My First Blogoversary!

Yep, it's been exactly one year since I started this blog last September. It seems now like I've been blogging forever and sometimes I wonder how things were before I discovered the blogosphere.

It's been a great experience blogging, reading other blogs, befriending bloggers, and being a part of this unique community. It's a cliche, but I really have learned a lot over the past year about many issues going on around the world and how these same issues and events are interpreted and analyzed in so many ways.

I definitely wouldn't have thought that blogging would bring me closer to my Jordanian heritage. But upon discovering an active and vibrant Jordanian blogging community, I instantly became addicted to reading every new post and relating it to what I experience when I visit Jordan every year. I know that when I first applied to get on Jordan Planet the administrators wondered if they should add me when I don't live in Jordan, rarely blogged about Jordan, or even identified myself as Jordanian. They may have seen my early political rants and lots of posts about the situation in Palestine, but nothing distinctly "Jordanian." But I thank them for adding me because I did begin to feel like I could relate to some Jordanians who shared similar interests and concerns about the world. I already wrote about how JP has affected my life and my blogging back in May, so I don't want to repeat everything I said.

And of course I'm grateful to be a part of Palestine Blogs and DC Blogs both of which provide me with an opportunity to learn more and meet more bloggers everyday and always be inspired by them.

As I browsed through my archives last night, I noticed how much my blogging style has changed over the past year. I started off with a lot of random rants about different political events although I feel that has changed into more calculated and thought out analysis of different political and social issues that concern me. While this may not appear to be a very personal blog, and that is how I intended it, politics and activism are a lot of who I am so I don't have to write about my own life for this blog to be personal. Palestine, Iraq, Darfur, and most tragedies of our day that I write about are personal to me because I feel that I am in some ways contributing to the suffering of these people, unless I speak out against it. Even on social issues such as the problems I see in Jordanian and Arab society as well as my own surrounding American community, I enjoy speaking my mind on these issues through this space of mine.

Blogging by yourself is one thing, but getting people to read your posts and interact with you is a completely different experience that adds so much flavor to blogging. It's not really about the number of people that come across my blog, but those that take the time to leave a comment or drop me an email thanking me for a post, or arguing with me on an issue. I know that there are readers out there who do not feel comfortable leaving comments or writing emails, but they are always here listening to me and somehow I can feel that.

So thank you to those bloggers who became my first friends and supported me when I barely got a couple of hits everyday and to everyone else who has since stopped by and found a way to interact with me and learn something new from my blog. I hope my posts continue to grab your attention and make you question and reflect on what is going on out there. Soon I will begin working on improving the visual appearance of my blog and adding more features which I think you will enjoy. I'm open to suggestions so please let me know if you have anything in mind!

Thanks again for reading and Happy Blogoversary to me :o)

On this occassion, I thought I would list some of my favorite posts. Enjoy!

• Cherry Blossoms & Spring
  
• Speaking Out Against Bin Laden & Zarqawi
• Arriving in Jordan, Thoughts and Pictures
• Five Weeks in Jordan
  
• Featured in the Washington Post's Express
• Hijab: Pathway to Fame?
• On the Cartoon Controversy
• Iraq War Lies
• Speaking of the Israel Lobby and the War on Lebanon
  
• Shattered Dreams in UAE
• When the Sniper Hit Home; A Personal Account
  
• Automatic Wudu Machine
• On the Occasion of Joining Jordan Planet
• Torture in Israel