My cyber friend Cheryl has gifted me with The Sunshine Award – don’t you just love the name??? I really do feel that I’ve been full of light lately. I’ve realized that those times when I felt less than terrible were because my thoughts, my actions, my every day life was completely out of alignment with my soul and what I knew to be the best path for me. I was lost.
As a working, married woman, I was happy in general and felt a sense of purpose. I was also purposeful as a new mother, content in my chosen path, but there was a new hecticness to life that wasn’t there before. It was almost impossible for me to take care of two people at the same time… and so I cared for my daughter and let myself forget about me.
I remember clearly that when my daughter was 5 months old and I had a few days away from her, I pretty much collapsed. After much back and forth with myself about whether to go at all, I went to Maui with Mr. B on a sales reward trip, which was full of meeting coworkers at various social events and not at all relaxing. I’d spent about 5 weeks pumping breast milk like crazy, filling the freezer with enough ounces to last my daughter 7 days. I was exhausted from round-the-clock care of her, a whirlwind agenda full of playgroups and new friends and Gymboree and library story time (all in an effort to be around other adults and not go crazy), and I got sick. (We saw lots of doctors in Hawaii!) Having finally had a day to sleep and rest toward the end of the trip, I cried on the way home that I wasn’t ready to resume care of this little being because I only just then started tuning back in to myself and what I was going through as a new mother. I felt guilty about that too, if you can imagine that!
Why tell you all this? To show you how I have come such a long way from being that confused and frantic young mom. I’ve been enjoying my art time so much, the past month especially, because we are finally in a routine where my sweet girl is at preschool for 6 hours each weekday. I have ample time to fill my own well with rest, projects that feed my creativity, and much-needed quiet time.
When Cheryl told me that she’d nominated me for the Sunshine Award, I was shocked and honored, but also there was this something inside me that leapt up shouting, “YES!!! You are filled with sunshine these days because you are on the right path.” Just like our bodies send us signals/symptoms when we are on the wrong path, they can also acknowledge that we have found our greater alignment and give us a cosmic High Five.
The Sunshine Award is a flower for “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” I would not be able to inspire if I were not genuinely feeling so light and content, and so I this award helps me acknowledge and celebrate that as well. So thank you, Cheryl, for recognizing that spark within me and for sending a bit of sunshine my way.
Here are the “rules” attached to the lovely reward:
- Include the award logo in a post or on your blog.
- Link to the person who nominated you.
- Answer 10 questions about yourself and write 10 more for your nominees to answer.
- Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
Questions for me to answer:
1. Who is your favorite author or all time? I have to say that I don’t really know. I looked at my list of everything I’ve read and found it tough to come up with one name. Maybe I can just tell you that I’m enjoying Claire Messud lately because of her use of imagery and the depth of her characters.
2. If you made the effort would it be for sunrise or sunset? I love seeing the colors in sunsets, especially over water!
3. The thing that makes me most happy is… a cup of coffee upon waking.
4. One word that discribes you best…must be positive. Passionate.
5. Honey or sugar? Sugar please.
6. Notebook or wordpress? WordPress because I can type faster to keep up with my thoughts.
7. Hard copy or Kindle? I hope I never ever own a Kindle. I love holding books in my hands. I even print out long blog posts to read in bed.
8. Make-up or a la natural? A bit of both. Without any makeup, I look like a teenager, so I at least wear eye liner and mascara and lipstick when I remember.
9. Neat freak or I can live with it? Neat freak to the extreme. A calm environment helps me have a calm mind.
10. Photobooks or framed photos? Both. I’m behind in my book-making right now and I rarely print out photos, but I do like having them to look at.
My nominees: It was tough to stick to just 10. I’d definitely put Cheryl in my list if she hadn’t already chosen me! I could tell you many lovely traits of all these people, but then I would never hit Publish. I assure you, they are amazing, each in her own way.
- Andria at Drawing Near
- Deborah at Learning As I Go
- Kelly at Minding My Nest
- Kathy Anne at Wildflower Kath
- Janet at Tattered ‘n Worn
- Suzanne at suzanne-mcrae.com
- Sherri at Softly Piqued Lens
- Stacie at stacie jewelry
- Jennifer at Ripplespeak
- Amy at Tao Te Ching Daily
Questions for them to answer (and I must tell you all that I’d love to hear any of your answers to these, even if you are not one of the nominees. Please answer in the comments if you feel compelled.)
- If you could paint a picture of any scenery you’ve seen before, what would you paint?
- If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?
- What is your favorite form of exercise?
- What sound do you love?
- If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?
- Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best?
- What is something you learned in the last week?
- The best part of waking up is?
- What do you miss most about being a kid?
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Congratulations – how fun to be recognized as a sunshine spreader. And how wonderful you recognize the importance of being on your right path makes to that shining. Great questions you’ve come up with for your nominees. To answer one of them for myself, if I could paint a picture of scenery I’ve seen it would be of a midnight sky in Yosemite with a billion stars that burst my heart open.
Deborah Weber recently posted…Love Your Body
That midnight sky sounds divine! What a wonderful mental picture you’ve left me with. Thank you.
I just love this spreading of sunshine! What a great idea.
Michele Bergh recently posted…Suzanne McRae – October 2013
I loved this post Noami…it was truthful and honest and out there…and you have grown from that very young Mom into a loving and strong Mom…Kudos..
I enjoyed reading the answers that you shared from my questions…not surprising we feel the same about books…I like to hold them in my hand also…
Your blog list is impressive and I would love to check out all the blogs I don’t know about..
And your list for them…lovely…and I absolutely hate dusting…but I don’t like dust either so it gets done..
my most favorite sound in the world is babies giggling from their toes…sends me into gales of laughter myself…
Have a beautiful week…you really are a Sunshine Girl….
Cheryl recently posted…Breaking Rules
I quite agree with you on a baby’s laughter. And thank you again.
oh friend, that is SO kind and sweet and uplifting of you!
thank you for that burst of light and love:)
I’m grateful and I hold you and your kindness close to heart;
this is one crazy busy season for me….I’d melt into that frantic
teary puddle you described if I tried to put one more thing on my
plate during this short burst of work before the winter sets in.
It’s our superbowl each year……I’ll be so happy to answer those questions
and sort out the rules when the buzz settles:)
I so thank you for the encouragement….it nudges those tears
just a bit:)
-Jen
Jennifer Richardson recently posted…Funny that way….
This is so sweet! Thanks so much for naming my blog on your list, Naomi! 🙂 {hugs}
Amy Putkonen recently posted…Ocean Meditation
Wonderful post Naomi! Thank you so much for the Sunshine award 🙂 I complete relate to the young Mommy days. So glad that you are finding a little balance in your life now 🙂
You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…You make me happy…when skies are gray! You’ll never know dear…how much I love you! La la la la lalala la la!
Naomi, you sweet thing! Thank you so much. I have to admit, I never in my whole life have called myself a ray of sunshine, but I DO aspire to it! I’ll have to work pretty hard at claiming the title.
As for you, my dear, you most certainly would top my list of nominees. We’ve only “known” each for, what? A little over a year? And you are a constant source of support and, yes, sunshine in my life! Thank you!
janet forrest recently posted…It Coulda Been Worse…
What a lovely surprise to wake up to earlier this morning. Thank you Naomi for nominating me with The Sunshine Award. This really brightened up my day. I have enjoyed learning more about you in this post… and seeing many familiar and beautiful women awarded along side with me. Yay to all of us for spreading the Sunshine!! xo
Suzanne McRae recently posted…Time in nature to fill my soul!
Naomi, thank you so much for honoring me – that was so kind of you. I really enjoyed reading your story – I remember feeling so overwhelmed as a new mother also. There’s nothing quite like new mother exhaustion! I’m glad that you have reached a place now where you have time to nurture your mind, body, and spirit – it’s so important, isn’t it? Finding that balance can be so hard. Thanks again so much for thinking of me. 🙂
Sherri B. recently posted…A Bridal Shower – Crafty Fun
my sweet friend…
thank you so much for sharing this with me. i am so glad out paths crossed out here in the interwebs. you inspire me everyday with your beautiful art…. so glad to have you for a friend on this journey. xo
kelly recently posted…day 11 ~ seeing the light
You know, your posts always do bring a lovely ray of sunshine to my inbox, and what a pleasant surprise you bring today! Thank you!
I’ll work on answering those questions and spreading a bit of sunshine, too.
Deborah recently posted…National Novel Writing Month Approaches