Thursday, July 27, 2006

Looking for a ray of light and hope

These days of war have left me feeling so helpless. So much destruction and far too much death, and I can't understand how life has gone out of control so quickly. After the damage and destruction, the thing that I find most upsetting is how this has affected our relationships as bloggers. We have worked so hard to build these connections, taking tentative baby steps towards our neighbors as we allow our curiosity about the other to get the better of us, and discover that many of them are just as curious as we are. I cannot express the joy I felt over these connections, the excitement over each positive response when reaching out. Sure, there have been disagreements and misunderstandings, but on the other side of that coin came the thrill of knowing that we were doing something good, that we were playing our part in overcoming the obstacles. I cannot impact the relationships between governments, but I can try to make a difference in the relationships between our peoples.

Suddenly, it all came crashing down. In the blink of an eye, we are at war again, and the anger practically leaps off of the computer screen, threatening our already fragile virtual community. I have done my best to maintain connections (though admittedly, I owe a certain outstanding Jordanian blogger and friend a very long email), and it has been nothing short of nervewracking as I try to figure out what still works and what must be put aside until better times.

And then, during these uncertain dark days comes a ray of light and hope that things might somehow be okay, that there are people who can see beyond the governments and the madmen. This powerful, excellent post written by my pal Rami brought tears to my eyes today. I strongly recommend it if you're looking for a good pick-me-up, as I suspect most of you are.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful.

tafka PP said...

Thank you for directing us to read that: you were right, it is just what the doctor ordered.

And I've blogrolled you- taking the time to read and enjoy your blog is something else good for me that has come out of this war!

Rami said...

hi she.. one thing for sure, you're never losing this contact.. there's always light at the end of the tunnel.. no matter how hippie this idea is.. :)

lubna said...

I saluted Rami on his post, and now I salute you too:)
A jordanian myself.

Anonymous said...

She,

This is the second time I visit your blog and I add my voice to Rami's and Lubna's ...

I am Jordanian and I do believe that there is still hope for the rest of us to coexist and finally achieve peace ...

We all share the anger and frustration from the current war and we all believe that there would be no winner as everyone loses in war ...

Keep up the hope and don't give up just yet on all the hard work that you have done ... you will always find people like you in this world and we all strive for the same goal ...

Cheer up :)

squarepeg said...

Thanks for the link, She. Rami's post is so sweet and beautiful, but I still feel very, very sad.

Liza said...

beth: Thanks!

frank: Welcome to Something Something. The point you raised about knowing who your real friends are is so true, though I'd like to think (on my more optimistic days, which are growing more and more infrequent), that some of these people are still friends, just friends who are very angry right now, and justifiably so (though the manifestations of this anger are frightening).

Thanks for the compliment, as well as the sympathy!

tafka pp: Welcome to Something Something. Thanks for the compliments! You are too kind! I'm glad you liked Rami's post, though I certainly can't take credit. He's amazing - I check his blog everyday with the hope that he's written something new. Sadly, the boy just doesn't write enough!

rami: I would have made a great hippy, though I'd probably look stupid with flowers in my hair! :-)

And of course, it's very nice to know that you will always be out there somewhere! Is this the part where we take out the guitars and start singing James Taylor's "You've got a friend"? :-)

lubna: Welcome to Something Something. Thanks for the compliment! It warms my heart to know that there are still some people who want to try to get along.

khalidah: Welcome (back) to Something Something. I'm so pleased to see that you've added your voice to Rami's and Lubna's. Knowing that we are still able to connect this way, despite all the problems shows me that there is indeed hope for us yet.

I hope to see you here again!

squarepeg: Glad you liked Rami's post. He's an amazing writer, isn't he? A great guy, too.

I can understand you're feeling sad. That feeling hasn't really left me since this whole mess began.