Thursday, March 15, 2012

Feeling creative

Early yesterday morning, after a very bad night, I pootled sleepily across to read Debra’s latest post on her lovely blog  breathelighteras I drank my morning tea. I always enjoy Debra’s take on life in the very different setting of Southern California, and was happily reading about her granddaughter’s sayings, when I almost dropped my mug as I found that she had nominated me for a blogging award I hadn’t heard of – the Kreativ Blogger.

Feeling very pleased and much more wide-awake after reading this, but also nosy curious, I turned to Google to find out where this award had originated. I soon discovered that the design has mutated in its travels through cyberspace from the original


the creation of which is documented on a visually stunning Norwegian blog (which really makes me wish I could read Norwegian) to the one most commonly circulating at the moment. 


I also discovered that the updated version of this award asks that we pass it on to seven other bloggers, after posting seven interesting facts about ourselves.  Hulda, however, was more modest in her original concept and only chose four. She also laid down no conditions for her recipients, simply explaining why she felt the blogs she had chosen qualified for the description ‘creative’.

This is where I start to get creative and post the one interesting thing about myself I think is relevant, which is that I feel a little uncomfortable about the way Hulda’s unconditional mark of recognition now comes with conditions. To me an award should be something given because of who the recipient is and what they have already achieved, with no strings attached.

So I’ve decided to revert to Hulda’s original intention and add her lovely design to my sidebar, as it seems a pity for it to fade into obscurity. In the same spirit of freedom I’m not going to place any conditions on my own recipients, leaving them to choose which version of the award they want to download, if any, and whether and how to pass it on in their turn.

Creativity matters deeply to me and I love the idea of acknowledging it in other bloggers. I am touched that Debra sees it in my blog and in my turn I find it in abundance in the blogs I so enjoy reading. My choices are very varied, because creativity comes in so many guises, and are:

Baking in Franglais – a blog I practically have to give up for Lent. Jean is as passionate and creative about her craft of baking as she is about blogging and her baking blog is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Her enthusiasm for good food is contagious and I can’t wait for Easter to try some of her wonderful recipes.

Moving on  Annie was an obvious choice, as she is always being creative with words, photos, yarn and chocolate, not necessarily all at the same time. J Annie and I go back a long way in my blogging life, as we found each other’s blogs only a few weeks after I pressed the publish button on my first post. It’s always fun when blogging friends share a hobby and knitting matters a lot to both of us, though living in the heat of southern Spain does make it more difficult for Annie to show off her creations.

Janice in Caunes   Janice is a newer blogging friend, who, like me, enjoys life in more than one country. She is busy learning the craft of blogging and is rapidly discovering how fascinating and addictive it is. I have enjoyed watching her posts become more and more creative over the few months since I found her blog and shall equally enjoy watching her be creative with her beloved house in France, when she migrates south for the summer.
 
Last, but by no means least, Ayak’s Turkish Delight.  I was recommended by a commenter on my very first post to visit Ayak’s blog and I’ve haunted it happily ever since. I go there to savour Ayak’s inimitable view of life in a very different country and the creative ways she copes with its vagaries and difficulties. I also go there never sure how it will look today, as she always enjoys being creative with template and photos. J

So there you have it: a few examples of creativity plucked from the maelstrom of creativity that is the blogosphere. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

44 comments:

  1. It's always lovely to be directed to 'new' blogs, thank you. Whichever badge you choose, it is deserved, you are, indeed, a creative and thoughtful blogger.

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    1. You're very welcome, Catriona. Good things are meant to be shared. :-) Thanks so much for the kind words, which mean more than any badge.

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  2. Oooh, thank you, Perpetua! It's a most pretty award to be able to have on the sidebar and I'm most grateful to you for passing it on to me. I'm glad it comes without strings - often such a dampener on creativity, along with being tired and having ailing children...all mine have had bugs this past week and I find I'm short of inspiration as a result but this has perked me up considerably. Thanks again!
    Axxx

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    1. It's my pleasure, Annie, and very well deserved. I decided to make it no-strings, when I realised how hard I was finding it to come up with the 'interesting' facts and how inhibiting others might find that too. It all seemed a long way from Hulda's idea. Sorry life is hard work at the moment and i hope the children are better soon.

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  3. I've blogged myself about blog awards. I think I said something about validation arriving hand in hand with obligation. And I pointed out that the obligation is twofold, both to post a response that might require you to dance to another's tune, and the obligation to pass the obligation on. So I think you have really hit the nail on the head when you point out that things that began as goodwill offerings have become little more that chain letters. And how gracefully you have handled subverted that and making them again what they were supposed to be initially. Oh, and Moving On Annie wins one, what could be better :D

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    1. Thank you for that, Annie. I must go across to your blog and read what you had to say on the subject. I've only been blogging for a year and am always very pleased when people are kind enough to nominate me for an award. However the conditions that sometimes go with them had started to bug me a bit and once I discovered how much this particular award had been changed from its originator's intention, I decided to do it my way and go back to basics, simply acknowledging with gratitude my chosen blogs.

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  4. Nothing sweetens the day like recognition from peers, an Academy Award of sorts. Congratulations!

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    1. Thank you, Rosaria, my feeling exactly. It's very pleasant to be affirmed and in blogging we can go on to affirm others in our turn. :-)

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  5. How lovely for you Perpectua...richly deserved I'm sure. Thank you too for mentioning some of the blogs you have enjoyed...I'm always looking for other interesting blogs to read and follow.
    Smiles - Astrid

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    1. Thank you, Astrid. I think I've become more creative as I've got older and certainly blogging brings out my creative side in a way which has surprised me. I do hope you enjoy my nominated blogs.

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  6. Such a delightful "acceptance" speech, Perpetua and an honor to the spirit intended. I do so love Debra's blog and I do so love yours. I look forward to visiting the ones you mention here as well.

    I hope you've put in a few better nights than the one you had a few nights ago. Bad nights can feel like an eternity, can't they?

    Off I go to read a few of your favorites mentioned here, though I may have to wait a few days for the baking one as I'm short on will power right now.

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    1. Thank you, Penny, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thought long and hard before writing it, but felt it right to be creative in this particular way. Have fun exploring the ones I chose.

      Thanks also for the concern. I normally sleep pretty well, but occasionally have nights when I wake at some unearthly hour and can't get back to sleep. Reading is a godsend then - books and blogs.

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  7. Well done Perpetua...very well deserved. And as I've never really thought of myself as being creative, I am very flattered that you passed on the award to me.

    Like you, I don't like all the conditions attached to awards these days as it kind of takes away some of the pleasure in receiving one. So in that spirit I will choose the original award to display, and also to pass on to a few of my favourite blogs.

    Thankyou xxx

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    1. Thanks, Ayak. As I said in my post, creativity takes many forms, not all of them involving arts and crafts. Your blog makes me think, laugh and sometimes almost cry and if that isn't creative, I don't know what is.

      As it happens, I've already read your acceptance post and have enjoyed seeing my little rebellion against conditions being spread wider. :-)

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  8. This is a lovely acceptance, and I look forward to reading other blogs you so enjoy! Very nice! Good for you for looking into the origination of the award! It's all quite interesting! I agree with every comment regarding the challenges that come with the awards, but I think everyone also has the freedom to handle them according to their own time and without too many restrictions. You certainly did it well! :-) Debra

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    1. Thanks Debra. You started all this, you know, by so kindly nominating me in the first place. :-) The rest is down to my congenital thirst for knowledge (sounds better than curiosity, doesn't it) for which Google is such a boon. Once I found out about the origin of this award the rest followed.

      You're right that we all have the freedom to change things, but newer bloggers often don't think like this and feel they have to jump through all the hoops. It takes blogging confidence to do one's own thing.

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  9. Thank you Perpetua for my award.
    I am very flattered and you are very kind to think of my blog in such a way. I'm just having fun doing things I never had time to do when I worked full-time - and now I'm making up for lost time. I'm sure Nick would agree about the creative bit - creating a mess in the kitchen mostly !!
    I shall place the award proudly on my sidebar and put my thinking cap on about who to pass the award on to and will enjoy visiting your other nominations.
    Thank you again,
    Jean.

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    1. You're very welcome, Jean, and surely having fun is part of creativity? Cooking is incredibly creative in my book and when it's done as well as you do it, as witnessed by your lovely photos, it becomes an art form. If I end up looking like the Michelin woman, it will all be your fault, and that of the fantastic food blogs in your blogroll. :-)

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  10. Thankyou so much Perpetua. Apart from saying such nice things about my blog, you have managed to explain some of the blogging protocols, as well as sound reasoning for not taking all the protocols on board. All of this was necessary for me, because although I have now been involved for a few months, it is a steep learning curve. Whilst I am really enjoying the writing process, I feel I want to indulge myself so much more in discovering others' creativity....and as Annie points out, circumstances sometimes mean there are not enough hours in the day for that, even if I dont have children with various ailments dotted around the house.
    I am very flattered, and personally proud that you have said such lovely things about my attempts so far, and will proudly display the logo on my sidebar. I will also be thinking hard about blogs to suggest others might find delightful.....aswell as the lovely Perpetually in Transit....which along with Annie's and Ayak's creativity, has become my inspiration ! Thanks again Janice

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    1. You are very welcome, Janice, and I look forward to seeing it in your sidebar and to exploring your suggestions.

      When I receive my first blog award after a few months of blogging, it didn't even occur to me to question the conditions that came with it. I was just too flattered! It was only later that I realised that some really wonderful bloggers would find it hard to comply with the "write 7 interesting/quirky things about yourself, etc" stipulations and started to question the pattern. Finding Hulda's original award was the final key to understanding that awards should be for what you have already done, not what you will do - hence my post.

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  11. I've been investigating your choices! Well done, Perpetua!

    I agree with you about awards -- difficult to meet the conditions and guilty feelings when you can't!

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    1. Thanks, Broad. I see you have already discovered Janice. Have fun with the rest.

      As far as award conditions are concerned, that's it in a nutshell. What should be sheer pleasure becomes a burden, which negates the whole point of an award.

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  12. A well deserved award...and super that you researched the origins, debugged it, and passed it on to such super bloggers.

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    1. Thanks, Fly. You know me - always have to know how things work. :-) In this case the result was interesting and I've enjoyed passing it on in the revised form.

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  13. Trust you to track down the original! That in itself shows that you deserve the award. Thank you for highlighting these other writers whose work you enjoy. I have read some of them already thanks to your links and will enjoy following up the others.

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    1. LOL! That's what my husband said too, DB. :-) The trouble is I was born with 'satiable curtiosity and have to find out the facts if I can. I do hope you enjoy exploring my choices.

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  14. Dear Perpetua,
    Congratulations on the award. Like Debra, I find your blog so creative in its broad spectrum of topics. And the way you responded to the blog is evidence of your own inimitable style of creativity.

    Peace.

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    1. Good morning, Dee, and thank you. I must confess that blogging has called out of me talents I hadn't realised I possess, which is yet another reason why I find it so satisfying. I also enjoyed discovering where this award had come from and acknowledging its creator's intention.

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  15. Well done on your award, Perpetua..and very well deserved! Another blog I recently read said similar things to you, but the blogger then said she wasn't going to do what was expected of her, and went on to explain how guilty she felt as a result, which, as you point out, is not the intention at all!
    Anyway, you've found a nice way to take pleasure in the award and to pass on that pleasure to some worthy recipients, and to introduce me and others to some more blogs..when I next come up for air, I'll enjoy reading them!

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    1. Thanks very much, CB. Interesting that you too have recently read something about the pressure to comply which comes with some awards. The sense of unease I feel is obviously much more widespread that I had any idea of and i'm glad I found a way round I was happy with.

      Sorry you're so swamped that you can't explore my nominees at present. Hope things calm down soon.

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  16. hello Perpetua:
    Congratulations on your award. It is so satisfying to have the recognition of a fellow blogger, someone who has appreciated the effort that goes into one's posts and has given a mark of acknowledgement that they have enjoyed what they have read. The award is well deserved and we look forward to many future creative posts!!

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance. Thank you so much for the kind words. As you say, acknowledgement of one's efforts is very affirming and it is a pleasure that should be shared. There are so many good and creative blogs and it was very satisfying to be able to single out just a few in this way.

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  17. Congratulations!
    I really must find time to read a few more blogs. I used to read more and am sure I benefitted from it.

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    1. Thanks, Sue. it's easy to find time to read blogs when you're retired like me, but when I was your age with similar responsibilities I would never have had the time. One day....

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  18. Congratulations on your award – well done.
    I particularly enjoyed your post about the birds nesting on the carburetor of your vehicle. They looked so sweet and you were so nice to take care of them till they flew away. You should get a wildlife award now.

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    1. Thanks, Vagabonde. The discovery of the birds on the carburettor is one of those serendipitous events that make life so interesting. DH and I were totally fascinated by them and felt very sorry when the last flew the nest, though grateful we could now use the van.

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  19. Congratulations, Perpetua, and thanks so much for the introductions to some blogs I had never read! It's always fun to find a new blog to read -- as well as all my existing favorites! I do hope you have a better night tonight!

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    1. Thanks, Kathy. I always enjoy an excuse to share some of the blogs I read and in my turn love finding new ones, thanks to others. If only the days were longer.... Bad nights come occasionally, but thankfully not often.

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  20. One of my favorite things about blogging: the support and camaraderie.

    Congratulations!

    Pearl

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    1. Thanks, Pearl. That's it in a nutshell and it's something we only discover once we've started blogging.

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  21. I wrote a comment and when tried to sign in on my wordpress name I was told I don't "own" my own name and the whole thing disappeared. Oh well...

    Hello I decided to visit the other blogs that Debra nominated. You've got a lovely blog and deserve the Kreative award.

    Interesting to learn the history of the award and that the design has changed.

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    1. Thanks so much for visiting and for your kind words, Rosie. As I said I'm a naturally inquisitive person and just had to find out where the award came from.

      I wonder what WordPress has done to cause these recent glitches? If it's any consolation your dearrosie name does link back to your blog, which I've just enjoyed browsing.

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  22. Congratulations on the award.
    I'm surprised that Jean gave me the same award, but pleased that I've now found your lovely blog.

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    1. Thanks, Snowy, and welcome to my blog. I too was surprised to be given the award, but it's thanks to Jean passing it on to you that I found your mouthwatering blog. :-)

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