Blogger Recognition Award!

Whee, yet another blogger award! Picture from His Perfect Timing

I know you’re all looking forward to this month’s Collaboration with a Purpose posts after my intro post a couple of days ago (at least, I’d like to think so 😛) and are probably wondering why this post came up first! I promise you’ll see the relevance before my self-compassionate letter at the end. 😆

First of all, thanks very much to Kay @ His Perfect Timing for this blogger award nomination! I totally wasn’t expecting this nomination when I was reading her post, and while I was at it, I even gained a new blogging sister. ❤ She writes a lot of motivational and positive posts with inspirations from her faith in God, and I encourage you to check her blog out even if you’re not a Christian! (As a side note, I’m a Buddhist myself and I enjoy reading posts from other people’s point of view. 😀)

How this award works:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
2. Write a post to show your award.
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started blogging.
4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

And let’s go!

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How I Started Blogging

I started blogging on the 14th of February 2017, my second wedding with my husband, so I’ve been blogging for 8.5 months at this point. (Yep, both my wedding and blog anniversaries are on the same day, I thought that would be fun. 😆) Time really flies; I felt as though I’ve been blogging for ages!

I’ve always loved reading random informational articles online, though around end 2016 and end 2017, for some reason I felt the pull to read certain articles that helped me learn more about myself – being a highly sensitive person, an outgoing introvert – and also those on positivity and improving self-esteem. “Aha!” I cried upon learning so much about myself; suddenly it made sense why I felt the way I did!

That was when I felt the urge to start another blog and to write about all these stuff I’ve read about, to share them with someone who might also have their “Aha!” moment. Actually I get this new blog urge quite often (though I usually brushed it away because I didn’t have much following with my past blogs), but this time it felt different. It felt as things would work out even if I wrote things that are a little more personal, even if I started using my real first name rather than a pseudonym, even if I interacted with online strangers a little. It felt as though I’ve been hiding in a shell and that it was time for me to slowly poke my head out of it. 🐢

I’ll admit I was a little (well, a lot) apprehensive when I started this blog, but now, I’m glad I did! I met so many wonderful friends who supports me, who I can call my blogging family. ❤️

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Unsolicited Advice for New Bloggers

Yep, it’s part of the curriculum. 😛

Blogging is About the Community

I’m telling you this now because it didn’t occur to me when I first started – blogging is about the community, about making friends, having fun with and supporting each other!

Everyone has a different reason for blogging – to share stories, to promote their product, etc – but it’s still about the community. Every relationship is a give and take, even a blogger-reader relationship, so how could one expect to keep taking (getting readers) without giving (checking out other blogs) in return?

Sadly, that was the reason why my past blogs flopped. I’ve had three blogs in the past few years and all of them didn’t have many readers, sometimes not even a single like. At the time I was hiding in a shell and didn’t really interact with anyone, only writing and publishing posts, and eventually I lost the motivation to write. 🙁

Thankfully, my past blogs helped me to hone my writing, so while they were a flop, they weren’t a waste. 😀

Write What You Want to Read

This is my personal philosophy when it comes to writing stories, and I find it applies to blogging too! Because if you’re not excited about what you’re writing, how could other people be excited about it?

Granted, I’ve gone a little mad with my own blog – while I originally started writing about highly sensitive people and outgoing introverts, I’ve branched out into other subjects like psychology and even my hobbies like video games, even sharing videos and music! 📖📝🎮🎼

But hey, if I’m excited about it, someone would be excited about it too! 😀

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My Nominations

This month’s Collaboration with a Purpose theme is “Thank You, Profession!” And while a blogger isn’t technically a profession (well, to heck with technicalities!), this is the perfect time for me to nominate my entire collaboration blogger family for the Blogger Recognition Award! 🎊🎉🎈🎂🎊🎉🎈

I really love all the positive, motivating and inspiring stuff you write, especially for the monthly collaboration! They really help me to feel more positive and stay positive even in this negativity-filled world. Whatever am I going to do without you people? ❤

Though do note this isn’t mandatory! I understand some of you choose not to accept any awards, but I wanted to nominate you anyway to show how much I appreciate you and your blogs. 😀

And here’s a little bit about each blogger:

• Addison D’Marko: She’s incredible! I admire her strength in writing positive and motivational posts while recovering from stroke and paralysis. 💪🏻
• Ajibola Sunday @ Inspirational Motivation: Like the name of his blog, this awesome guy writes and shares inspirational and motivational stuff (especially uplifting quotes) on an almost-daily basis! ☀
• Barb Caffrey @ Barb Caffrey’s Blog: Wow, she does write a lot of thought-provoking posts! She also brings awareness to a lot of real world issues (including politics, which I don’t follow but it’s good to know) and I always feel more illuminated after reading her posts. 💡
• Camilla Motte @ Moms on the Go: This resourceful lady writes positive posts on top of tips and informational stuff suck as food, travel or money! ✈
• Divyang Shah @ i think my way: A cool guy who packs a lot of thought-provoking stuff in short sentences, a style that’s different from my own but interesting! 😀
• Ipuna Black: If it wasn’t for this awesome lady, my blogging circle wouldn’t have been as big as it is now so I’m forever thankful to her! She writes really positive stuff, even amidst struggles and chasing after dreams! ✨
• Jane Love @ Harmonious Joy: My space-time continuum twin! (The joke is that we were meant to be born together, but one of us ended up at a different time and place; which one is the oops one is still an ongoing debate. 😛) She writes a lot of great informational stuff like different types of stress, rivalry, domestic abuse and what not; it’s like having all the information one needs in one page. 😀
• Joel A Scott: This fantastic guy writes about life lessons and how one can change life for the better! 🌤
• Jothish Joseph @ TheJothishJosephBlog: An enthusiastic guy who writes with an energetic use of exclamation marked sentences that rivals mine! 😆
• Manal Ahmad a.k.a. iamthatgirl23 @ Sensible Nonsense: This fabulous lady writes stories and poems and also brings awareness to real-life issues like having labels and domestic abuse! 💪🏻
• Mylene C. Orillo: This pretty lady writes about tips and informational stuff on life, like long-distance relationships and pregnancy! 💏
• Sadaf Siddiqi: A wonderful lady who writes with a wisdom that belies her age! That’s why some of us call her Sensei / Teacher, which fits her role of an educator. 😛
• Sonyo Estavillo @ ‘Lil Pick Me Up: The tagline of her site “Writing with Hope” says it all! A fabulous lady who writes about being happy and positive amidst struggles. 🌞
• Tajwar Fatma @ LifeAsWeHaveNeverKnownIt: This beautiful lady advocates being true to ourselves, especially when it comes to wearing fashionable baggy jeans that not everyone gets! 👖

Remember, this isn’t mandatory!

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Hope you enjoyed this post, and do let me know what you think. 😀

~Nicolle ❤

A Short Self-Compassionate Letter

Dear Self,

It’s wonderful how you took the effort to write something nice about everyone! ❤