Tilt; emotional upset, mental confusion, or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in poor play.

The past few years in Lebanon have felt like a game of Texas Hold’em. A group of people, known or unknown to us, have been sitting around a round table, playing with a set of cards, betting our past, present, and future away. And though we too, have a place on the table, it feels as though we have constantly been dealt the skip card in UNO, unable to take matters into our own hands. We’ve been on tilt for the past few rounds.

This issue of Al Rawiya intends to explore how these pent up feelings of frustration, confusion, and pain have translated into the way we deal with the multi-pronged crisis currently taking over Lebanon. How have our current mental states affected the way we work and function in society? How have these wildcard-esque events translated onto the party scene? How will women manage to maintain their independence under the current structure of marriage in Lebanon?

Though things may seem out of hand, the articles we propose in this issue reflect the different ways in which members of society in Lebanon are reclaiming their places in life, or looking for new roles which they can fill to adapt to the never-ending changes. This issue aims to show that everyone deserves a seat at the table.