The Versatile Blogger Award

I feel very honoured and rather proud to have been nominated for my first ever Versatile Blogger Award (VBA). Thank you so much to Chloe of A Palm Full Of Feathers, for your kind nomination. Your generosity in nominating me came with the added bonus of being introduced to your inspiring blog. It is always a pleasure to discover people on the journey of recovery.

A Welcome Validation of My Blog and Writing

The recognition of what I do over here on my blog is very welcomed. I have had this blog since 2012, but it is only in the last year that I have dedicated time to writing here. The reason for this is because it took me a while to work out how to put all I share about, in videos and writing, together in a way that made sense. Now that everything does make sense, I have again fallen back in love with writing and blogging. Therefore, hearing that my blog is appreciated is the confirmation I need that what I am doing is working. Thank you to everyone who follows, comments and shares themselves with me.

What is the Versatile Blogger Award?

The Versatile Blogger Award was created to celebrate blogs and bloggers who have, “unique content, strong writing, and beautiful images or photographs”. Nomination and winning are one and the same thing, which means that if you are nominated, you have won! You can find more info here.

Responding to The Versatile Blogger Award Nomination

Part of being nominated for the VBA requires me to tell the person who nominated me (that’s Chloe) seven things about myself. Without further ado, here they are.

Seven Things About Myself

• 1. One of my best friends is a stuffed sheep called Lambycat and he comes everywhere with me. Lambycat is a recovery tool, in that he helps me to cope with anxiety in unfamiliar places. However, Lambycat is also just a cute ball of love. Never be ashamed of the ways you manage your mental health. Do whatever you need to do.

• 2. I am addicted to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. It’s a problem. However, I have overcome many addictions and this is one that I can live with! Recovery often means learning to pick your battles.

• 3. I love festivals. Spending a few days in a tent, where it is socially acceptable to not shower, to dance like no one is watching and to not look out of place wearing pink fairy wings, is my idea of heaven.

• 4. I am deeply but very quietly spiritual. I know I am guided by something far greater than myself and that there is a beautiful design in place of which I am a glorious part.

• 5. I have a peculiar aversion to tomato sauce. Just seeing a bottle of sauce makes my toes curl and my brain itch!

• 6. I can happily spend three hours in a bubble bath. I take my tablet and kindle (waterproof of course!) a coffee, a fizzy elderflower drink and a wireless speaker in there and then it’s a bubble party for me! Before I had top-surgery, I coulnt bear to lay naked in a bath, so I think now I am making up for lost bath time!

• 7. One of my favourite hobbies is Geocaching. In a nutshell, Geocaching is where you use your phone’s GPS navigation, to find hidden containers of various sizes. These containers house a logbook to sign and occasional ‘swag’.

Discovering New Blogs and Bloggers

Another requirement of my being nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award is that I also have to nominate fifteen blogs that I have discovered recently.

I have loved this aspect of the VBA! Over the last few days, I have been checking my email lists and my WordPress feed, to reconnect with bloggers I follow. In realising that I had a lack of suggestions for some of my favourite niche areas, I have also searched for and found new bloggers, I now feel very excited to have lots of new content to read and I am also thrilled to recommend these amazing bloggers to you too.

My Fifteen Nominations

The Bloggers name links to each Bloggers Twitter account and the blog title links to their blog itself.

• Tracy at The Tracy Barker Blogs – An incredibly talented writer who shares her journey through Borderline Personality disorder. Tracy is also someone I am honoured to call a friend.

• Gina at Gina Maya – A wonderfully diverse and beautiful blog. Gina about theatre, cinema and life as a trans woman.

• Brent at Designer Daddy – I really want these two gents to adopt me! Brent blogs about gay life, life in general, and about being a same-sex family with an adorable adopted boy. The pictures alone will give you feels on the gloomiest of days!

• Ruth at Ruth in Revolt – A blogging force to be reckoned with Ruth writes about life, mental health, blogging and so much more.

• John at The Story of John Sennett – An inspiring man who demonstrates that there is no shame in a man having feelings!

• Kelly at Anxious lass – A Fantastic resource for anxiety info and gorgeous photos too.

• Mark at The Miracle of The Mundane – A gloriously rich blog about life in sobriety.

• Jo at Tea and Cake for The Soul – I love how Jo shares about everything, from mental health to recipes, in a beautifully cohesive and engaging way.

• Heather at Becoming Me – Heather shares her process of gender transition, of life as a woman and her powerful poetry.

• John at The Bipolar Battle – An honest and inspirational blog on living with bipolar.

• Charlotte at Charlotte Underwood – I admire and love Charlotte’s transparency and vulnerability, in sharing about her mental health journey.

• Julie at Sober Mommies – An inspiring and honest blog, which champions women in recovery, and has loads of fantastic insights of sober life

• Joshua at Gender Outlaw – A fantastic and comprehensive resource and first-hand experience of gender transition and transgender surgery.

• Roger at Mind and Love – A fresh and honest look at life, love and wellbeing, with a lovely dash of humour.

• Meg at Be Kind to Your Mind – A blog packed full of first-hand experience and advice around mental health issues and OCD. I also love that she is a fellow Open University student and that she blogs about studying when you have a mental health condition.

Over to you!

If you have been nominated, the choice to respond is entirely yours and there is no pressure to do so. However, if you do choose to respond, make sure to follow these simple rules :

The Rules Of The Versatile Blogger Award

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.