F is for FoxGLOVE...

Dear Littler B,

Hi there again, in catch-up mode I am actually writing this letter (and hopefully the next 3) while a passenger on a several hour trip to see the only known Tennessee Tardis. Look that up now (TARDIS - see below for pics), you have the ability since it has been around in my time about 50 years so in your time it is roughly 25 years or so. This is going to be a great escape for you when you become my age.
It is a part of a television show that you will fall in love with. Your love for time-travel related anything will only increase exponentially as you become my age wishing I could return to the time when I was you.

In continuing with the vein of information I have been writing to you over the last week and a few days, we are keeping up with teaching you things you will need to know over the next couple of decades. Today, in keeping up with the additional #AtoZChallenge I have reached the letter F, so....

is for FoxGLOVE...

You will notice several times in this letter that “GLOVE” is typed in capital letters and there is a reason for that.

FoxGLOVE, or Digitalis Purpurea is a poisonous flower. It is one of the MOST poisonous plants so when you work with it USE GLOVES!!!!

Origins & Identification

While this plant is generally known to be native to European areas, (mostly Ireland, Scotland and England) it was brought over to the United States as an ornamental garden plant. Originally it was known to the Anglo-Saxons as Foxes Glofa (the glove of the fox) because the flowers look like the fingers of a glove. There are however many folk names for this plant such as dead man's bells, fairy fingers, fairy bells and many more.

While there are several variations, common versions in the US are the purple and white biennial versions which can grow anywhere from 5 to 8 feet tall. Red varieties however are perennial and reach about 3 feet tall.

Practical Uses of FoxGLOVE 

While this beautiful and unique flower can often be found in gardens across the country, it has long been known for its poisons extract digoxin which is similar to a steroid. The flowers bloom from the bottom up and the flowers at the bottom contain more toxin than those going up the plant.  All parts of this plant from seeds to flowers contain digoxin which, even in small amounts can be fatal. This is one of the best examples of the need for herbal supplements to be closely monitored and standardized. In incorrect measurements, you are a goner for sure.

It is ironic that this plant is not only lethal but also a life saver to someone with certain heart conditions. Digitalis can cause the heartbeat to increase. Digoxin is still extracted and synthesized pharmaceutically to use for certain heart medications. One of the most known medications that use this chemical is Lanoxin.

I'm just going to tell you now dear littler me, stick to having it as a pretty flower in the garden.

Metaphysical Uses of FoxGLOVE 

FoxGLOVE is known to have feminine energies, its planetary alignment is Venus and is associated with the element of Water and Isis or Hera. One of its biggest known magickal properties is protection. This is one of the main reasons it is planted near the home.

In the old days, Welsh women would boil the leaves and make a black die to draw a cross on the floor at the entrance of their homes to protect against evil doers coming into their homes. (If you do this, do not be around the steam or smoke without proper masks as even the fumes are toxic!!!)

As we are Irish, I will focus here on the aspect of FoxGLOVE's properties that I appreciate the most, the connection with the Fae and the Fairy Folk. This plant should be planted anywhere you wish to invite members of the Fae. Folklore in some parts of the world say that the "fox" portion of the name because these bell shaped flowers were a gift from the fair folk to the fox so that they could ring the bells to warn others of their kind when danger was near.

It is said that the dew collected from foxGLOVE to be used in ritual to commune with the fair folk and carrying foxglove leaves wrapped in cloth will ensure the fair folk are near and hear your requests. The leaves are said to be used to break a fae enchantment and involve burning however  You will have to do some research on this one because I am not quite sure how to use it correctly for that safely! 

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping 
than you can understand. - Yeats

I think at this point I've given you quite a bit to get you started. I hope it has been helpful, dear little one. I know how much of a soft spot you have in your heart for the fairy folk and are always looking for more and more ways to connect with them so now you know a few more!

Wisely knowing how wise I am not,

Bigger Little B.



PS. Just in case this helps you later on down the road, here is a photo of that TARDIS you are supposed to look up.

Giving Up

Dear Littler B,


It is finally Friday here in a random February week in 2016.  My third cup of coffee is brewing and annoyingly on the tv "Oscar Mania" has taken over regularly scheduled programming. You are somewhere in 1989, I imagine in the band room reading your newest installment in the letters that have made it through the funnel of time and into your hands.

It struck me the other day that these letters would have been so much easier if you take notes along the road of you becoming me so that I know what fears, questions and memories would be the important things to tell you about.  At the time you are in though I know you won't realize the cyclical nature of time.


Your dreams are so big yet lack any definition. You want to do such big things and change the world but don't have any idea how you are going to do them.  This is going to frustrate you along the path you walk in the journey of leaving who you are behind and becoming me.




"I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison



I'm here to give you one big pointer today about that frustration. DON'T let it stop you from achieving the things you want to realize in your world. Some people along your way will believe in you. Some people will laugh. Some people will walk away.  Don't let outside noise distract you dear younger me, don't allow the doubt others have to cause doubt to come into your heart and mind.


If Mr. Edison had listened to the nay-sayers around him do you think we would be sitting in the light today?

As I sit here today I am trying to reach for a dream that I've carried with me long before I was you. Supporters have come into my life from areas I never expected.  If I never tried to actively go for my goal, I never would have realized how many people actually believed in me.  Until you try, you will never know how wonderful and surprising that feels. Doubters will come but it is easier to shake them off (as a pop artists popular right know is known to say) knowing you have those who will help hold you up when you need them until the time when you can hold yourself up.

Don't be afraid to try, don't be lazy and don't surround yourself with what-ifs.  It's you that has the dream so it is you that has to go out there and make it happen. Giving up is not an option.



Shoot for the moon baby girl, you just might land in the stars.

Sincerely hoping you never let them hold you down,

Soundtrack to my day

 
A Great Big World - Say Something
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Wiz Khalifa / Charlie Puth - See You Again
Maroon 5 - Sugar
Passenger - Let Her Go
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Megan Trainor - All About That Base
Pink - Just Give Me A Reason
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Pitbull - Timber
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
John Legend - All Of Me
Imagine Dragons - Deamons
Rhianna - Stay
Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk

Understanding

Dear Littler B,

I have been mostly positive in the letters that I have been sending to you through this funnel of time, but I know that you are fully aware that all your days are not going to be able to be sunny and you have to be ok with that. So here is a letter about the days that are not.
 

It is amazing how the people who know you the most understand you the least. I don't know if it is that they know who you are and expect you to make special dispensation for them or if they just decided to get close to you so they can get to know you without having to do the work of truly learning the balance of life - coexistence with you. 

Coexistence is a loaded subject. It means you live in harmony with them. It is a tender balance, you give they take - they give you take. The teeter totter that is life. It may not be an easy state to achieve but it is one that is well worth it.  You are going to become so very used to giving without taking, and finding someone who is willing to give is going to be more than a challenge even when you get my age.  If someone truly cares about you they will care about all of you. The perfection and the imperfection.  One day you will be someone's song bird and another the other one you are with will only get irritated by you putting on music and getting lost in it.  One will encourage you to get on that stage no matter what kind of ass you will make of yourself, the others will keep you in the living room, kitchen, mold of what is expected.


Every time you spend with someone new needs to be a whole new set of rules and a whole new you. The old conceptions of who you are have to be redeveloped while maintaining the core of who you are.  Not an easy task to say the least.  Those who are meant to play a big part in your life will understand those things about you. You will not have to be ok with losing so much of who you are that you don't recognize yourself in the mirror.  They will accept you for who you are and not who fits into their concept of what a companion should be. 

While I can tell you that you are going to have some amazing times with amazing people who want to understand you, be with you for you and accept and incorporate the real you into their own being; I can also tell you there are going to be those pretenders.  You will know them in an instant even when you want to pretend you don't. They are the ones who will want you to take care of them, be their trophy, be their mother, be their bedroom entertainment (yes believe it or not), be their comic relief. Don't give them the time of day because if you do you know you will give them a piece of your heart when they don't deserve it.


You will find that one eventually that will be with you for you, one that will encourage you to be you in all the dorky magnificence that you can be.  Don't be afraid to go after it when you find it. Don't let your doubt get in the way, don't let others doubt get in the way.

It's your life to live baby girl and don't you ever forget that fact. When it is right you will know it. When it is wrong you will know it even faster. Don't buck the system that is intuition. It will only lead to regrets at some point down the road.  You do you and let the rest of the world fuck themselves. In the long run if you don't have your own back, no one else will.

In strength and without ragret,

No Ragrets... Not a single letter.

Sad Sappy Songs to Keep Me Company Today


Dixie Chicks - Landslide
Sinead O'Conner - Nothing Compares 2 U
Elvis - Suspicious Minds
Eiffel 65 - Blue
Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl
Trisha Yearwood - She's in love with the boy
Deana Carter - Strawberry Wine
Nelly Frutado - I'm Like A Bird
Cam - Burning House
Lee Ann Womak - Dance
Dixie Chicks - You Were Mine
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Shania Twain - Any Man of Mine
Brad Paisley / Allison Krause - Whiskey Lullibye
Sara Evans - A Little Bit Stronger
The Band Perry - If I Die Young
Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice

To My Dark Knight

The Business of Being Grown-up

Dear Littler B,

Good afternoon from a very frazzled frustrated you sitting in 2016. So much to learn and never enough time to do it. I have been put to a "Blog Challenge" which will require me to tailor 4 letters of yours to certain topics.  This should be creative and fun.

http://www.womanpulse.com/2016/02/blogging-challenge-week-one-what-advice.html

Your first letter is a bit of a cheat though, for you/me. The letter today is supposed to be about what advice I would give a child about adulthood.  While I know that has got your bristly hair on your shaved head up, no I don't mean you are a "child" per se, but when you become me in your mid-forties you will realize that 16-18 is so incredibly new.

Every letter I have written to you thus far has been about advice. The things that are coming for you to prepare for. These things (for the most part) are not only things you will experience but things that many at large will go through in the journey of growing up. So, while all of my letters to you are advice I will sum up some of the big hitters.



 

Always Find a Reason to Smile








Life when you are an adult dear little me is full of responsibility. It is not a bad thing. You get to work (which you might not like) but it allows you to have money to buy the things you like. You will be pulled in all different directions to be able to juggle your responsibilities so make sure you find at least one thing to reflect on from your day that will make you smile.






Always Find a Reason to Make Others Smile

Remember, young one. While you are going to be a busy grown up - others will be as well. Do you know how good it feels to have someone compliment you or just be nice to you for no reason at all? It is just as important to give that feeling to other people. Commit a random act of kindness every day, even if it is just a little one. It may be just the thing that someone else needs to completely turn their day around.


Don't Be Afraid to Try Something New

You have so much time ahead of you and so many experiences you will have the opportunity to take part in. Don't be afraid to try something new, it will be what creates the amazing grown up that you will become. It will introduce you to new people. It will teach you things you like and things you don't.

Things I Like

Things I Don't

Take a Mental Picture 

Every chance you get, take a moment to take a mental picture of the things around you and file it in your brain-album. As your pages get filled up and you look back through them you will be amazed by the beautiful moments you have been blessed to take part in.

Don't Be Afraid to Be Yourself

There are so many people who will put expectations on you about who you should be, what you should look like, what you should believe, what you should think. At the end of the day, one of the wonderful things about being a grown up is that YOU are the one who has to live your life. Make it yours!

I have so much more I can tell you, but this letter is getting rather long. Luckily, I get the opportunity to share these and so many more ideas on an almost daily basis.

Here's looking at you kid,

Background Sound

John Mayer - No Such Thing
John Mellencamp - Jack and Diane
Ben Folds - Still Fighting It
Ataris - In This Diary
Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me
Carrie Underwood - Whenever You Remember
Kenny Chesney - Young
Taylor Swift - Fifteen
Blink 182 - Dammit
Five for Fighting - 100 Years

It Takes a Tribe

Dear Littler B,

I am sitting here writing your letter today and feeling guilty that written to you in a couple days. I know I have been (for the most part) productive in the way of education in the world I've gotten us into - however I have been not so productive in content to provide you insight to what life is like when you become me.

Today's wisdom is coming to you across the decades not from me, but from those I have met through (what you will learn about in time) social media.

At times through your life you are going to be intrigued or inspired to try something new.  It doesn't matter if it is the time you decide to branch off into an unknown religion, learn how to cook, become a programmer, become a mother. All of these things carry the same levels of initiation, insecurity, ignorance, education and enlightenment.  Nothing comes to the average - non-savant Joe like you/I without a great big huge learning curve.

Sometimes along the way you are going to get lucky. You will find yourself in the middle of the village as the idiot who everyone is nice enough to help take care of or encourage and educate. A tribe of people who all have been through the same process and are on various levels of
enlightenment and are willing to share their experiences with you.

Be those experiences good or bad, soak them in dear little me. Every story is a learning experience if you look at it correctly. Learn from those around you what to do, what not to do, what to laugh at, when to work and when to play.  Every person is the wisest person. Wisest in how they have experienced their journey and how they experience this joyful and adventurous carnival ride called Life.

Along that learning process you will (when you are not even looking) become the proverbial butterfly from the creepy crawly caterpillar. Sometimes you will be the student, sometimes the teacher. In time you will go from being the village idiot that you always feel yourself to be into being the wise person that someone will look to for knowledge and inspiration.  I can't promise you will have gotten there yet when you become me, but I can tell you we are somewhere on the journey a little less idiot - a little more wise.

Encouraging you to embrace your village, be one with the tribe,

A big PS. Thank you FB Tribe for being my inspiration today.


Dancing & Frivolity Today Provided by:
Phillip Phillips - Home
Lorde - Royals
Rhianna - Stay
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
Phillip Phillips - Raging Fire
Anna Kendrick - Cups
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
John Legend - All of Me
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years

Celebrate The Smalls

Dear Littler B,

First and foremost I need to apologize for yesterday's letter. Fear and panic ruled the day yesterday. I can tell you that even though you have "grown up" (notice that is in quotes), you have not necessarily shed all of your issues. Just traded one set of worries for another. That's part of life. If you didn't worry about something/someone it means you really don't care as much as you think.

You are human. You need to try to remember that. The beautiful perfect imperfection that is humanity. You are going to have days that you doubt, you are going to have (more than your share) of days that you panic, and you are going to have days where you just don't know what to do.

What you need to know is that you are going to have to keep on going and keep on trying.  Things always find a way of working out the way they are supposed to in the end. The results may not take on the shape of the win you expect, however they take on the shape of the win that is supposed to be.  Life is a great big balance. Everything finds a way to even out in the end.

Today, for example it's time to move forward. One of the things that ensures you don't stay stagnant in life is the fact that you adopt early on an attitude of measuring and pushing yourself. You set goals. I can not begin to tell you how well this will serve you over the course of my last 25 years.  Not just the big things like most people do, but the little things.



The most important aspect of these goals is that you let yourself celebrate achieving each one. I'm not saying go spend a lot of money and go crazy because you hit a daily quota but RECOGNIZE!  So many people don't know how important it is to your self-worth to allow yourself to do that simple yet important thing! No matter how small or how large, you set an achievement - give yourself a metaphorical pat on the back!

While these letters have been intended for you, I set myself a goal. I determined that if these letters had fallen into the hands of 2500 other people I would celebrate it by transferring these letters over to a dedicated web site instead of a generic website designed to house letters like this for many people. It is an exciting day for me. I am not quite sure what it is going to look like yet, how it is going to
operate or if it is a wise move but I can't wait to see where the next leg of this journey takes us.

How am I going to celebrate? I'm going to award myself with a few hours away from the computer to walk the trails at the V.A. and enjoy the non-digital sun, the non-mp3 sounds of the birds (don't worry you'll know what that is in a few years) and the non-photoshopped absolutely beautiful people of the town.  In essence, I'm giving myself a day off.

Celebrate, dear littler me. Celebrate the big achievements and the small. You will live a much happier life if you do.

Putting on my shoes and taking off,

Today's Celebration Music Provided By

Kool & The Gang - Celebrate
Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup
Smash Mouth - All Star
Bachman Turner Overdrive - Takin Care of Business
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
Katy Perry - Firework
Black Eyed Peas - I Got a Feeling
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Madonna - Holiday

Being Humble

Dear Littler B,

Today I am surrounded by a bit of a scenery change.  I am writing to you on (believe it or not) my phone while I sit in a career center in town preparing to attend an unemployment orientation.  This is one of the sad byproducts of the fall of the economy which you will experience starting around 2000 but won't rear it's ugly fang toothed face full force until 2008.

Unfortunately the job market will chew you up and spit you out a couple of times, but don't despair.  It will encourage you to go many places, meet many wonderful people and allow you to reinvent yourself several times over. This time it has been a little difficult as I really loved the job that I was in and they blind-sided me with "revenue no longer supports your position".

It just seems to be a no win sometimes climbing to get out of the struggle since a big incident happened a little over a year ago.  I will share that information with you only because maybe you might be able to emotionally prepare yourself and handle it a little bit better than I did. Obviously, the "help" didn't come in the way it was hoped as you know I am still sitting here typing from Nashville, but you are resilient and find a way to endure.


The Keyboard Commentarian: Words of the Day: UPDATE & HELP: Last summer, I introduced you to Anthony Howell, the son of a dear friend of mine, Bridget, who was stationed at the Army National Guard, 11...

I finally qualified for a small stipend from unemployment that got unexpectedly frozen until I completed today's orientation so needless to say you are going to go through a time of no power, no telephone and no food when you get to be me.  Don't panic, people are amazingly wonderful. Today for example after my orientation I was able to get a small box of food and bread at the soup kitchen from a bunch of the most kind people I know in town. While it is not a job, it does help to get by. Every little bit helps. (I know you'd rather have the job - don't be ungrateful you little shit)

No matter how bad situations get, you are a survivor. Don't ever give up. Be strong and persevere. Things always find a way to land on their feet. I can keep going knowing that you never quit.



Sincerely, Shaken but Never Broken,

Today the following joined me to keep my ears company

State of TN Career Center PA - Random Elevator Music
Imagine Dragons - On Top of the World
Vangelis - Chariots of Fire
U2 - Beautiful Day
BonJovi - It's My Life
Smash Mouth - All Star
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
Louie Armstrong - Beautiful World
David Bowie - Just for One Day
Joanna Pacitti - Watch Me Shine
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger

The Bullies

Dear Littler B,

I'm sitting on my bed instead of in my office because I got thinking and the keyboard wouldn't wait.  Coffee is next to me and the sound of the truck beeps from the garbage man are coming from the parking lot outside, Drew Carey from the TV drones on in the background and the puppy is snoring half on my lap. (I say puppy, though he is really a little old man)

I'm not sure what made me think of this subject today, it might have been a commercial half heard in my sleep or just a memory flashing through my dreams but bullies are something that you have had to deal with pretty much before you know what the word means. I'm not sure what advice I can give you or anyone whose hands this may fall in, but I know what is truth for you.  In a way you are luckier than most in that you are the 4th child of 5 so you were able to be primed with a thicker skin than some.

There have been many instances you have already lived through, like getting hit in the head with a pan by one sister and having your goldfish boiled (I know you still remember that, because I do... IT WAS AN ACCIDENT). The years that you got picked on after moving from the belly of the south to New Jersey and having that thick southern drawl pour out of your mouth.

It's truly a double genetic whammy that you were born to be not much taller than the limit of a little person and graced with a name that rhymes with "midget". Even that best friend of yours from the swings that lets you sneak out of class with Helga (her car) to go get pizza for the lunch table started out as a bully if you remember correctly.

Thick skin or no, it still hurts.... THEN.


There are going to be many more instances to come so strap in and get ready for it. Like the time you will be at a dance for Halloween and someone will take the mask off your dancing partner to see "who would dance with her", or the time you are going to be grabbed by your hair and dragged on the old gym floor. (Though I still don't regret it resulting in shaving your head and showing up in combat boots from then on out). It will happen only very rarely when you are an adult, from a woman at work who will jump over your desk at you, from your own children, from people you thought you loved. I won't kid you.

I can't tell you why people are like they are, maybe they feel entitled, they feel better than you, maybe they feel less of a person, maybe they don't eve realize they are doing it. It is a fact of life that is a big topic in popular culture today made worse by the invention you have yet to learn - social media.  In all there is one thing that I can tell you that is very important for you to remember. There is only one thing in all of it that you can control.

YOU

Giving in and being hurt, doing something stupid will only put the champion belt on them. It will allow them to win. I promise you that it gets better, because you do. The immature will mature for the most part, but the best thing is that after school you will leave those people behind and be able to surround yourself by the people you deserve. As dad is famous for saying "This too shall pass".

If that doesn't help, let me from the future let you know.... Social media is also good for something else. I am able to see those people who may hold you down and tell you the beautiful become not so, the ones who got fat or bald or both. (Is that a little evil of me?)

Physical beauty only stays so long, popularity only stays so long but the love and light you have inside you can last forever if you let it.

Lots of love from a stronger and happier,

Bigger Little B



Today's Musical Accompaniment 

Taylor Swift - Mean
Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl
Hillary Duff - Fly
Kenny Rogers - Coward of the County
Blink 182 - Adam's Song
Mark Wills - Don't Laugh at Me
Morgan Fraizer - Hey Bully
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
Matt Kennon - You Had to Pick on Me
Selena Gomez - Who Says
Bars and Melody - Hopeful

That Love Stuff

Dear Littler Me,

Good morning to you from the day of love 2016.  I sit here quietly in the wee hours of the morning on the bed next to our sleeping hubby trying to type quietly so as not to wake him. Today is Valentines day, a day to focus on love and all things mushy. Luckily for me we've been to penny tight to be able to take part in the commercialism of the day so it has for the most part remained about spending time with each other and the "feeling" crap, untainted by the need to ply each other with gifts to "prove" we love each other.

This may not sound like the ideal dream to a 16 or 17 year old (what ever age you are when this reaches you) but I promise you it is. I do know you a bit since I'm lucky enough to have the inside scoop so I know you are not the average teenager. Feelings are more important to you than things. I guess we just got lucky to be who we are.

Where you are in the 1988ish time frame you are no different than I am here. The things that make you happy is to know that someone thought of you and to know you are loved. That is one thing, dear littler me you will never have to worry about. You have been loved by many over the years. The best of them being an amazing father who will be bringing you and your sisters flowers as he does every year. (it will be hard to ever find a guy who measures up to the kind, gentle, giving man that is daddy)

If this letter reaches you during the right year, you will have carnations bought for you at school by a guy who doesn't even attend the same school. You will see him of and on, one of your first loves. Even until you become me you still have the notes from those flowers tucked into a photo album next to a picture of the two of you in Disney.

Your loves, though fiery and exciting and you will love every single one of them, will come and go in your life and will make you feel like you are not worthy of that lasting love like Mom & Dad have. To this day you think back fondly on all of them who have been in your life and thank them for the piece of their life that they gave to you. The one who traded up for your best friend, the one who
joined the Army, the one who joined the Air Force, the one who was in the band, the one who was a gardener, the one who loved his mother more in the end, the one who lit the sky on fire, the one who walked on the wild side.

After a long life of love, none have been better than the one waking beside me in the young hours of a Sunday morning here in 2016 in Nashville. I will not tell you too much about him because I don't want to spoil the meet up or space time continuum and all that happy scientific horse puckey. Let it be said though, you will know him the moment you see him fumbling with his keys after standing him up two times. He is still going to give you a chance and forever think it is you who gave him a chance.




We may not be able to get gifts for each other, but we have the day to give each other and that my dear little me is all you ever need.

Lovingly yours,

Bigger Little B

Today the following entertained my ears:

Liebster Award!

I was very surprised today when I got nominated for a Liebster Award by WomansPulse! This has been such an amazing journey in self-discovery writing my blog and connecting with other amazing writers in the blogging community.

The Liebster Award is given to new bloggers by other bloggers. It allows new blogs to be discovered and encourages support within the Blogging Community.

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you
2. Share the award on your blog
3. Answer the ten questions
4. Nominate ten new bloggers
5. Ask ten questions
6. Notify your nominees on Social Media

 Questions asked of me

1. Coffee or Tea?
   Without a doubt coffee all day long... IV if it was available. :-)
   
2. Where do you find your content ideas?
   My content ideas for the most part come from life experiences. I sit and play music mostly from the era I am addressing and it immediately puts my mind back into those moments. The fingers start working before the brain even has any idea what they are doing.
   
3. What is your favorite blogging tool?I currently use Blogger/Blogspot. I love the ability to see where in the world my audience is the most. Seeing that someone in a new country has seen my posts.
   
4. Where do you see your blog going?
   I would love to be able to reach and help people who may have gone through similar situations as I but don't know that they are not alone. I would love to encourage self-discovery and encourage people to get in touch with how wonderful they really are!
   
5. Who is your favorite writer?
   This one is such a loaded question. There are so many that I truly can't list a favorite. I love the works of Shakespeare, Bronte, Austen, Alcott, Anne Rice, JK Rowling and Stephen King, but never turn any writing away. My all time favorite story hands down is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
6. What is your best quality?
   This is another hard one for me. Self-praise is not something I do very well. According to my husband, the answer to this my kindness.
7. Facebook or Twitter?
   Yes please! I do use both however I am very new to Twitter and still learning how to use it effectively and not obnoxiously. I am sure anyone who follows me (shameless plug) at @BidyBidyBop will tell you I have a lot to learn.
   
8. Who motivates you? Why?
   Mostly the answer to this would fall to my husband. Upon coming home from work he will often ask me - did you write today? Did you get a new country? How many views did you get? etc. Not because he wants to push me to write but because he wants to encourage me to do something that makes me very happy. He has been such a support in my life no matter what I choose to do. 
   
9. How has blogging changed your life?
   The subject matter of my blog has actually changed my life quite a bit, even though it is in its toddler stage. It has been amazing to reminisce, but it has been even more so put me in touch with who I am today and to be ok with the woman I have become... for better and worse.
   
10. What is your top three blogs your reading?
    I start my day by checking The Keyboard Commentarian.
    Written by the man who introduced me to blogging. He even gave me the greatest gift someone could give by his blogging and helped to find my son during a very difficult time.
    
    I always check in with WomanPulse . I love reading her relationships posts as we have gone through a lot of similar situations in life and are around the same age. I can relate.
    
    I also often check Daily Musings. While sometimes the postings can be religious in nature, Traci always has motivational and inspirational posts. All around "feel-good" go to for me.
    

The following are my nominees - I visit them all regularly though some may not be as new as others. Check them out! 

Sum Of My Pieces  
Blogging to the Oldies
Analysis Worm
One Year of Letters
A Girl of Some Importance
Grace & Giggles
Diary of a New Mommy
Christian Touchet
The Keyboard Commentarian
ReViews by HMF
 



My 10 Questions for nominees:

1. What encouraged you to start your blog?
2. What niche/genre is your blog?
3. Do you post on a schedule or when the inspiration takes you?
4. What are some of your big milestones that you have celebrated for your blog?
5. Do you use social media to promote your blog? Links?
6. On average how long do you find you spend putting together a post?
7. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
8. What is the link to your favorite post on your blog and why?
9. What is your guilty pleasure in literature?
10. What is 1 piece of advice you have to give other new bloggers?

Thank you Heidi @ WomanPulse  again for the nomination! Happy Blogging everyone! 

 

 

Calling All Bloggers...

Dear Littler Me,

I hate to take away from my advice to you today however I need to take a moment to get a few questions answered. See, I am new to this and in order to learn one must ask questions. Just as I had questions when I was you, I have questions still now that I'm me. Today, I put them out to the other writers to try to get help in making your letters as productive as I can.  Call it a 2016 version of a slam book. I hope they leave me comments below. I hope they answer any questions they want/can. Wish me luck!

BLOGGERS

1. How long have you been blogging and what type of blog do you write?

2. Do you own your own domain and why?

3. What social media do you use and (give links!)?

4. What type of marketing of your blog do you find most successful?

5. Do you earn income on your blog?

6. How frequently do you post?

7. How do you find motivation day by day?

8. What was the most useful piece of advice someone gave you in the beginning?

9. What are your average views on any given day?

10. What is the link to your blog?





THANKS ALL!
Looking for courage to keep going and the wisdom of how to do so.

Sincerely,

Bigger Little B