Ending a Revolutionary Year for You

" The earth doesnt't belong to us, we belong to earth "

I am writing a post on how this year passed, but  I  know I will never be fair , whether I was talking about it from a personal or a global aspect.
Globally:
This year was vivid, starting with the Arab spring revolutions that overthrew the dictators, the world economic crisis and the prices of commodities soaring high ,  along with the Japanese Earthquake,  the Lebanese government chaos, and last but not least, the shameful crisis in the horns of Africa...
You can open all the newspapers, websites and blogs  that will discuss endlessly these global revolutions and uprisals, and these natural disasters that hit the world...

*Though I would recommend that you listen to this podcast; very thorough and tackles all global development issues in 2011 and the predictions for 2012 : click here to hear it .

But as this a blog, is  not a news reporting website,  I am gona  talk about my personal aspect for the year 2011. As it was also the year of revolutions for my blog and me as well.

If you had all these , wouldn't you be blessed? 

Blogging:


This year, I forced myself to blog frequently and keep my online presence active, through twitter.
And as part of AUB's Online Collaborative cabinet , I worked hard on learning the best tools of social media and the beneficial ways of using them.As well as conducting workshops for other students with the team on teaching these tools!

 I was able to give a theme for my blog, that started out as a personal blog. So, t now I am using it as a portal for sharing my food science knowledge . Therefore, I am aiming to continue in creating awareness about all the vital food issues that Lebanon and the world is facing.

So, I would like to thank all who gave me advice to improve this blog, whether from the Online collaborative team or from the Lebanese Online Community and mostly from my humble-sized  readers ! :)

*My  Top Viewed Posts in  Year 2011: 

1. Coffee : My Story or Theirs?
2. Was Star Trek too Optimistic for a future full of chocolate?
3. China through the Mouth of the Beholder
4. 10 Misconceptions about the Hunger Crisis  
5. Nothing is More Memorable than Smell
6. Letter to the Lebanese Syndicate of Restaurants
7. Food Under the Microscope..is the New Chic 
8. "Beautiful Day Arrives" as a  food Trend
9. Peasant Cuisine : Stuffed Cabbage

**  Pearlowa ( my twitter account) was listed on Beirut's Spring blog: Big Fat  Guide for Lebanese Twitter Users !  

***The Success of Social Media Changing Lives Conference Key Speaker HMA Tom Fletcher and prominent Lebanese and Arab pioneers on the Social Media Scene.

The AUB Online Collaborative team ( part of it)!

More Pictures of the SMCL Conference
Personally:

Year 2011 started as any year with hope and happy moments. Big dreams and resolutions.
But as I started with one dream,  I ended with a total different one. I started with one big plan, ended with nothing.
I wrote my objectives down and I ended erasing some of them  and doing others.  I had special people around me, ended with different special people.

I learned to farewell and welcome easily.  I learned to keep my expectations low. I learned how to close a chapter and move to another one without looking back. I learnt how to put a smile on my face, when everyone is waiting for my tear.
I learnt to be proud in the toughest situation.  I learnt to keep my honor.  I learnt that I need to be selfish in some moments. But I also learnt to be more generous.
I learnt to be a child again but  not to forget to be wise at the same time. Most importantly,  I learnt to escape the prison I was living in.
Call this maturity. Call it growing up. Call it  simply being alive. Call it finding my own purpose, my own aim.
I lost my hope in  people around me. I lost trust in them. But I learned how to regain it at the proper time. I learnt that dedication should be only for those who deserve it.
All these personal incidents with people, acquanitences, friends, closer friends, family,  gave me a lesson. And I am thankful for many people!  Here is just a few :)

1. Special Thanks for  my professors , my colleagues and friends for encouraging me , supporting and   participating in my 9 months sensory experiments for my thesis.
2.  Special Thanks to the AUB OC team and mostly my  close friend Mohamad Hijazi for learning alot from him! We wouldnt have made the success of the Social Media Changing lives conference real  and the opportunity for me to present in-front of 300 people coming true!  
3. My brothers Abdelkader and Rabie for supporting me in every step I took this year , for their advice in the most needed times and for sharing together the good and the bad moments. 
4. Sara Matar, my best friend and the angel who lifts me up everytime I am down . You are indeed a blessed soul in this world! 
5. Thanks to my sweet parents for bearing with me, my nagging on the phone and the stress I put them through . Without their patience, I wouldnt have finished my master's courses and succeeded in both the written comprehensive and oral exams.

A Thanks, For you:


 I asked for assistance in the toughest moments, I got it.I asked for a choice, because I was helpless, and I got an answer. I asked for an inspiration , I was guided to it.  So, I prayed. And I kept praying harder.
And although ,my health was jeopardized several times, I was able to pass this storm.
For you, God, I am the most thankful for. 
Many might disagree about my spiritual thoughts. Many might close this browser and move on to reading something exciting . But that is me. That is pearl. And those who know me, know that I always open such  a topic.
I know that my life, along with my purpose will end just  now, or maybe tomorrow. I might not have impacted the world, and the people living in it, the way I wanted to. I might not have made my parents proud with everything they desired me to be. I might not have changed something in my personality that my friends wanted to see in me. And I might not have fulfilled all the dreams that I wanted to.

But this is life. It is not perfect and it can never be. We are destined not to live now , we are destined to live later. So , there is one big dream I hold in my heart.
I dream of praying and kneeling to God in Heaven. I dream of meeting the prophets and talking to them .  I dream of meeting my family there and all my beloved ones. And That's what I will  fight for it till my last breath. I might live for 70, say 80 years. But the afterlife is eternal..This is what counts.
Do the simple mathematics : Wouldn't I want to do trades for it? Wouldnt I base my acts and thoughts upon this mere fact to gain it ?
Believe me ,I would write a whole post about this subject, since a few lines wont be enough to prove my point and this whole spiritual entity. But I just kept  it short and simple, with nor further explanations.

Pearl's Powder: And so for you, for Allah, I dedicate this humble post.. Thank you for hearing me when I called you. Thank you for keeping me strong in most of  those heart-breaking moments. Thank you for guiding my way as I escape the prison I am living in. Thank you for being patient with my sins.Thank you for the blessings that you give me each day I open my eyes, for seeing the sun, for having breakfast, for smelling this freshly baked bread, for the people I talk to, for the legs that I can walk on, for having money to get the stuff I want , thank you for keeping me healthy and alive.
It was a revolutionary year for me and it was just to reach you more .
Simply, thank you for lighting my path when I was lost and mending my heart when people broke it . I am truly a blessed person. But I am also a greedy one.  So, Forgive me...

Bon Appetite!

Pearl