Hasnain Shah
Bio
"I write about the little things that shape our big moments—stories that inspire, spark curiosity, and sometimes just make you smile. If you’re here, you probably love words as much as I do—so welcome, and let’s explore together."
Stories (72)
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The Year I Finally Stopped Apologizing
The Year I Finally Stopped Apologizing By Hasnain Shah For as long as I can remember, the word sorry lived on the tip of my tongue. It didn’t matter if I was at fault or not—if someone bumped into me at the grocery store, if a waiter brought me the wrong order, if a coworker interrupted me mid-sentence—I apologized. My friends joked that I could apologize to a chair if I walked into it, and honestly, they weren’t wrong.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Humans
My Grandparent’s Secret Recipe and the Stories Behind It
My Grandparent’s Secret Recipe and the Stories Behind It By Hasnain Shah Every family has that one dish that seems to hold the whole story of who they are. In mine, it’s my grandmother’s Sunday stew. If you asked her about it, she’d just wave her hand and say, “It’s meat, vegetables, and time. Nothing special.” But she knew, and we all knew, it was much more than that.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Families
My Dog Thinks He’s My Life Coach
My Dog Thinks He’s My Life Coach By Hasnain Shah If you’ve never had a dog stare you down with the kind of intensity normally reserved for TED Talk speakers, you’re missing out on what I live with daily. My golden retriever, Max, is not just my dog—he’s convinced he’s my life coach. And honestly, he may be doing a better job than the actual human mentors I’ve had over the years.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Humor
The Mirror in My Dream Apartment
The Mirror in My Dream Apartment By Hasnain Shah The apartment was almost perfect. I’d toured it on a whim, scrolling through listings after midnight, the way you scroll when you’re lonely and half hoping the internet will hand you a new life. Pictures online rarely match reality, but this one did. Exposed brick, wide windows, a kitchen just big enough for two if they liked each other. Rent that wasn’t a scam.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Horror
The Lie That Saved Me
The Lie That Saved Me By Hasnain Shah I never thought of myself as a liar. Growing up, honesty was treated like a religion in my household—truth was expected, demanded, and anything less was met with swift punishment. My father used to say, “The truth may hurt, but lies will kill you.” I carried that phrase with me like a shield, believing that absolute honesty was the only way to navigate the world without regret.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Confessions
When Silence Gets Loud
When Silence Gets Loud By Hasnain Shah Silence has a reputation for being peaceful. It is the thing we claim to crave after long days, after crowded subways, after conversations that drained more than they gave. We romanticize silence as rest, as stillness, as the calm surface of a lake reflecting a perfect moon.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Psyche
Media vs. Memory
Social Media vs. Memory: The Archive That Owns Us By Hasnain Shah I don’t trust my memory anymore. I used to believe it was a room I could enter freely, open drawers, pull out photographs, smell the dust, and leave when I was ready. Now, when I want to remember a summer night or a birthday, I no longer walk into that room. Instead, I open my phone.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Psyche
What Small-Town Government Taught Me About Power
What Small-Town Government Taught Me About Power By Hasnain Shah Most people imagine corruption as something that happens in Washington, D.C., among senators and lobbyists with seven-figure bank accounts. I used to think the same way. I thought small towns were immune to the dirty tricks of politics—that on the local level, things were still about neighbors helping neighbors. I believed city council meetings were dull but honest, the kind of place where good intentions ruled.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in The Swamp
What Small-Town Government Taught Me About Power
What Small-Town Government Taught Me About Power By Hasnain Shah Most people imagine corruption as something that happens in Washington, D.C., among senators and lobbyists with seven-figure bank accounts. I used to think the same way. I thought small towns were immune to the dirty tricks of politics—that on the local level, things were still about neighbors helping neighbors. I believed city council meetings were dull but honest, the kind of place where good intentions ruled.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in The Swamp
The True Us Versus Them in the United States
The Truth and the Point Laid Out By Hasnain There is an uncomfortable truth in America that many have either forgotten or chosen to ignore. Politics has always been messy, but today it feels more toxic than ever. My Republican friends sometimes speak as though corruption is a disease that lives only within the Democratic Party. That is not true. While Democrats may currently show their corruption more openly, they are certainly not the only guilty players. Corruption knows no party—it seeps through every corner of government.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Humans
The Library That Remembered Me
The Library That Remembered Me By Hasnain The first time I noticed the library on Sycamore Street, I almost missed it entirely. From the outside, it looked like the kind of building a city forgets. Wedged between a bakery that had closed years ago and a pawn shop with a flickering neon sign, it seemed to have been left behind. Dust coated the windows so thickly they turned sunlight dull, and the heavy wooden doors slouched on their hinges as if they’d been carrying their own weight for decades.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Motivation
The Things We Don’t Say at Family Dinners
The Things We Don’t Say at Family Dinners By Hasnain Shah The clatter of forks and the murmur of conversation always marked the beginning of our family dinners. Someone would pass the bread basket, glasses would be filled, and my father would tell a story loud enough to make my grandmother laugh. On the surface, it looked like harmony—a well-rehearsed performance we had been practicing for years.
By Hasnain Shah4 months ago in Families
