The Blogger Recognition Award
Writing

Blogger Recognition Award

Smelly Socks and Garden Peas

Blogger to blogger awards are such a supportive way of showing our appreciation for each other and the work that other bloggers do. I’ve been lucky enough to be nominated for a few other awards in the past, you can access them here: Awards. Each time I’ve been hugely flattered and grateful for the opportunity to pay the love forwards to some other brilliant folks. This time is no different.

Thank You

I was nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by both the fantastic Amy at Delicate and Brutal and the lovely Shreya at Blog with Shreya. Then by the super amazing Michelle at Boomer Eco Crusader too. Finally, less than an hour before I was about to publish this, the very generous Tiffany at Metaphysical Mama threw another nomination into the pit too!

These folks are all great bloggers who I would highly recommend that you visit, follow and interact with. Thank you all so much for nominating me.

Here are all their links, go follow them everywhere you can:

Delicate and Brutal

Blog with Shreya

Boomer Eco Crusader

Metaphysical Mama

The Rules

  1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and give a link to their site.
  2. Do a post to show your award.
  3. Give a summary of how your blog started.
  4. Give two pieces of advice for any new bloggers.
  5. Select at least 15 other bloggers for this award.
  6. Let each nominee know you’ve nominated them and give a link to your post.

How my blog started

I started my blog as a kind of free therapy outlet in the aftermath of losing baby boy3 at 20 weeks pregnant. But its brought me other unexpected benefits too. I write openly about that experience in the miscarriage category. I’ve also recently started a series on the lessons we can take away from any sort of loss and I’ve been lucky enough to have some wonderful contributions from other bloggers on that topic.

I’ve worked from home, alone, for 6 years now – often not seeing another adult person (other than staff at nursery/school drop off and pick up, and himself of course) for a week. Blogging and the community I feel part of on Twitter and Instagram give me the opportunity to empty my brain and chatter about every day crap – just like I would have done once upon a time, in the office. Its only in finding that time to waffle about nothing again, over the last 18 months, that I realise how much I’d missed it and how important it is to not keep those thoughts inside.

I never had any intention of building my blog into anything bigger or more significant than just somewhere to splurge the contents of my brain. I was lucky enough to be gifted a canvas recently in exchange for a post, but I’m not seeking out those opportunities.

Some advice

I’m really not the person to come to for advice if you want to start a blog with the plan of getting millions of views, affiliate links, super search engine hits or going viral.

But, if you just want to make a little corner of the internet about something that you’re passionate about, here are my tidbits:

  • Be yourself – don’t try and be something you’re not. You won’t ever see fashion, style or makeup posts from me because that’s just not part of who I am. I mean I wear clothes and I like to look nice but I don’t feel I have any authority to write on the subject, so I don’t.
  • Consider your privacy – right from the start I knew I wanted to be anonymous. I have an irrational fear of being “found out” (one day I’ll write about imposter syndrome) and I really don’t want my family and friends to know what I write – they might be hurt or offended. But its important to me that I don’t feel bound by considering the feelings of the acquaintance school gate mums when I write.
  • Engage with others – there’s a whole world of wonderful people blogging out there: Michelle, Shreya and Amy are just three of them. Whether you’re on social media or just using a blog site provider, you’ll find that there are loads of people around in the situation as you – no matter what that situation is. You’ll always find someone who has shared experiences and that makes us all feel less alone. I really love discovering people who are very different from me, its great to broaden my horizons and open my mind to the beautiful variety of life out there worldwide.

Nominees

So I’m going to do something different here. Usually I nominate people I interact with on a weekly or daily basis. Instead, I’m going to reach out to some blogs I’ve recently discovered that are a departure from my typical reading.

Published by Smelly Socks and Garden Peas

Rants, rambles, loss, gin, guests, recipes, funny kids, occasional poems, and a bit of running.

46 thoughts on “Blogger Recognition Award”

  4. Wow, that is so awesome! I love your story of how you began as an outlet to heal from a loss- therapy. I also love your privacy boundaries. No wonder you were nominated by so many.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks, it really is important to be you. For me, this is the one place I can express myself without worry what the real life people I know will think. I can bitch and moan about work or school mums or the whatever in “safety”. And I can talk about loss and grief without worrying that people are bored of hearing it or that they’ll get super concerned for my mental health because almost years on, I’m not over it.

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  8. Congratulations dear, wish you many more. I truly adore your writing. Yes your advice is very perfect we should write what we are and what we believe. Keep on writing!!

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Congratulations!

    Your advice is spot-on. I strive to be myself when I write, even though it’s hard sometimes to bare your soul. And my next goal for my blog is to connect with other bloggers, it’s a great community 😊

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. It’s so important to be yourself when blogging! I love to write posts that I am passionate about and that I love to write- and I want to stay true to myself as I grow my blog 🙂 thanks for sharing, and congratulations x

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  13. My struggle with Imposter Syndrome led me to leave nursing. I just didn’t think I was a good enough nurse.
    I would welcome a post on Imposter Syndrome.
    Your blog is funny and engaging. Keep up the good work. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I read a piece at some point about different types of imposter syndrome. I have the superman type, I go above and beyond because I want to prove myself all the time, I don’t believe others think I should be in my job even when they say I’m good at it, they’re being nice, that’s all. Right?
      Sorry you left nursing, I’m sure you were excellent even if you didn’t see it. Xxx

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  18. Congratulations SS&GP. And thanks for the blog history and advice – always nice to read about the experiences of other bloggers.
    And thank you for the nomination, that’s very kind of you.

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. Congratulations on your numerous nomination. 🥳🥳

    Thank you for sharing your experience. It is wonderful to discover why other bloggers started their blogging journey. The pieces of advice you share are very useful and reassuring. The one thing I love about blogging is engaging with others, as I was feeling quite isolated before I started my blog. I was worried no-one would engage with me, but the blogging community are so welcoming. I love your outlook and positivity about connecting with people with a different perspective; I think we all need that in life. 😊 Thank you for sharing.

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  20. Congrats on the well-deserved nominations! I think your advice is fantastic. For what it’s worth, I’d love to read a post about imposter syndrome if ever you feel comfortable enough to write it. And thank you so much for the kind nomination!  ♥

    Caz xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Of course I wanted to nominate you. I will write about imposter syndrome sometime. I’ve recently found that just because I feel like an imposter doesn’t mean I should try to overcome that at every chance and take offered opportunities to try to prove myself if they aren’t something I don’t actually want to do.

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  21. Congratulations. It’s well deserved. I love your blogging tips. One of the things I always enjoy about your posts is how real and authentic they are. It’s something I strive for as well. Like you, my blog is a hobby and I don’t really have a desire to turn it into anything other than that. I feel that gives me a lot of freedom about what and how I write.

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