(Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings or, as more commonly said, May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you.)
I think that’s a good way to start my new blog, with peace. When I was younger, I used to have a blog. It was the thing to do back then… anyone remember livejournal? Anyways, I became incredibly involved with school and decided to delete it. Time is precious and I needed to spend it elsewhere. In a sense, it made things easier. Courtesy of two of my friends and grad school, I have decided to start blogging again. I’m not really sure how this is going to work or if it will…
I’m starting a blog to write. Just that, write. I need to get myself to start writing consistently for myself. A sort of stress reliever, I guess, because I want this blog to be a bit raw. What I mean by that is I want to be able to hop onto my blog and just write away in between all my schoolwork and daily responsibilities without needing it to be edited and revised. I guess this now requires some background information.
This is what you might want (not need) to know about me:
1. I’m a Muslim, American, Palestinian, Activist.
2. I was born and raised in beautiful, sunny San Diego. The ocean is my first love. Books are my second.
3. I’m fluent in English and Arabic. AlhamduliAllah, I learned both at the same time growing up.
4. I’m a hijabi (a Muslim female who wears the headscarf). I began wearing the hijab by choice, you read that correct- it was by choice, a month after I turned 13 (right before 8th grade) and AlhamduliAllah it has aided in steering my life since then.
5. I do consider myself a practicing Muslim; therefore, my vocabulary heavily relies on the words/phrases: InshaAllah kheir (If Allah [God] wills goodness), InshaAllah (If Allah wills), MashaAllah (Whatever Allah wills), SubhanaAllah (Glory be to Allah), Jazak Allah Kheir (May Allah grant you goodness), and of course AlhamduliAllah (All thanks to Allah/Praise be to Allah).
6. I graduated from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Literature/Writing.
7. I absolutely LOVE photography and began my minor in photography while at UCSD yet couldn’t finish because I was determined to finish my writing minor first.
8. After studying for my LSATs and preparing to apply to Law School, I decided to choose a scarier road. I decided to actually do what I love most- I’m now working on my Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing with an emphasis in fiction at Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA). I’m proud to say I’m the only Muslim and Palestinian in the program… typical and a bit terrifying.
9. I’m incredibly sarcastic! Remember that as you read on…
10. I’m a perfectionist and an OCD freak. This will be the most challenging part of blogging.
11. I have an undefined love for books, photography, tea, and quotes- especially from books.
12. My favorite song is “Keep Breathing” by Ingrid Michaelson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORAPkfVV_A even though I'm currently, and quite fittingly, listening to dabke.
13. Just because odd numbers are my favorite! My favorite number has always been one. Can you guess why? ;]
Alright, that was exhausting. That list was my first challenge. Those who know me well will tell you that I’m quite a private person… Here’s hoping I don’t come back tomorrow and re-edit this post!
Although I hope to share my writing here, it will most definitely, 98.7%, be unedited. The way I blog does not reflect the way I write my short stories, or anything for that matter. That’s why I started this. I want it to be a stream of consciousness… I tend to over think everything, and think, and think, and think. My intention is not to vent, push my political wisdom down anyone’s throat nor preach Islam. Islam is my way of life so it will be reflected in everything I write.
That being stated, anything I write absolutely does not reflect the general opinions, thoughts, beliefs of females, Muslims, Muslimahs (Muslim females), San Diegans, Californians, West Coastians (I like to make up new words), Americans, Palestinians, Arabs, Middle Easterners, and any group that may characterize my background.
Wooow, that was a lot. So I bid you adieu until my next post.
Peace,
Hanoon
