Kz has been at it again, showering me with awards. Three more of them. Thank you kz. Once again, I feel honoured to be nominated. To all who read this – go check out kz’s blog. Here’s a direct link to one of my favourite poems, but if you do a little exploring you’ll find much that’s intriguing, and surprising, sometimes so subtle you have to really stop and think, sometimes like a brick falling on your head, and always worth reading. http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/daily-prompt-dear-mom/ And here’s a direct link to one of her short stories http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/ligo-haibun-challenge-picture-prompt-3/

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award



It’s all about the ladies women. Here are the rules for this award:
1. Provide a link and thank the blogger who nominated you for this award.
2. Answer a few questions about yourself
3. Nominate 10-12 blogs that you find a joy to read.
4. Provide links to these nominated blogs and let the recipients know that they have been nominated. 5. Include the award logo within your blog post.

kz didn’t ask any questions. She decided to scratch that part. So I’ll just make up my own steal some from Jody Love at http://humantriumphant.wordpress.com and from Uttley at http://uttleystake.com because I’m too uninspired lazy busy to make up my own, and then I’ll pass the same questions on to all the fabulous women I nominate for this award, who’ll be inspired to answer them. Or not. I love how fluid these awards are, how everyone makes up their own rules. The original rule was answer 10 questions. Or none apparently if that’s how you feel at the time. Five is enough for me.

Questions I stole borrowed from Uttley:
1. When was a time in your life when you took a chance (something risky)? In our sixties, Don and I sold our apartment and car, sold or gave away all our furniture and belongings, and became nomads. Some serious letting go was involved.
2. When have you surprised yourself? I was accused of being selfish, self-centered, and self-absorbed. Instead of going into defensive mode, I suddenly saw the truth, and replied yes I am, and was okay with it. It was one of the most freeing moments in my life. And the most surprising.
3. What’s one activity that gives you great satisfaction? Blogging! Every part of it – photography, photo editing, writing, putting the whole post together, sharing our story, getting followers and ‘likes’ and comments, and the surprise and delight that people are interested, following and reading other blogs and ‘liking’ and commenting, being inspired and/or moved and/or amused by other blogs, being part of the blogging community. I ‘like’ more often than comment purely because of time constraints.

Questions I stole borrowed from Jody
4. You’ve been granted the opportunity to meet anyone who has ever existed. Who would that be TODAY (because I understand that you might be in a different mood tomorrow) and why? Buddha, Jesus, Ramana Maharshi – to soak up their pure energy. I wouldn’t ask questions, or engage any of them in conversation. I’d just sit with them and let myself surrender. Bliss.
5. What do you believe the most interesting/unique thing is about yourself? (You’re allowed to cheat by asking someone, if you don’t know!) I don’t know if this is remotely interesting, or unique, but I have a deep commitment to evolving beyond self-imposed limitation. You know – the kind of thoughts that go ‘I’m not good enough’, or ‘that’ll never happen for me’, or ‘things always go wrong’, etc. These kinds of thoughts used to be unconscious. Then they became barely conscious. These days I hear them loud and clear, when they arise at all, and choose to simply let them go by. They’re just thoughts and only have power if I believe them.


Pirate’s Admiration Award I was thrilled to be included in the bunch of swashbuckling ladies nominated by kz for this award. It’s a special award given to very few by The Pirate himself.  http://managuagunntoday.wordpress.com/about-ye-pirate/ I get to pass this award on to bloggers I admire, so if ever I’m completely adrift in Blogger Sea I’ll have my own band of pirates to rescue me.

And finally the Best Moment Award Awarding the people who live in the moment, 
 The noble who write and capture the best in life,
 The bold who reminded us what really mattered – Savoring the experience of quality time.


Rules of the Best Moment Award
1. Repost the award and award description
2. Give an acceptance speech
3. Pass the award on, and notify the nominees. Give an acceptance speech? Really?

And now the best part – I get to nominate some other Bloggers. I pass these three awards along to my own band of blogger women, pirates one and all: http://faceatthewindow.wordpress.com http://purnimodo.wordpress.com http://ponderthepreposterous.wordpress.com http://myitineraries.wordpress.com/about/ http://angelinem.wordpress.com http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com  http://whiskeytangofoxtrot4.wordpress.com http://lakshmilovestoshop.com http://jmkhaprawannatellyouastory.wordpress.com http://thegreenstudy.com http://bodhisattvaintraining.wordpress.com http://thetraveluster.com/about/

I think not all those I’ve nominated respond to award nominations, but I wanted to include them anyway to give others a chance to discover and enjoy their blogs. To all the guys: I still have a few more awards up my sleeve to pass on 🙂



Photo of the day: Can Tho City, Vietnam






All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted.
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2015.