting on the useful and mistaken things I did this year to review them and plan better for 2018. I spent exactly 10 out of 12 months of 2017 as a soldier, and honestly, my biggest achievement was staying alive. During those 10 months, extensive reading ... Read All

Timeline after quitting smoking

Respiratory issues, bad smell, cost, always looking for a place to smoke, and so on, these are reasons many people quit smoking or take breaks. But for me, they weren’t enough. At least the attempts I made based on these reasons didn’t work. This time, my main reason was the Seventh Semi-Sufficient ... Read All

My Military Service At One Glance

February 14, 2016: Valentine's Day was joyful for many, and for me, too, unlike any year before. Because I realized the limbo between university and military service, normally stretching over seven months, might end in just a few days. I didn't understand why, but something had shifted. A rare oppor... Read All


he Sword Lover’s Journey

They say one day a sword lover went to his master. The master asked why he had come, and he replied, “To become the best swordsman in Japan.” The master smiled and said, “Great! Now take that broom and sweep.” After the usual struggle, the student insisted that he needed to practice a lot and asked ... Read All

Me and my goals have destroyed me

For over a year, I’ve been just thinking, about everything. So much that people here have grown frustrated with my silence and withdrawal. I have hundreds of pages of notes from all this thinking, though they’re so chaotic and tangled that I doubt anyone else could make sense of them. Sometimes I th... Read All

New Year, New Beginnings

Only a few moments left until the New Year. Since early 2016, I haven’t had a real life and spent almost the entire year in the barracks. But in the new year, I’ll be discharged in mid-autumn, and after overcoming the last big challenge, I’ll move full speed toward my goals. I hope that in the new y... Read All