Gratitude awards

A few days ago I have been nominated by Theresa for the Gratitude Awards. As Theresa says in her award post, one of the great benefits of exchanging awards is that it helps meeting new interesting bloggers in the blogosphere. Theresa’s Soul Gatherings was one of such new blogs that I came across last week and enjoyed a lot. Visit Soul Gatherings and enjoy the stories, quotes, images and other Theresa’s ‘soul gatherings’.

And now -THE RULES:

1-Display the award logo on your blog.

2-Link back to the person who nominated you.

3-Answer 7 questions.

4-Nominate (no limit of nominations) other bloggers for this award and link back to them.

5-Notify those bloggers of the award requirements.

In keeping with nomination guidelines, here are my answers to the 7 questions:

1) If you could create your own planet, what would it look like?

It would be a very colourful one with lots of laughter, happiness and songs and no misery at all. Only smiles.

2) If you could visit one nation you have never visited before, what nation would that be?

I can’t choose one as there are so many cultures I would be interested in visiting. However ‘Global Citizens’ are the ‘nation’ that appeals to me the most: people, who feel the ‘oneness’ of all human beings on this planet; people, who freed themselves from the ‘us vs. others’ stereotype.

3) Have you ever taken a long-distance train trip?

I’ve done a few long-distance train trips when I was a child. I lived in Russia at that time and travelled by train to Ukraine to spend summer holidays with my grandparents, uncles, aunties and numerous cousins. The whole trip took between 36 to 48 hours and required changing the train a few times.

4) What is something you would collectively change about humanity?

Theresa answered that question so well, that I simply quote her: “More tolerance, compassion and understanding of others, recognizing that we all have far more in common than differences. Hopefully, that would bring more cooperation and working together for the needs of the many, rather than the needs of the few. Peace.” That reflects my thoughts 100% – I would not be able to put it better into words.

5) What is your favorite song?

Lots and lots and lots. Like different styles and genres from opera to folk and pop music. Among my favourites is a beautiful song called ‘Smile’ by Nat King Cole. I got it embedded at the end of this post. Hope it will make you smile 🙂 .

6) If you could meet one person who is still alive, who would you choose to meet?

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama – again, totally agree with Theresa on that. I would also love to meet Osho. Unfortunately, he died a few decades ago, but his thoughts are still alive. I have a few of his sayings on my blog, e.g. :

• Laughter is the very essence of religion…
• Laughter is tremendously healthy…

7) If you could choose one symbol to represent you, what would that symbol be and why?

A smile – big, happy, infectious and real, with joy sparkling in the eyes (not one of those Hollywood/Bollywood mock ups).

Hm, it looks like now we got to the nominations bit. I always find it very hard to select bloggers for award nominations, as there are so many wonderful bloggers to choose from. Therefore I decided to nominate any of my followers or visitors, who made someone smile today. However there is a catch – if you want to accept this nomination, you need to add a comment to this post with a story of that smile: either a story of how you made someone smile today or any other ‘smiling’ story. 🙂

 

THE END