STARLIGHT Blogger Award

Rebecca, thanks for sending this award my way.

The “STARLIGHT Blogger Award” is an award to honor those individuals who are considered “The light emanating from the stars”, the bloggers that bring daily light into your soul with their creativity. The blogs you love to read, listen to and must visit!

Nominations Rules:
Nominate your 6 favorite bloggers! In your nominees I would like for you to think at the light emanating from the stars the ones that truly touch your soul with their work, the ones that are the light for you a true STARLIGHT Blogger.

Rules for the STARLIGHT Blogger Award:
Thank the giver and link their Blog to your post.
Answer the 3 questions given to you.
Please Pass the award on to 6 or more other Bloggers of your choice and let them know that they have been nominated by you.
Include the logo of the award in a post or on your Blog please never alter the logo and never change the rules.

Please don’t delete this note: the design for the STARLIGHT Bloggers Award has been created from YesterdayAfter is a Copyright image you cannot alter or change it in any way just pass it to others that deserve this award.
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The Nominees:

• Coco J. Ginger (https://courtingmadness.wordpress.com/):
  She’s a free spirit with a love for words and the world around her. Her words make me rejoice.
• Ginger (https://pkconfessions.wordpress.com/):
  Always evolving and moving onto new things, her will to try inspires and tantalizes me.
• Richardo (http://raw-multimedia.com/):
  This creative ninja never stops. My friend is the Swiss Army knife of art and style.
• Rebecca (https://seriouslyrebecca.wordpress.com/):
  Naughty, funny, and geeky, what’s not to love? We’ve become good friends thanks to WP.
• Sheen (https://sheenfrancisreyes.wordpress.com/):
  Her poetry and style can’t be confined by simple words. She’s captivating.
• Stella (http://wonderofmyworlds.com/):
  Her blog always fills me with bursts of joy and quick insight.

The 3 questions I had to answer:

If you could meet any person in history and take them to dinner, who would that person be?

Richard Pryor. His comedy, like his life was interesting. I would love to just chill and chat with the man that said “If I thought about it, I could be bitter, but I don’t feel like being bitter. Being bitter makes you immobile, and there’s too much that I still want to do.”

Do you think money can make you happy, or happier?

Money can make me happier than I already am by allowing me access to things that could help me help both myself and others. Trips, fancy clothes and the like are all nice, but it’s the security that comes with knowing that I have enough or more than enough to enjoy the things I want that feels good. As long as my needs are met, I can have my fun.

What is your idea of paradise?

Paradise is often seen as an escape from the norm. Paradise for me, is knowing that the people I love are happy and enjoying life. Being able to love and enjoy experiences I’ll never forget with the people worth sharing them with is my idea of paradise.

My 3 questions:

1. What do you love to do?
2. What would you do if you had more guts?
3. When have you felt the most passionate and alive?

5 Years With WordPress

Where did the time go?

5 Years, ladies and gents! I’ve been writing about life, love, laughter and the random thoughts that pop into my wandering mind for 5 years (on WordPress). First off, thank each and every one of you for reading, commenting, emailing, and befriending me over the years. Knowing that someone gets what I’m putting down or even that they have questions about it is really encouraging.

I had to step away for a moment to make way for other experiences, and I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve written about the ins and outs of my life, so here goes. As some of you may or may not know I have been doing Background Acting (aka an Extra) for a while now, and things have picked up. I have been able to travel to cool venues, meet awesome people and to tip toe into the world of film and television that I’ve always loved. Now my Mother gets to me see as a Lawyer, Police Officer, Doctor and a plethora of other things. But more importantly she gets to see me being happy.

At some point I realized that I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing, I was stressed and “creatively bankrupt”. I feel alive more than ever these days, and it’s because of a shift I had to make. Sure things didn’t always work out, but I learned and grew. When I was younger I was afraid to try and fail at things, now that irrational fear has been washed away, allowing me to simply try.

For about the past 4 months I have been pursuing Voice Acting. I have always been curious about Voice-Over Artists and being able to give a voice to something. So I finally told myself that I had nothing to lose, only something to gain by giving this a try. I picked up some books like Voice-Over, Voice Actor by Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt, a Blue Spark Digital Microphone and some other equipment as I went along. I auditioned for a couple audio, original animation, fan dub, and video game projects. I have had the pleasure of laying down vocals for a few projects, some I can’t talk about yet, but there is one that I can and will mention in detail in another post.

I say all of that to say this. In the 5 years that I have been with you guys & girls on WordPress, I have gone through various transitions in life. From a 9 to 5 office job to Background Acting, from being single to being lost in love and back to being (happily) single.

My readers, my friends, you saved me. I only hope that at some point I was able to save you as well. Whether I made you smile, laugh, or aroused (it’s a possibility), I am glad that you let me into your life, even if it was just for a minute. Being able to connect with someone is a blessing and a privilege.

Here’s to 5 years!!!!!

My Happiness Jar

The Happiness Jar!

Make space for 2015! Let’s see what 2014 had in store.

59 Memories.

Last year I decided to start a Happiness Jar (or Gratitude Jar). The idea is to fill it with moments that lifted my spirit, and were fun. So at the end of the day before bed or whenever the urge struck, I would tear off a piece of paper and jot down something that made me smile and feel good. Today I finally emptied that jar to make room for 2015’s entries.

I managed to have 60 moments (err 59, since 1 of them was a duplicate). Most of my happy moments were tied to things I did with friends like “Game Night”, making new friends or reconnecting with old ones. Shockingly, I had quite a few work related moments, and that realization made me smile. Background Acting has allowed me to travel, meet interesting people and experience some fun things, so I can’t wait to see what 2015 holds.

I tried to whittle down my 59 happy moments into a “Top 10 Favourite Moments” pile, and I could only cut the list down to 26 moments. I stopped once it became apparent that my inability to cut my moments down was actually a VERY GOOD thing. The sheer quantity of events, people, and things that I’ve experienced in 2014 couldn’t be paired down because there were so many standout moments worth being thankful for.

I’ve set aside a pen & a bunch of sticky notes just for this year’s jar. Every year is filled with ups & downs, but as long as I can find experiences worth smiling about, things will be more than fine.

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015!

All Your Miracles

She gives the night its dreams.
Daylight comes hoping she’ll bask in its shine.
None can deny her gravity, her ways.
She can go places nobody else knows.

No season’s complete without her company.
Anywhere she goes the elements follow her grace.
Set aside your pain, her smile calms every flame.
She can do anything, with a little take and give.

You can have anything you please.
You’re an untapped world of possibility.
All eyes see in you what they hope to be.
You are everything between the Earth and Sun, because you have love.

You are a miracle.

Exciting Explorations

“I write to explore, not to excite.” – Stephen Quammie

After having a discussion with a friend of mine who is getting ready to publish another Ebook, I found myself stuck on this one line I said. I am always curious where one line will take me. Will I write something with ease or will it be an uphill battle?

I don’t really aim to grab anyone’s attention (yes, as a Writer I want to be read), I want to have a conversation, or a journey of sorts. I want my words to not only represent me, but to also be an extension of you. I don’t know you & you don’t know me, but on some level after scratching the surface, we aren’t all that different. I want to figure out what makes us click, while celebrating our differences.

You guys push me to be better. You inspire me with your vivid stories & gripping visuals. Looking at your world allows me to write & express things that are outside of my realm of knowledge or experience, but through connecting with you I am able to take on your joys & pains with you, in my own way.

Sometimes I’m not really writing about myself at all, I’ve just become the face of what someone is feeling because it’s easier to see & accept things from a distance. (Speaking of which, I need to get my eyes checked.)

I say all of that, to say this:

Life would be pretty boring without you. Thanks for being my muses.

Much love & respect,
Stephen Quammie (The Wandering Mind)

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