Looking forward, looking back

I’ve been blogging for nearly seven years now, and while there have certainly been times of feast and famine at tjhoiland.com content-wise, in 2011 I resolved to be much more consistent and intentional than I’d been before (more on that here). Now, my end-of-year calculations show that averaging a little more than four posts per week, I’ve written more this year than in the previous six years combined (222 this year, compared with 191 during the span of 2005 to 2010, an average of about 32 per year).

I’m glad I prioritized the blog this year. Cultivating the discipline of regularly reflecting on what I’m reading, seeing and learning has kept me sharp, I think -- at least sharper than I’d have been otherwise. I trust it's also been helpful, one way or another, for those of you who read it. And while my blog traffic isn’t setting any Guinness records, it’s been fun to interact with readers, to make new friends, and to try not to make too many enemies.

At the beginning of the year, I settled into a niche, of sorts -- something I hadn’t really prioritized previously. I decided to use my blog to explore the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace, particularly in the Americas. Early in the year (while working, not coincidentally, as a media analyst), I incorporated and synthesized a lot of news coverage into my posts. More recently, however, I’ve focused more -- though not exclusively -- on semi-formal book reviews, reserving most news for Repaso, my weekly roundup post every Friday.

In 2012, the blog will certainly evolve as I do, but I plan to more or less continue doing what I’m doing for the time being. In addition to interaction with my posts by way of comments and social media buzz, I always appreciate feedback about the blog itself -- what’s helpful, what’s annoying, what’s missing... that sort of thing. Please keep your feedback coming.

Just for fun, here now are the ten most popular posts of the year. Three are book reviews; three are newsy and about Guatemala; two have to do with trending topics at the time (one satirical, one serious); one is about an anti-poverty campaign; and one was simply a quote I posted on our wedding day.

10. Rob Bell has always been edgy, but the sitar?
9. Christian citizenship in postwar Guatemala
8. Mayan voter registration drive in Guatemala
7. The wedding day
6. Justice and the death of a terrorist (three perspectives)
5. The poor will not always be with us
4. My review of Tim Keller’s “Generous Justice” in PRISM Magazine
3. Massacre in El Peten, Guatemala
2. U.S. Congress discussing the Marlin Mine in Guatemala?
1. Thoughts on doing no harm

Many thanks for a memorable 2011, and I'm looking forward to what's to come in 2012!