Meet Kareem Maize, Blogger, Musician, and IT Professional

Kareem Maize is a 26-year-old musician and information technology professional with a passion for learning new aspects of life every day. On his journey to express himself, Kareem began blogging to share his ideas with others. Now he intends to create interesting and engaging content for his viewers to help them grow spiritually, physically, and mentally.

Visit Kareem's blog here, and also find him on Facebook (also here) and on Twitter.

1. If you had to summarize the goal of your blog, what would you say?

My blog is an environment to help people with personal development by exposing them to different ideas and belief systems.

2. Why do you think that many people feel a lack of abundance in their lives?

They created a limiting belief about their current circumstances regarding the assets in their life they did or do not possess.

3. In your own life, what has helped you gain insight and to experience personal growth?

I had several good mentors, but ultimately I always had a feeling that that a single person can accomplish great things. As a child I had the crazy belief that anything is possible and funny enough I still do.

4. When it comes to being more solution-focused rather than problem-focused, what are some things we can do to start seeing more solutions, rather than problems, in our lives?

The best way I have found to conquer a problem is to realize that it is only temporary, and you are greater than any problem you currently face. Once you realize it's only temporary, you can shift your focus to a solution instead of being consumed by it.

5. How do you see your blog growing over the next year or so?

I want to have a good following in the personal development community and thousands of subscribers.

Thanks, Kareem!

Meet Jim of Raw Inquiry

Jim is the writer and creative mind behind the website, Raw Inquiry. He offered the following autobiographical note...

My name is Jim and I will do almost anything to learn something. I think that getting to know the Universe is the way we get to know ourselves.

I want "Here lies a man who never stopped learning and growing. He shared his knowledge with others for the benefit of society" to be etched into my tombstone.

1. When did you start Raw Inquiry, and what was your motivation for starting it?

I started Raw Inquiry in August 2012 as a way to share anything I wanted to learn about with others. I also wanted to improve my writing.

2. What are some of your favorite topics to learn and write about?

I enjoy exploring this vast, incredible universe and learning everything I can about it as a way to get to know myself better. I love to learn and write about travel, culture, and personal growth. I think what we believe about ourselves (identity) and the beliefs and meanings we share with others (culture) along with how those belief systems form are the most interesting topics to explore when it comes to learning about human beings.

3. How do you find participants for your World Almanac project, and what are your goals with this project?

The main goal of the World Almanac Project is to put together a personal, qualitative World Almanac. We often see a collection of demographic information about countries whenever information about all of the countries in the world is presented. I want to put a real person and a personal story behind each country in the world for people so that they can relate more deeply to the various nations of the world. We tend to change the way we think when we actually know someone who is involved in an issue or who belongs to a particular group.

One of the cool things about the World Almanac Project is that I don't have a system for selecting participants. So far, they have come to me easily and naturally. Often, one person I interview or one of their friends introduces me to several more people from other countries who want to participate. I was originally worried that nobody would be interested in sharing their thoughts; now I realize that people have a story to tell and they are often happy to share it with me for my project.

For me personally, it will be really cool for me to know someone from literally every country in the world. I think a social network like that will prove invaluable to me in the future. Also, I absolutely love conducting the interviews and they always end in admiration for the person I speak with. It’s amazing what can happen when we stop talking and just listen. Most people are passionate about their country and I learn a tremendous amount about life each time I interview someone for the World Almanac Project.

4. What are some of the pleasures--and challenges--when it comes to writing about personal growth?

What a great question! Writing about personal growth is both the most challenging and rewarding topic I write about. It's very challenging to be vulnerable by sharing the things that are most personal to you in such a public forum. When I write a blog post about a subject that really pushes my comfort zone, I often get physically sick after pressing the "publish" button. However, a few days later the pain is gone and I feel incredibly strong. The increase in self-worth you feel is permanent. Every time, you level up. Shame hates vulnerability, so the ability to put yourself out there publicly on the internet fundamentally changes who you are.

Writing about personal growth allows you to solidify the things you have learned and the breakthroughs you have had and make them part of your permanent identity. I also like the fact that other people might benefit from what I have written.

5. Where do you see yourself in your writing life and in your career in, say, three to five years?

In three to five years, I see myself creating educational experiences for people. I will be writing about travel, culture, and personal growth along with anything else I'm interested in learning about. I will be traveling all over the world and sharing my exploration of this mind-boggling universe with all kinds of extraordinary people. I will be having fun and laughing as much as possible.

I hope to finish the World Almanac Project in the next three to five years as well. There are all kinds of cool things I can do with the information from the World Almanac Project when I'm finished, and I look forward to creating those things as well.

Thank you for the excellent questions! Cheers!

Thanks, Jim!

Can a Website Save a Marriage?

I tend to think of Facebook when it comes to people utilizing social media to share personal experiences and seek feedback and support. But what about a situation where you want to remain anonymous? A blogger named Greg recently set up a website, http://www.lisaandgregforever.com, to share the story of his troubled marriage and to seek advice from women everywhere.

The site's about page gives the backstory of the marriage from Greg's perspective, and he explains that he has set up the site "to express to the world the love and devotion" he feels for his wife. As I read the long explanation of the series of events that led up to their current situation (on the brink of divorce) and also read the latest posts on the site, I got the impression that Greg's wife has currently cut off communication with him, so the website seems to be functioning as a place for him to express to her the things that he is unable to say in direct communication with her right now.

Part of the purpose of the site is to help Greg figure out what to do to help the situation. He wants to save his marriage, and readers are writing in with ideas and advice for him. There's an ongoing discussion on the comments page of the site where Greg interacts with readers who give him feedback. To be honest, I have to wonder what his wife will think about this conversation, but I imagine he hopes she'll think that he's trying everything and keeping an open mind.

I'm not sure how I would feel to discover that someone had set up a website to troubleshoot difficulties in a relationship with me, but I do understand the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness that comes with loss. As a writer, I especially understand that processing experiences in writing is important when it comes to dealing with difficulties in our lives; Greg can't control what will happen with his wife, but he can freely express his emotions and experiences in writing, and in the end, isn't that one of the main things that blogs are made for?

Leap, Live, Learn: A Blog on Personal Growth

I recently happened upon leap, live, learn, an interesting site by a blogger from Australia named Kate. She writes about the different things she's been doing and learning as she focuses on making small yet significant changes in her life. When I asked her about the purpose of her blog, she said, "It is a project of sorts to help myself live as healthy, simply, and freely as I can."

I found useful posts on healthy eating and fitness. Kate has an engaging style where she combines her own experience with links and information from other sources. Recent posts include an easy recipe for coconut mango popsicles. Kate writes about giving up sugar, and she makes it sound delicious with her guidelines for baking a chocolate cheesecake without sugar.

In particular, I like a post from November of 2012 when she discusses her longtime love of Diet Coke, or in her words, "a story... about a girl and a bad relationship."

I can recommend Kate's blog to other readers like myself who find inspiration in other people sharing their own stories of making efforts toward personal wellness through everyday choices.