Guest Blog Host Post #1: Tea or Coffee?

Guest Blog Host Post #1: Tea or Coffee?

 

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When someone comes to visit me, I will offer them a cup of tea or coffee, as a host.  I chose this picture in particular because it has vibrant colours.

 

As a Blogger, you generally love to read and write.  A part of the craft is to continually learn and challenge yourself to become a better author.  In doing so, one often subscribes and follows numerous blogs within the community.

I have been fortunate enough to start on this path with a lot of help and guidance from my friends, and peers.  I have enrolled in free online workshops and found some that I think are worth saving up to participate in.  Through one of these challenges, I launched a free Guest Blogging invitation to the world.

While I haven’t been overwhelmed by people looking to share in this opportunity with me, a few people have approached me, and today I have the pleasure of sharing a story that another blogger wrote.  I do think as we are reading each other’s words and having online conversations about each other’s work, that we are well on the way to becoming friends.

I am a member of several different writing and blogging groups and communities online.  I am loving the support that I get from each one, and how they are all unique in their own ways.  I met my next Guest Blog Writer in one of these groups.

Syl DiNada was interested in Guest Blogging when I put out the invitation.  We started chatting, and Syl was more interested in sharing than hosting.  As it is an open invitation, I decided that I would see what came out of our discussions, and reading my new friend’s blog.

Let me tell you, the artwork that is prominently featured in Syl DiNada’s Blog is phenomenal.  I can visit just to look at the pictures.  Truly inspirational and magnificent.  Well worth checking out.  The writing, well, we definitely have different outlooks on life, and that is absolutely wonderful.  I love reading different things, and Syl puts a lot of thought behind the artwork, and consequently the writing for the blog.  I rather enjoy the visits, you should take a peek, and find something to read there.

Here is the Guest Blog share from Syl DiNada.

Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Sharing the Self

Syl 1Z: “Syl, I like your avatar but seriously, what do you look like? Why are you standing behind a mask and yet trying to convey true words?”

Y: “Z, I would just like to say we live in a world where we sometimes put too much importance on how others look. An Avatar can be a way of allowing a much larger audience to pay attention and really hear what is being said.

Personally, not for myself, as I honestly don’t care how someone looks, but I
care what is in their heart and how they convey that.”

Syl: Yes, Y has it pretty much. Although I really do make the majority of my
posts with just me in mind.

But really, at the time I signed up for FaceBook I did not own any pictures of
myself. I don’t use a phone either and had no digital camera. I just don’t
have much interest in personal pics, never have. (Yes, I know it’s hard to
believe in this day and age, but some of us have never taken a selfie.) So I
used this avatar pic of mine. And ofc…”There is More…”

Pictures of faces have a very particular effect on cognition. They instantly
convey an impression of someone. Pictures of faces are limited in what they
can convey, particularly when someone is outside of the typical cognition
pattern. I feel pretty confident that I am very much Not what a picture of my
face looks like.
I mean you will see a fairly regular face. But I think I can say without any ego
that I am not very regular at all. Not better or worse, just quite different. This
is something I know for sure from an objective standpoint.

Syl 2So any picture I put up of me will actually be *Inaccurate.* It won’t, and can’t, tell the whole story. Lol, I struggle to tell my story when I make an effort to do so.

For instance, a friend whom I chat with regularly, asked and made some specific comments about how it all started for me. And well, they completely
miss-assumed how it all began. So I had to explain. Lol, a few hundred thousand words, or half a dozen books later, I am still not done telling that story.

Haha, nothing for me is simple anymore, and that was just a straight-up
chronological story, telling about my early days as a philosopher, as a boy.
(Yes, I was a philosopher as a boy.) So really, I can’t put up a picture, it
would be a falsehood.

And besides, I am not sure why folks assume some other profile pic means hiding, That avatar pic actually says a lot, but that is a whole other post by
itself. I would say my posts reveal more about me than most pages I have
seen.

I am sharing my very essence. That is about as intimate as one can go. To
share what one’s favorite colour and food is, means nothing at all really. In
order to truly know someone, we need to know what matters to them, what
is important, what resonates with their Inner Being, with their Core.

It is knowing what they *Aspire* to. Not even ambitions really tell us about
someone, those are typically relatively superficial, and often artificial. But
what someone’s Heart and Soul truly *Aspires* to, that is *them.* Knowing
someone, one could say, is getting to know their Soul and Heart, not their
temporary and arbitrary likes and dislikes. We have to go past the surface
superficialities to really get to know someone.

Besides, I don’t feel what I Share for the most part “belongs” to me.
Concepts, thoughts, ideas, Perspectives and all the More I Share, belong to
everyone. In this way I feel I am Sharing what is Us. I truly make every effort
to live in Attunement to everything around me, to everyone and everything in
my life. I try with everything I have to live in Attunement with the World and
the Universe. Perhaps I need a picture of a community, a large community,
that would be more accurate. <3 <3
Syl 3***

And well, there is another reason also… I am way too handsome to post my
picture. I would get err….unwanted attention if I did. 😀 😀 😀
However, in amongst all the art in my posts, somewhere, there is a picture that does resemble me. <3

 

Syl DiNada is a Philosopher-Writer focusing on the Application of a comprehensive Practical-Personal-Philosophy.
Creator of: The Philosophy of Appropriateness and: An A+ Philosophy.
Syl 4

Thanks for letting me share your story from January, Syl DiNada.  I look forward to reading more of your writing, and further conversations.  If you are reading this and want to get in touch with me for Guest Blogging opportunities, here is the invitation.

You are cordially invited to start a discussion with Tish MacWebber about Guest Posting opportunities.2

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 24

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 24

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Homepage for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 24

Life is funny.  Today when I got up I expected good news here on my blog, as I had published an introduction and my second guest blog post on another blogger’s site.  I was not wrong.  The day turned dark on me this afternoon, and I came home and posted on social media that I was having a hard time.  Friends asked if they could help.  One person sent a friend request.  That person I had never chatted with before helped me turn my night around.  I am not saying that I am not still having the feelings I had earlier, but just having a cry wasn’t enough, either.  I had to do something different.

I have been using this blog to help myself and to try to help others.  Whether it is to share a laugh, or tips, or explore my inner thoughts and demons, I have a purpose here.  It has grown since its beginnings under a different name until I was challenged to rethink things and make it better.  I like to write, that is obvious, and I have rediscovered my passion for writing since I started this adventure last November.  I am working hard at it, to set and keep deadlines, and practice my writing skills.  I am proud of what I have done so far.

I am working on myself too.  On a day like today, there were too many emotions to keep under the cork.  The cork popped, and my tears flowed.  I was sitting here unashamedly crying my beautiful blue eyes out, trying to understand why I wasn’t good enough for something else I wanted to do.  I am working on a lot of me and there is a lot of me to work on.  I am trying to find my gumption every day, not every other week.  I am trying to maintain the cleaning I have done thus far in my home, and improve on it.  I am doing well with the Blog writing, but not so well in the book writing.  I am busy socially, both online and in real life.  I am going to Zumba when I can.  I do some prep cooking, but admittedly not enough.  As I am often told, sometimes I am too hard on myself.  The truth is, and I think I have shared this before, I don’t know how to be any other way.

I have issues with self-esteem.  I often feel like I am good, but not good enough.  This is part of what happened to me today.  When I am rejected, it is like I am taking a kick in the teeth.  I try not to let things show all the time, but there are days like today that I am frustrated, and my only way to get it out is through my tears.  I try really hard to not speak out impulsively in anger. I lost that one today, on both fronts.  I really feel like I am being treated unfairly, with a few different things that are happening in my life.  All of these things added up, and in time, they have to be let out.  Some people yell.  Some people become quiet.  Some people hide.  People like me, well we cry and eat.  Trying to fill the hole caused by whatever triggered the feelings.  I am trying to change that.

The new friend I made today said to write a gratitude list.  Write down five things that I have gratitude about in my life.  In a private message, she also invited me to write down 3 things that are causing me to have my issues I posted about.  I did.  I shared what was going on with a few close friends.  My new friend agreed with me that I had a reason to be upset.  I didn’t need the validation, but there it was.  Without telling this person everything that was setting me off today, they still saw that there is a lot going on for one person to deal with.  Keeping those three things inside was a part of what made it so hard for me to cope today.

I need to make some changes.  I can’t fix every problem that I am facing right now, but I am trying to work on the ones I can.  Tomorrow is a new day.  I will try to face it with my best foot forward, but right now, I am feeling a little nervous about that.  People that know me know that I am not good at hiding how I feel.  It’s going to be a bad day tomorrow because what happened today was bad news for me, and it will be good news for some other people tomorrow.  That is going to be hard to swallow.  Considering I would rather avoid it all and just make poor choices for what to eat and drink avoid real life tomorrow.  I am going to end with my gratitude list.  It didn’t fix my problems, but at least it got me thinking about something else.  For a little while.

1. Discovering my passion for writing and realizing it is what I am meant to do.
2.My husband is my rock and my hero.
3. The joy I get from working on my blog and watching it grow.
4.My stubbornness.
5. Friends and family.
6. My blue eyes.
7. My sense of humour.

After I calmed down a bit, my final entry to the list for the day was:

8.  I still have my teeth. Nobody actually managed to kick any out yet.

My new friend was right. It’s all about perspective.

#TrustYourGut.

 

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 24

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 22

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Home page for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 22

Well, folks, it has been a fantastic day!  I didn’t start off too well, I started the day with a sugar low.  I didn’t let that stop me, not for too long. I ate my banana in the car and had a juice box when I got to work.  My sugars, of course, went up from there.  As usual, I chased the banana with a black coffee.  That’s how my days start.  I don’t usually have the juice box, and I don’t usually have the low at that time of day.  So what is going on?

I have worked hard this week to find my way back to working on me.  I have had to make some decisions and some changes.  I have started cooking meals that are on plan this week, and I am letting myself enjoy what I make.  That is how Trim Healthy Mama is supposed to work.  I’m not an expert, and I stray a little here and there, but I am getting my groove back, and the scale is responding the right way.

I am also happy to say that I am sitting here melting in my living room.  It is said to be the warmest day of the week, and it is more than warm.  I am not just warm because of the temperature in here, but also because I have made it to Zumba twice this week.  So when I write that I am melting, it is literal.  I worked out in this heat, hydrated, and now I am relaxing in my little almost sauna.  It sounds better than it is, but I am not here to complain.

I am here to try and help people.  I have been lacking in that department, lately, because I was not trying very hard myself.  I have had enough of that noise!  I am back and working hard to make more progress than before!  I am seeing it, and when I see it, I know it is real.  I am cooking.  I am planning.  I am working with recipes that I really love because that is what keeps me going back to this plan.

My sugars are coming back around.  That is one of the most important things I can do for my health, is to monitor my sugars, and eat so that they stabilize.  I am working on that, and THM is the way for me to do that.  When I add in exercise, it is a remarkable difference in how I feel, and how I attack every day.  Planning is so important for me when it comes to food.  I have worked hard this week to make food that is on plan so I can start winning this thing called life we all play at here.

I am breaking away from the bad habits again.  Only I can do that, I have to believe that I am worth the effort.  Now that I am back in my routine, and back from vacation, it was time to start working on things that help me feel better, and live life better.

After my on plan supper, I was wanting a little something extra.  I tried the new Good Thins Beet crackers.  They are OK, but I saw the ingredients and decided to not eat too many.  I was debating making an on plan shake or smoothie when my husband showed up.  He had picked up his own supper, and cinnamon rolls.  But the best thing he brought home was a bag full of fresh cherries.  I indulged in a bowl full of cherries.  Because let’s face it, life really is based a lot on your perspective, and in what you make of it.  I am making the most of things tonight, and having the bowl of cherries, because who wants to choke on the pits?  Not me.  I’m back, and I am feeling great!

#TrustYourGut