Who, Me?

liebster award for blogging.png

A couple of days ago, I was notified by a sweet fellow blogger, Julieanne A Girl and Her God, that she’d nominated me for the 2018 Liebster Award.  I am so touched that she thought of me when thinking of so many extraordinary bloggers out there.  Incidentally, a little tidbit on what little I knew about this award until now.  I saw this award mentioned on a few bloggers’ sites in the past couple of years and thought how wonderful for them!  They are true talents in blogging.  I was new to blogging at that time and didn’t really know how to navigate and run a blog, but over time, I learned, and I still have much more to learn.

I feel blessed to have met via Word Press so many fabulous, fascinating bloggers, and Julieanne, a Christian woman, wife, and mother, is definitely a standout with her encouraging and uplifting posts about faithfulness, steadfastness, and courage.  There is a lot of wisdom in her writings that I believe can be helpful to many people who may need a dose of spiritual medicine.  I know I need it daily.

The official rules and backstory of the Liebster Award can be found here: The Global Aussie.

liebster award 2

Included in the rules are those nominated and participating in this blogger chain-like event must answer questions given to them by the blogger who nominated them, and in return, they must nominate bloggers and create questions for them as well.  So, on to the questions given to me by Julieanne:

  1. What are three things found in your kitchen or office “junk drawer” that tell your story?  Well, presently, I don’t have a junk drawer in those rooms, but my nightstand drawer would be a good substitute.  It’s filled with various random items.  The ones that tell my story are:  A) my journal, which has been filled out sporadically with no set schedule, and this reflects my personality, especially in the past five or so years–pensive, anxious, and struggling with the menopausal/peri-menopausal life.  B) Orthodox Christian Study Bible. I look to this for prayers and reading Scriptural verses, which I should really more often.  It represents my Christian faith and beliefs and my daily walk toward full union with Christ.  C) Bookmarks.  You can never have too many when your nightstand surface is stacked with in-progress and to-be-read books in my genre and spiritual books of interest.  They are paramount to my being a writer, and the ability to create and write my own stories.
  2. What is one recipe you know by heart?  My meatloaf recipe that was handed down to me by my mother, and to her from the Lipton Soup folks on the back of one of their boxes of dry soup mixes. 😀
  3.  If you had the chance to relive one moment, with the hopes of changing the outcome, would you do it?  No, because what’s done is done, and the past is part of our good and bad experiences by which we learn and grow, cultivating us into who we are and will become through our continued journey on earth.
  4. What organization would you want to donate a life-changing amount of money to?  This is a tough question, Julieanne, because there are so many!  But I’ll give it a shot.  I’d donate to the Children’s Hospital of Seattle where my son had three brain surgeries for resection of a portion of his brain tumor discovered at age thirteen months.  My husband and I will never forget the doctors and the nurses there, and in conjunction with that, the Ronald McDonald House where we stayed two months our first visit and five months the second for our son’s surgery and radiation treatment.
  5. What is a piece of advice you received as a child from a parent/grandparent/mentor that you have already passed on to someone else?  My father always taught me to be honest and do the right thing.  This shows integrity and honor, for which my dad had in abundance.  I passed this along to my sons, and we’re all doing our best to practice this.  Glory to God!
  6. What celebrity would you like to read and comment on your blog?  I don’t follow celebrities, but there are people I consider true stellar figures in our society.  I would really like Abbot Tryphon to read my posts because his daily morning podcasts and posts on Facebook are a huge blessing to me and my family.
  7. What is the meaning of life in ten words or less?  “God became man so that man can become like God.” – St. Athanasius

The incredible bloggers I’m nominating for the 2018 Liebster Award are:

N and C Video Game Reviews

AB Guy

Irregular Ideation

Their blogs are very informative, unique, and interesting!

Here are my questions for these nominees if they wish to participate:

  1. What place on this earth gives you the most comfort and peace?
  2. What is a food’s texture that bothers you enough that you avoid eating it?
  3. What are three songs that remind you of your childhood?
  4. Plane or train?
  5. Coffee or tea?  Your favorite brand?
  6. Do you have a phobia?  If so, what is it?
  7. What is a foreign language you’d like to learn?
  8. Do you store anything under your bed? If so, what?

The Blogosphere is pulsating with the energies, creativity, and dynamic talents of many, many bloggers.  Discover them!

 

 

 

The Importance of Your Creative Work Space

desk and windows

I’m sharing a post by fellow blogger, Nicholas Rossis, who shared a guest post about your work space and how it can help and improve your creative writing.  Until today, I’d been sitting on my bed writing, and well, that wasn’t really the best place to be a creative writer.  So, these tips helped me to change that, and I’m now sitting in my living room/library at my desk, and I already feel better having the space to type and write and  the fortunate treat of being able to look out the picture window that I believe will help to inspire me to create many imaginative characters, settings, and stories (God willing!).

I hope this shared post is beneficial to your writing.

This is a guest post by Jade Anderson is an experienced In-house Editor at Upskilled. With a background in online marketing, Jade runs some successful websites of her own. Her passion for the education industry and content is displayed through the quality of work she offers.

6 Tips for Making a Workspace Conducive to Writing

No matter what type of content you’re writing, whether it’s fiction, investigative journalism, feature pieces or academic articles, the environment that you write in has a big impact on how well you put that piece together. Writing takes skill, for sure, but where you write can affect how you write because if there are distractions in your workplace, your writing is likely to reflect that. As a writer, your workspace should be inspiring and comfortable in equal measure. It should be somewhere you can focus and reflect. Here are five tips for creating the perfect writing workspace.

2. Make Sure You Have Privacy

One criterion for success when it comes to writing is consistency. Often, this means writing something every day. But it also means trying to work in the space every time you write. In order to find a space where you are going to be able to be productive most days, you need to consider the level of privacy you will have. Choose a space where you’re able to be alone with your projects and your thoughts without being distracted by background noise or other people. This can simply mean working in a room in your house that has a door or finding an area where there is little to no foot traffic. Having a private, dedicated area that is yours allows you to have a distraction-free workspace.

3. Consider Your Desk And Chair

How comfortable your desk and chair are, are important factors that affect how productive you are. If you feel cramped or uncomfortable, you’re far more likely to get distracted and want to stop working. Chances are, you’ll be sitting and typing for long stretches of time, so you need a space that is ergonomic. Make sure that your desk and chair are at the right height so you don’t have to strain or hunch to work on your computer. You need a chair that will support your back and encourage good posture. As for your desk, it must provide enough space for everything you need.

4. Declutter

It is hard to work amongst clutter. Physical clutter can cause mental clutter, leaving us feeling distracted and unfocused. Getting rid of unnecessary mess and creating a clutter-free space is one of the key steps in creating an environment conducive to writing. While decluttering can take some time and hard work, it pays off. Set aside a day to declutter the space you wish to work in and decide what items you will throw out, what you’ll donate, and what you’ll keep. If you have furniture, files or belongings that you want to keep but don’t necessarily need right now, consider putting these things into storage. Using community storage is an affordable and convenient option should you find yourself in this situation.

5. Make It Yours

Your workspace is a space for you. You want it to reflect your personality and to be a place where you feel comfortable and at home. While you shouldn’t fill it with personal belongings that may be distracting or cause clutter, you should put some effort into personalizing the area. This can be with artwork, photos or other decorative features that you feel express your personality. As a writer, you may wish to personalize your space by filling it with your favorite books or quotes from your favorite authors!

6. Go For Natural Light

Regardless of your industry, natural light has been proven to impact productivity. The sun boosts your mood, gives you energy, and can stimulate creativity. For these reasons, natural light is particularly important for writers. If you’re working from home, it might be difficult to find a room with natural light to work in. However, even if you can work in front of a window or in a room with a skylight, this is better than nothing. Adequate light is important no matter what time of the day. If you’re working into the evenings, ensure that you have artificial lighting so you can read and write without straining your eyes.

7. Have What You Need On Hand

In order to work productively in your workspace, you should have everything you need to work on hand and ready to go. In the digital age, this might mean having all your tech accessories, chargers, and screens neatly arranged by your desk so they are easily accessible at all times. For writers, having two screens can be particularly useful. This allows you to have multiple windows open if you are researching and writing at the same time. If you still like the traditional pen-to-paper method when you’re figuring out your ideas, ensure you have plenty of supplies at hand in your desk drawers or on your desk.

 

 

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Steadying Your Creative Flame

candle flame

 

What’s all this effort for?

When you look at what you wrote and it’s a bore.

You’ve lost the creative spark

That drew you out of the dark.

You’d created so many tales

That you believed kept you on the scrawling rails.

But that was three years ago,

When your passion was again aglow.

Now the embers of your exhausted endeavor,

Are giving off the last flick of light ever.

Confusion, fear, and sadness cloud your head,

At the thought that your life passion is dead.

What was it all for?

To come to a place you abhor?

No.

Rather, you realize the time has come,

To take a needed respite

For your mind to be relit

In the days and weeks ahead,

Because you refuse to believe your craft is dead.