Inspirational?

Cusp, at l'ombre de mon ombre, has given me an Inspirational Blogger Award for my beautifully crafted blog full of inspiration, creativity and courage in the face of M.E.

I do appreciate being appreciated -- and this is the first award Abide has received. The awards were initiated by Writer's Reviews, with the expectation that each blogger cited would nominate another five blogs in some combination of five possibilities. Since Cusp mentioned both of my blogs, I'm going to assume that I get two shots at this; I'm going to nominate from the Abide blogroll first, and do Watermark  later in the week.

It was a good exercise to peruse my blogroll after being mostly offline for months. Some of the blogs are gone; some are sleeping. I'll go prune the blogroll (and add l'ombre de mon ombre) later -- but I'll not delete the sleeping ones. Silences seem to come with the territory, don't they?

However, I have chosen these five from those that are recently active (except for michael; I just could not leave him out) -- and any of these would be well-chosen for an Inspirational Blogger Award as well as those I awarded. It was tough to choose categories.

The Courageous Blogger Award

For those bloggers who are battling or have battled with physical and mental illness, those who are survivors of abuse, poverty, or who have overcome other challenges in life. Those who serve in the military or work/volunteer in dangerous situations in order to provide a service or to help others. This award is for the strong, the brave, and the courageous.

• siona, who is bravely, deeply, transparent. She gives herself.
• francesca, who blogs, writes, and paints through depression

Both of these bloggers could as easily be given the Creative Blogger Award; siona is a powerful writer, and francesca's paintings are moody and evocative.    

The Creative Blogger Award

For those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd.

• A Life in Wales: writing, photography, solitude
• harmony: writing, painting, photography (the Abide banner image is from harmony)
• michael nobbs: drawings!

All three of these bloggers qualify as well for the Courageous Blogger Award; all create through the challenges of chronic illness.

If you are one of the bloggers nominated (& tagged) above, and you would like a blog badge, go to Writer's Review to pick one up. And, of course -- as with any of these tagging memes you find at my blogs -- participation is strictly optional.