Who is Sahar?

I’m an organized, tongue-in-cheek, big-word-user nerd who loves books, chocolate, coffee, and style. Bring on the office supplies (notebooks, sticky notes, and Sharpies, oh my!), dictionaries, chocolate chip cookies, and mochas, and don’t skimp on the volume when watching The X-Files or Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel.

Why Journalling Joy?

I believe that we can find joy only by tapping into who we really are: spiritual beings living in a physical world.  This requires a lot of reflecting, which I personally do in the form of journalling; hence, Journalling Joy.

Editorial Calendar

Starting 1 January 2018 and running for the next three months, the editorial calendar includes:

Tuesday: Thought on Personal and Community Development
Wednesday: Product Reviews (when available)
Friday: Thoughts on Family Life from my husband and I’s perspective (includes product reviews)

ON HOLD Monday: Music Reviews
ON HOLD Thursday: Writing and Writers (including Book Reviews, Author Spotlights, and the Ask an Author feature)
ON HOLD Saturday: Blog Reviews and Weekly Top Reads
Featured Posts by Borna, Maeve, Max, and The M0vie Blog
ON HOLD Sunday: Book Recommendation, Recipe Recommendation, and Planner and Planning related tips and reviews

Needless to say, I am quite excited to see where this is going to take my blog–stay tuned for another update at the latest in July 2018!

Please note that there will be no posts uploaded
on any of the nine Baha’i Holy Days,

Why Blog?

Are you satisfied with the way things are in the world?  I’m willing to bet you aren’t and that like most, you would love to contribute to bringing more joy into this world.

So would I.

I believe that we have the potential to create a world filled with joy, a vibrant planet on which every individual is happily working hard, becoming better people and making their communities better every day.  The main obstacle standing in the way of our happiness is the lack of universal participation, and blogs are a powerful tool that can be used to expanding the circle of those involved.

It’s been over 12 years since I made my first mark on the internet with these thoughts in mind.  The long-gone Red Dawn website, which featured my short stories, made way in 2008 for Sahar’s Blog.  My primary interests lie in the spiritual and material development of the individual and the community and the intricate relationship between the latter two.

If you are here looking for answers, I do not have them, sorry!  My objective is to share with you the fruits of conversations I have in the hopes of generating more conversations.  Each post is based on countless conversations with a myriad of people, and not just offering my own opinion.

Some of the topics that pop up the most include: how to create and sustain justice; how to use family life as a lab to experiment global solutions; what is a strong marriage; what makes for good parenting; etc.  I also regularly look back on older posts to build on or even completely change ideas, based on my continued study of the Bahá’í Writings and learning gleaned from participating in community-building activities.

One of my fondest wishes is for Sahar’s Blog to go from a monologue to a dialog, through the contribution of an ever-expanding pool of readers who themselves are concerned about the betterment of their communities. However, since I created this blog to create yet another fun, safe space on the internet, I do reserve the right to remove comments that are callous attacks only intended on insulting me, and not bringing anything positive to the conversation. For the same reason, I also edit out swear words from constructive comments.

What Does Reviewing Have to Do With Improving the World?

Long term readers also know that, for years, television, movies, and books provided my family, friends, and I with fodder for discussions which have led to increased understanding.

When I first started blogging, I naturally started sharing these thoughts in a one off post here and there.  But I got increasingly hooked on reviewing, as putting on paper my thoughts required refining them to an extent I never had done before.  I also fell in love with the challenge of writing reviews that go beyond a mere summary or a plain commentary, but that delve into sometimes quite complex concepts.

Who can blame us reviewers? You yourself probably have a television show you can’t stop talking about, a movie that defined your childhood, or a book so often you reread that it resides permanently on your bedside table.  Whatever the form they are shared in, stories have the power to stay with us for a long time.  They can move us, shake up, inspire us, and in some cases, change the course of our lives.  Because of their omnipresence, they play an important role in our personal development.  They also provide a lot of information about the interests and concerns of the society that creates them.

Today, my reviews are featured not just here, but also on Blogcritics, Amazon, Tumblr, and Goodreads.  I never thought of myself as a “reviewer”, but with more than 500 reviews in January 2017, I guess the name just might fit.  So seem to think the hundreds of people who contact me every year, requesting a review of their work.  I’m honoured that they trust me enough to request these things.  If you are also interested in doing so, please take a look at the list below to get an idea of what you are potentially signing up for.

Disclaimer

I use affiliate links and accept sponsored post on this blog; this information will be clearly provided when needs be.

Comments policy

Discussions I have, including discussions in the comments section, inspire many of my posts.  I reserve the right to use a comment made on my blog as inspiration for a post using my usual technique of referring to a a comment made by a reader rather than a specific person.