Beautifying The Blogosphere With Encouragement

I have been nominated for a Beautiful Blogger Award because a beautiful blogger found beauty in my posts. I must confess, this leaves me feeling very honored and a bit spoiled. These blogger awards uplift and encourage bloggers in a wonderful way.

A million thanks Sheila for this award.  Sheila, I truly admire the way you write your poetry.  Your way to de-stress, as you put it. What you are doing for your mother with Alzheimer’s is priceless.  May your kindness come back to you one-hundred-fold.  Please make sure to visit her blog at http://sheilamariegrimes.com/

What is beauty?

When I was in my teens and even in my twenties, I used to think I was ugly and fat. Decades later, I look back at those pictures and think, Oh my goodness!  If only I could look like that again!  There is such beauty in youth, too bad we have to get so much older to truly appreciate it!

With that said, I want to remind everyone that beauty is not all about “looks.”  That is what I used to think when I was young.  It is what screams at us from every magazine cover on the check stands and on television. But what we don’t get as often is that there is far more to beauty than meets the eye.

This is how Wikipedia puts it.
beau•ty /ˈbyo͞otē/
Noun
1. A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight.
2. A combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense.
Synonyms
loveliness – belle – pulchritude – fairness – prettiness

“Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An “ideal beauty” is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.”

“The experience of “beauty” often involves an interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being.  Because this can be a subjective experience, it is often said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.””  Wikipedia

In the eye of the beholder indeed.  As a nominee, my job is to find beauty in the blogs I beheld, while searching for some to share this award with.

There is always criteria to follow when one is a nominee. Thankfully, this is the easiest one yet.
1. Post the award on to your blog.
2. Remember to thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their site.
3. Post 7 random facts about yourself to help us to get to know you better.
4. Nominate 7 new bloggers you consider noteworthy.
5. Don’t forget to leave a message for those you nominate that you chose them.

Here are my seven random facts.

l. I wish blogging was around when I was a housebound mom with three children under four years of age and an unfriendly spouse. It would have been a great escape.
2. I pretended to be someone else once when this creepy guy kept following me around and pestering me.
3. I live in the Northwest and much too often wish for a house on the warm coast.
4. Having to eat gluten-free leaves me feeling very deprived, especially about going out to eat, but I am getting the hang of it.
5. There is something extremely amazing about music. It can lift a soul when one is down.
6. My favorite vacation spot is Hawaii. It’s not just the climate, it’s the whole experience of visiting.
7. I would like to visit Niagara Falls. I would love to walk the streets of Spain and would also love to take a tour to the Holy Land.

I have explored many sites in search of blogs to nominate and found most blogs have merit. The blogs I have chosen have a unique beauty of their own. Some speak of a pain I can easily identify with. But mostly, I am amazed by their strength and will to find ways to freedom from the pain.

These are the seven I have chosen.

http://onewomansperspective02.wordpress.com/

http://heresanjanablogging.wordpress.com/

http://ashortaday.wordpress.com/

http://marketingsocialjustice.wordpress.com/

http://lexnyc.wordpress.com/

http://especiallymade.wordpress.com/

http://parentingandstuff.wordpress.com/

These awards aren’t like those pesky chain letters. They come completely guilt-free! If you are not able to pass this one along, don’t worry. You will not be cursed or sprout another eye or have a tree fall on your house. Hmmm, I never passed on chain letters maybe that explains that tree that fell on my car. Just kidding, though a tree did fall on my car as you can see here. https://hiseyeisonthissparrow.com/2013/04/20/gods-hand-is-mightier-than-a-falling-tree/#more-2552  I am sure it had nothing to do with the chain letters I never passed on. Enjoy this award, and if you can, by all means pass it on.

Blessings to you Sheila, for passing this awards to me and the other six. Your blog proves you to be a strong lady in the midst of caring for your mother. She is one blessed woman to have you to care for her.

By ~ Elizabeth Yalian  ©2013