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The Art of Cynical Blogging

When I started out blogging it was one way for me to inspire people to think about living purposefully and independently of prevalent trends. So I hope that in each blog I've included some new perspectives on life and its facets. The other day my sister-in-law called me and said: 'I like it when it's more about you. And give me some cliffhangers!' I get what she means. She's talking about the application of my insights.

Truth is, I find myself uninteresting in so far as I have nothing to offer of my own except my independent and gradual discovery of awe and wonderment about the revelation of Baha'u'llah. Which, I guess, is my story. And of that I can never stop telling.

I checked out several Iranian blogs (Iran is the number one blogging country in the world) and what I found was really intriguing. It seems that for the most part though, people love to be cynical. When you're cynical, dark and tortured your blog becomes popular. Persians especially, love to complain and point fingers at everyone: all the governments of the world, the 'ignorant Iranians' who fled the revolution and spent the last 30 abroad and have 'no idea of the actual realities and issues in the country', the ignorant Iranians within Iran - even the mountain people of Nicaragua get blamed...And there is certainly a huge emphasis on personal struggles and sometimes an over indulgence in one's own life. But nobody takes a long hard look at themselves and the role they are playing in perpetuating the fragmentation that is going right now. And more importantly nobody is asking: how do we get out of this mess?

While I find all of these blogs amazingly interesting and testimonies of the time we're living in, I'm trying to inspire us to lift our heads and look around. Unless you stand on higher ground, you're not going to get the bigger picture. But I agree that this should start with me.

So I'm ending my blog with an introspective and proactive note in honor of my big sis. What can Leyla do today to make the world a little better? I'm going to try and invite my neighbor over for cake and coffee. She's an old widow who lives on her own. We've only ever talked over the fence. Our conversations have revolved around dogs, real estate prices and her sentiments of not fitting into the new South Africa as a white person. She also complains about the foreigners who come here and take over (except for me of course) and she feels left out of her own country. She says that there is reverse-apartheid now. Although I might not agree with her views and although they may bug me - those are sentiments I cannot ignore or write off. In fact, on some level I can identify with them. I'm considered an outsider in Iran, because of my Faith, I'm considered an outsider in Austria, because I'm half Iranian, I'm considered an outsider in South Africa because people think I'm American and Americans are not popular right now. So let one 'homeless' soul invite another in a quest for love and I'll tell you about it all next time!