As a writer and blogger, I have always been told to write about my passions and what I know. What I am at my core is a Bahá’í who believes that this world is transitory, a preparatory phase for the next world, much like our mother’s womb was transitory and meant to prepare us for… Read More Taking the Plunge: The Launch of Product Reviews on Sahar’s Blog
A little over a year ago, I wrote a piece on how cards can help build a stronger community. Pleasantries, I wrote, “have been previously defined on this blog as the hydrogen bonds of community building” which although “are not in themselves strong enough to hold a molecule together, but can still change the properties… Read More Product Review: Blank Cards, Thank You Cards, and Note Cards
When my husband and I were approached for the first time and asked if we were having a baby shower, we said no. Although we both love babies and baby showers, it felt weird to plan our own. When we were approached by family members and were told that a shower was being organised for… Read More The Community and The Baby Shower: Tightening Bonds of Friendship {Includes Free Printables & Pinterest Inspiration!}
Do you remember your organic chemistry? Do you remember those little H-bonds, who were not in themselves strong enough to hold a molecular structure together, but were strong enough to change properties of, say, water? The ones that make a molecule wrap itself differently, and/or make it a little stronger? I have always had an… Read More Pleasantries: the Hydrogen Bond of Community Building?
My concern about the advancement of humanity through the development of each community makes me naturally think a lot about the question of what makes a good leader. I find myself often wondering how the conceptions about leadership that I encounter in my reading and in my conversations with other can ever pave the way… Read More A New Kind of Leader: Stepping Away From Old Conceptions of Leadership
Living on different continents allows for the immersion into different types of cultures. The way these differ is a great way of gaining insight into patterns of behaviour that affect our personal development and our contribution to building vibrant communities. A really interesting surprise was the difference between conversation styles in different cultures. In some,… Read More Conversing to Consult or Conversing to Convince: Implications for Community Building
The title seems harsh, doesn’t it? I know that this the post might get my inbox filled with emails from irate Beyoncé fans, but her song “Run the World (Girls)” still is, in my opinion, part of a series of popular girl’s anthems gone wrong. It doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the song. Quite… Read More Missing the Point: What a Girl’s Anthem Should Not Sound Like
Sahar’s Blog’s editorial calendar is pretty clear: Wednesdays are dedicated to product reviews. But once in awhile, things happen and plans change. One of these things is an amazingly powerful post Martha uploaded a little under a month ago. In it, she discusses how she was affected after being sexually abused by a family friend… Read More Positive, Powerful, and Empowering: Standing Up for Compassionate Justice in the Face of Sexual Abuse
It’s interesting how each person’s life struggles seem to distil to just a handful of challenges that occur again and again in various shapes and forms. A personal struggle of mine, which I blogged about previously (and one post of which will be reposted later on today), is the injustice that operates within so many… Read More The False Choice We Have to Make Between Helping Ourselves and Helping Others
“Trust is the foundation of all human connections, from chance encounters to friendships and intimate relationships.” (Source) So when one’s faith in people is shaken, if not broken, it comes as no surprise that our relationships suffer. An interesting concept has peppered quite a number of conversations around me in the last two months or… Read More The Importance of Trusting People Who Love You