Growing Smiles with The Sunshine Award

 

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity … scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. – Joseph Addison

Scattering sunshine and smiles, writers across the WordPress community have been banding together to raise the consciousness and spirits of their fellow bloggers with upbeat posts and a few well-placed back pats.

In addition to liking, following and re-blogging those they feel have messages worth sharing, some are also working hard to foster a deeper sense of meaning and community by nominating their fellow bloggers for special awards.

Earlier this weekend, the creator of Good Time Stories – did just that when he announced that he would be nominating Serendipity Chronicles and several other blogs for the Sunshine Award, a friendly bit of recognition given to those who are using WordPress to “light up the dark corners” of readers’ minds.

My reaction to the announcement of the nomination came as a bit of a surprise to me. The goal when starting this blog was not personal recognition, but simply to connect with others who might benefit from my blog’s core message – that showing kindness and compassion toward others and being mindful of one’s surroundings and actions are far better for one’s health, well-being and soul than the pursuit of fame or material rewards. But when I received the notice from Coach Muller (Good Times’ creator), I was happy – profoundly happy – that someone had cared enough to say, “I like what you’re trying to do.”

He wasn’t obligated to nominate me; he just chose to scatter a bit of sunshine my way with the hope that a smile might bloom.

It did. In fact, the nomination made my weekend. So, much so that I’ll be coasting along on this particular ray of sunshine for quite some time, and will be passing it along, in turn, to those I meet in my daily travels.

So, to Coach Muller, I am both in awe and deeply humbled that I was nominated by you, and accept the Sunshine Award with sincere thanks. As a small way of paying it forward, I’m now nominating ten other blogs for Sunshine Awards.

To my readers, do yourself a favor and check each of these blogs out. You never know; you might just find a new outlook on life….

Sunshine Award Nominations by Serendipity Chronicles 

I nominate the following WordPress sites for individual Sunshine Awards. (Authors: To accept your nomination, follow the instructions in the Rules for Nominees area, which follows the list of nominees. After you’re done, don’t forget to attach the Sunshine Award graphic to your blog!)

• The Kindness Blog
• Through Your Eyes and Travis the Traveler
• Elephants Forever
• Coffee Shop Rabbi
• Buddhism Now
• The Games End
• darkish room
• Silver Birch Press
• Getting to Know My Grandfather and Lara Hannah Camilleri
• A Hundred Years Ago

Rules for Nominees of the Sunshine Awards 

1. Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.
2. Include your own responses to the Q&A below.
3. Pass on the award to 10 – 12 deserving and inspiring bloggers, give them the good news, and link to their blogs.

Q&A for Sunshine Award Nominees (replace the existing answers provided by Serendipity Chronicles and include the updated Q&A as part of your own post in which you accept the award):

• Favorite color? Green
• Favorite animal? Elephant
• Favorite number? Nine
• Favorite nonalcoholic drink? Cranberry-pomegranate juice
• Favorite alcoholic drink? The occasional glass of red or white wine with dinner
• Facebook or Twitter? Twitter
• My Passions? Time spent with family and friends; great books; helping our world become more civil and compassionate
• Giving or Receiving Gifts? Giving