One of my favorite bloggers to read is Winifred M. Reilly who writes over at Speaking of Marriage. I’ve re-blogged her posts and you’ll like see more in the future. I’m very proud to say that Winifred has nominated me for The Liebster Blog Award.
You might not be familiar with the award, so let me tell you about little about it. Liebster is the German word for sweetest, kindest,nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, endearing, and welcome. The Liebster Blog Award says, “Hey, I like what you’re doing. Let me mention you on my site so that that others will discover you, too.”
The Liebster Award is a simply a bloggers equivalent of “pay it forward”: a way of recognizing up-and-coming bloggers for the quality of their work and asking them to introduce their readers to others whose work is worth looking at.
As a nominee I have some “duties”. I put that word in quotes because they are hardly onerous tasks. What I get to do is nominate 5 of my favorite blogs for the award. And, I get to answer some questions posed to me by Winifred.
So, let me get to my “duties”.
My Nominees:
Jasmine St. John at JSJTherapy.com
Laura Susanne Yochelson at LauraSusanneYochelson.com
Jonathon Hilton at What You Believe To Be True Is
Patrick McCurry at Musings of a Transpersonal Therapist
therapy from the bench at a scientist’s adventure with psychotherapy
My Answers to Winifred’s Questions:
1.When did you start blogging? I started my first blog when I opened my private practice in May of 2010. I’ve been doing it ever since.
2. What one thing have you learned or experienced as a blogger that surprised you? One big thing is that I can’t always tell what will resonate with people. Sometimes the posts that I am least satisfied with get the most positive feedback. That always surprises me!
3. What advice do you have to bloggers who are just starting out? One is to write in your own voice. I think blogging is a great medium to be personal and authentic instead of following a formula. The other thing is to just do it. Don’t try to make it perfect, don’t worry about the response. Just say what you want to say.
4. How often do you post and why? I try to have one original post per week. I also have a project with a fellow therapist called Two Therapists Talking. It is a YouTube channel of short videos on various therapy related topics, tips, etc. We try to post on of those per week. Other days I may re-blog posts from other blogs, put us a brief informational post or there may nothing else. I like the variety of information. I like the opportunity to capture my thoughts in a blog post but I also enjoy the give and take of a video with another therapists. If I tried to create more original posts I think I would have difficulty keeping it fresh.
5. Many writers began writing when they were very young. Others came to it later, because they had a story to tell. When did you start writing? I wrote for school but never enjoyed it. It wasn’t something I really enjoyed until about 5 or 6 years ago. I had done a lot of technical writing. Blogging let me use my own voice and let me focus more on the message than the format.
6. When is you favorite writing time? When I have an idea! I don’t have a time of day that I prefer. I find that when I have an idea the faster I can get it down the better.
7. What sorts of blogs do you read? I read a lot of blogs by therapists. I also read blogs about people who either go to therapy or deal with different issues in their life. I also follow some humorous blogs and some that focus on technology and science. I really enjoy blogs that are about the author’s personal experience, observations or perspectives.
8. What one key message do you want your readers to take away from your blog? Hmmmm…I never really thought of it that way. I’ve never seen my blog as one unified message. It is more about stream of consciousness thoughts. If I was to try to sum it up I would hope that people hear the message that they should be authentic.
9. What was the last book you read? I most recently finished Why She Won’t Sleep With You Anymore by Stephany Ekman. I do a lot of work with people around relationships, desire and sex so I eat up these kinds of books.
10. Do you think you’ve learned more from your successes or from your failures? Failures without a doubt. One of the things that I’ve learned is that failures aren’t so bad. I’ve come to accept that a failure just means you didn’t get the result you expected so you have to figure out what to do next. It isn’t an indictment of me.
11. Share one thing that’s at the top of your bucket list. This is an interesting question…I mean, isn’t there only one thing at the top of my list? LOL One thing that is near the top is to be on Glastonbury Tor for sunrise on the Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. I’ve been there for the Autumnal Equinox but I think it would be amazing to do all four.
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