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In the spirit of the 2014 FIFA World Cup victories, I am recording my emotions of happiness of making it this far in blogging and in life in general. This is my 50th blog milestone. I published my first blog titled “Hello World!” back in 2012. And I have fallen in love with blogging since then. I should’ve named it “Welcome to my world!” Earlier this year, I published a blog titled “Why do I blog for free?“, and I answered my own question with seven reasons. In this blog, I would like to share my reason of why I have fallen in love with blogging, and how I came to view personal blogging over all.
I’ve visited and read about a few arches around the world. I was inspired by them. How they lasted the test of time. Emperors and generals marked their names not only in books, but on these monuments. They recorded their victories and battles. They saved their legacy. I meditated on their accomplishments and victories and how they wanted future generation to read about them. They cared about their names and their futures beyond their deaths. They knew they would eventually die, but they wanted to be immortal, their legacies to live on!
We don’t know where the idea of building arches originated. I am assuming it could be from Ishtar Gate at the city of Babylon (575 BC) constructed by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II. The Arco di Costantino (Arch of Constantine) has stood tall and wide in Rome since the year 315 AD. It was erected in memory of Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge near Vatican city. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. These two arches are examples of many arches around the world that were built to remember many historical battles and victories, memories engraved on the ancient arches that have lasted since antiquity. Even Saddam built arches for his palaces so people would remember his name.
It is now the 100-year anniversary of World War I. Mankind has long been involve in wars. I am reading about wars that took place in ca. 1177. It is almost certain that two or three countries are at war at any of several geographical location at any given time across the globe. And World War III is here already, but it is titled the “Global War on Terrorism”. Almost 19 years of my life has been in real wars. And the rest of my years are at war with life itself.
We are always at war even if our country is not. We are at war with life. Life is life; good and bad falls on the just and the unjust. And, we have to fight to survive. Some of us fight for our jobs, fight cancer, fight emotional troubles, fight for water, fight for another day to live. We win some and lose some of our wars. But, it is important to take time and record our winning and celebrate our victories in life.
Coming to American is the best accomplishment of my life. On August 7, 1995, my family and I arrived at O’Hare Airport on a KLM flight. It was on a late afternoon. It was clear sunny day. We arrived in a new land after long years of struggle in Iraq, and a long year and half in Jordan. I remember a strong feeling took me over to kneel and kiss the ground of a land I had long, long dreamed about (I was too shy to actually do it). We arrived only with our luggage. We had no money with us. We couldn’t speak English. We were separated from my mother’s side of the family. But when I arrived, a new “hope” was born in my heart. I truly understood and appreciate the meaning of the word “hope”, because I had already experienced living a hopeless life. The antithesis of hope. I knew and felt the meaning of a “new life”, of a “new beginning”. After an emotional reunion with my uncles, aunt, and extended relatives, I began my personal journey; I started to rebuild myself. Like a phoenix, or more like ninos 2.0.
If we cannot build real arches for our achievements, then we can record our history through blogging about our life. Blogging gives us the ability to record our history and save our legacy after our death. It is a snap shot of our brain. It saddens me that I cannot trace my lineage and know about grandfathers. Maybe it is unnatural to praise and boast of our accomplishments individually, but yet it is acceptable to speak about our nation and call it “national pride”. We need to tell our stories to keep the past alive for the future!
* Any comments?
P.S.: Currently, reading 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric Cline
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Ninos Youkhana 