A Year Blogged Away: Thoughts

I can't believe that it has already been a year since I began blogging! In my first post, I had written about that hesitant, tentative first step into the world of blogging...at that time, I had yet to know whether I would continuously blog or indeed, more significantly, as to how much I would enjoy blogging. Indeed, the fact that I have so enjoyed and looked forward to blogging has been one of my greatest self-discoveries this past year - and I dare say that the newbie blogger excitement still thrives at my end:)

I am grateful to all the readers who have stopped by and taken the time out to peek into a slice of my thoughts; I have often wondered if my thoughts make any more sense when blogged than when they are floating around in my mind, restlessly hopscotching from one mind universe to another. Yet, this blog has been that one space where I have permitted myself to put these thoughts down and let them assume whatever shape they wanted or needed to. So thank you to everyone who has listened to my thoughts and interpreted them as they would...

So what lies ahead? Having written these words, I must confess that I quite don't know myself. I certainly hope to continue to be inspired by the fantastical visual universe that surrounds me...and blog about it. However, there are certain other new ideas and innovations for the blog in my head that I hope will become clearer to me with time and I hope to unfurl over here!

Meanwhile, I would like to conclude with an image of a collage I created several years ago; at times, when I do not have the energy or inclination to paint and yet still crave to 'create' in a hands-on fashion, I often turn to collaging. There is something quite fascinating about putting together seemingly random scraps of paper into a visual narrative and it reminded me of the similar peace and satisfaction I used to derive from doing jigsaw puzzles during my childhood. When I was younger, I would often mix collage and water-colors together to produce (what I did not know then) mixed media works. The reason why I have included it here today is because it reminded me of my foray into blogging; this was the first collage that I had worked upon after so many years and I was still undecided whether it was, well, any good! Would it convey anything to the viewers? Would it just be an incoherent jumble of colored scraps of paper, a woman with melancholic eyes, and a crown of green leaves? Yet,  it had afforded me yet another creative space to narrate a story - and that was and has been enough for me.

The Bride (2007)

Update**: I was very honored and touched that fellow blogger and Renaissance woman (film-maker, author, poet, translator, photographer, artist) Khadija Ejaz was inspired by my collaging efforts; please check out her funky pop-art-y collage over here:)