great blog, great contest!

I missed February’s giving to others, did some of March’s gratitude, didn’t have much fun in April, but will try and have fun in May – including entering this contest. So, get your keyboards, cameras and camcorders, markers, paint brushes ready and document some fun!

Text below comes directly from the How to Cope with Pain blog site. {laptop and several programs “acting up” despite virus checks and system diagnostics so can’t add the “fun contest” graphic that goes with this post, sorry!}

Contest: “Write Something for How to Cope with Pain“

May 1st, 2012 ·

It’s contest time!!!

We’ve had giving to others in February, gratitude in March, and fun in April.  So how about a contest for May? Your contributions that you send to How to Cope with Pain are one of my favorite things to read. And readers love to hear from each other. So May will be “Write Something To Share” month.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Write something for How to Cope with Pain to share with other readers.  This can be anything related to pain that has NOT been published elsewhere (sorry, it can’t be a link to another website).  Topics can include:

• your own pain condition
  
• what you’ve learned from coping with pain
  
• what your best coping techniques are
  
• an inspirational quote, video or photo
  
• any format – an article, poem, photo, artwork, etc
  

2.  Send in your submission here. Be sure to mark your submission “For the contest.”  You have 1 month – the deadline is Thursday, May 31.

3.  There will be 4 random winners, and I’ll publish all the submissions over the next few months.  You can send in as many submissions as you’d like.

4.  Winners will choose one of these prizes:

• a Glitzee Glee “Hope” vegetable-wax candle 
  
• a 1-year subscription to Fibromyalgia Coalition International’s magazine
  
• the book Paintracking
  (my review)
  
• the book Chocolate and Vicodin (my review)
  

Remember, the deadline is Thursday, May 31.  Good luck, and I look forward to your submissions!

Sign up for free delivery of How to Cope with Pain by email or RSS feed. If you liked this post, I’d appreciate your linking to it from your site or twittering about it.

Miss Chronically Creative: 3rd candle light award

Image by ismh_ via Flickr

{Double disclaimer: It’s been brought to my attention that the font and color scheme of my blog makes it difficult for some folks to read (as does my tendency to bamble (babble and ramble). I’m working on choosing a more visually agreeable template (may have to let go of my love of widgets, and descriptive summaries of blogs of note), and hope to have something in place soon) Due to the number of images I wanted to include in this post, I had to use Live Writer which isn’t really supported by WordPress.com any more. So I apologize in advance for the blog not looking quite like I had envisioned. Thanks for your patience!}

Emily Ruth is truly an inspiration. Despite her battles with fibromyalgia, inflammatory/rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome and endometriosis, she has “a passion for encouraging and empowering the chronically ill.” As she says on her blog chronically creative: living creatively with chronic illness, “I’m on a mission to live creatively despite illness and hope to empower and encourage you to live a creative life whatever your circumstances. I love to bake, scrapbook, make cards and paint my nails! I also love to give stuff away and bless the socks off people I’ve never met. I may be chronically ill, but I’m also chronically creative, and it’s contagious!”

And Emily Ruth’s, Miss Chronically Creative, exuberance, crafting skills and abilities, honest and open blog entries, and facebook page are very contagious and habit-forming.

Her goal for this year, “to dream big” means she will refuse to dream small – “determined to fight for old dreams and find new ones.”

Her kindness and caring for others is demonstrated in her project Random Acts of Blogging Kindness: “ a project that seeks to bless and encourage those living with a chronic illness who wholeheartedly blog with a passion to raise awareness, who write about their own struggles so that they may help and encourage others in chronic pain.

But, it is Emily Ruth, herself, who blogs wholeheartedly, with passion, and offers encouragement to others dealing with chronic illnesses and chronic pain.

To quote Emily Ruth again, “[b]logging is one way I deal and cope with chronic pain. I’m on a mission to live creatively despite chronic illness and I hope to empower and encourage you to do the same. I really hope that you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it.” Chronically Creative is Emily Ruth’s journey, “her search for contentment.” Her blog (and facebook page) demonstrate her skill at crafting, writing, and caring.

Emily Ruth has light many candles; lights that have helped others to find their way through the shadows of chronic illness and chronic pain. I think it’s time Emily Ruth received recognition for all her good works and her inspiring courage and perseverance; Emily Ruth truly is a a candle lighter.

Kate Kresse, of Believe Anway, originated the Candle Lighter Award to: . . . “light a candle in the darkness that envelopes us all at times. I want to lighten loads and light the way. I gravitate towards positive people and positive blogs. I want to start a blog award that reflects my love for the positive in the blogosphere.”

Kate asks little of the winner – to link back to her comments when the blog been posted, and to, of course, if you choose, to pass the award along to anyone you feel deserves it. You can award it as many times as you like, all that Kate asks is that you link your post back to her site.

http://dogear6.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/adding-a-widget-to-your-sidebar/ will help you, Emily Ruth, to attach the candle lighter award to your side bar (thanks again to Kate both for initiating this award, and for the badge instructions, which I also want to thank dogear6 and Becca Givens  for helping me place my badge on my side bar. Thanks for someone who is less than techsavy.)

If you have yet to visit Chronically Creative (the blog or facebook page), you are missing out on an enormous amount of creativity and courage. As Emily Ruth says, “creativity is not impaired by illness . . .”