Versatile Blogger Award

Alright.  I’m a bit behind the curve here, but I’m kind of in the middle of all the things with all the upside-down turning of a life in transition, so it took me a little.

Kim at I Tripped Over a Stone nominated me, oh, three months ago for the Versatile Blogger Award.  As the name is a tiny bit unclear about, this award for versatility, shocking I know, and is given by bloggers to bloggers who they feel are versatile in the business of blogging.  It can be in their choice of media or type of writing, it can be their choice of topics, but they somehow show some versatility in the bloggerverse.  Kim is no exception with telling her story, offering advice to those navigating chronic illness as a lifestyle, informing others what fibromyalgia really means, encouraging others, and getting people talking in her Quick Question Sunday.

Seven incredibly interesting things about me:

1.  I once broke a man’s heart so badly by not choosing him that he moved as far away from me as he possibly could.  I lived in the American south at that time so obviously he moved to New Zealand… Which wasn’t far enough away so he moved to Australia later.  He didn’t mind the warning of the lighthouse telling him to watch out for the rocks, I guess.

2.  I think better with a pencil in my hand or a keyboard under my fingertips.  I’m a writer and always have been, as evidenced by all the books and journals that move from place to place with me.  I once did a terrible thing, though, when I tried to erase the memory of a man from my life by burning (because throwing away would have not been dramatic or permanent enough) all the writing that had been done about him.  It didn’t work, by the way, and now I’ll never have those words back.

3.  I love penmanship and I will definitely judge you based on yours.  I notice the style of your characters and whether it is an older or newer style of writing.  The slant of your letters and the way you turn the paper to you when you write tells whether you were taught writing properly.  I have taught children mostly extinct styles of cursive because they are beautiful and because children understand the beauty of the written word.  It is adults who think that typing and technology is better, which, incidentally couldn’t be more far from the truth as far as growth and development of the brain, gross and fine motor skills, and the psychology of the child.  Don’t believe me?  Check the research yourself.

4.  To say I have a tea addiction would be unkind but it would be the most accurate statement about my eating and drinking habits.  I am pretty sure that the sun doesn’t actually rise in the morning without tea, set in the evening without tea, and words never appear on blogs, in book chapters, on letters, or in journals without tea.  Earl grey is for writing.  Jasmine green is for feeling love.  Cinnamon with cardamom, ginger, and cayenne pepper is for feeling warm.  Rose water tea is for feeling cool.  English breakfast is for feeling grounded.  Scottish breakfast is for feeling strong.  And Scottish breakfast with heather is for feeling whole.  Honey or stevia if needed for sweetness… Milk with the black teas at times.

5.  I have only ever fallen in love once though I have chosen love other times.

6.  I don’t often play games because I am relentless and calculating.  I play a long game and I will egg you on for far longer than is necessary just because I can, reading your tells, coaxing you into a false sense of security, and lulling you into complacency only to utterly destroy you in the end.  It doesn’t matter if it is dominoes, Risk, Clue, Monopoly, or Life… I will destroy you and laugh when I do.

7.  I have a list of wisdoms I live by, wisdoms that when applied to life make me a better person than I was before them:

Know the truth of who you are, whatever it is.

Patience is also an action.

An ugly truth is better than a beautiful lie.

There’s not a right way to do the wrong thing.

Always chess, never checkers.

Everyone has a tell and everyone tells the truth eventually.

Don’t be surprised to be knee deep in bullshit if you’re standing in a pasture.

Be the buffalo.

Failing to choose is not the same as staying neutral.

Everyone gets knocked down, but the getting up is up to you.

Nominations:

Alright… My nominees I chose for the versatility of the thoughts they bring to me in their writing, their comments, and their presence.  Each one embodies one of those wisdoms:

1. Dr. Eric Perry, because he puts psychological truths in terms we can all understand as we seek to know the truth of who we are.
2. The Twin Soul, because what could be more patient than waiting for true love even when having to let the other go is a part of the process?
3. Megha, because this is so my third rule and I had no idea Lord Alfred Tennyson felt the same way about it.
4. David Redpath, because faith is how you know the difference between the right and the wrong, even when the wrong is what you want.
5. Bojana, because she is brilliant and I am fairly certain when if you cross her she will cut you… It may be with words, but they will be poniards.  Chess.
6. Ashley, because she tells stories honestly from the clinical and personal perspective of a professional who wants people to be well.
7. Sadje, because nothing could be more “being the buffalo” than how she focuses on all areas of wellness for herself and for her readers.  I know she already received it, because she nominated the person who nominated me, but why let that stop us?
8. Dr. KL, because I see the “getting up” in her words and I think if I sat down to coffee with her I would hear them there too.

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

1. If you are nominated, congratulations!  You have been awarded the Versatile blogger award!  You don’t have to participate if you do not wish to.  Just consider this a nod to the impact your words have even when you don’t have all the feedback for them.
2. Thank the person who gave you the award and include a link to their blog.
3. Select 10 -15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5. Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.