To All my fellow Bloggers’
I wrote a post awhile back called Why I blog. In it I mentioned that the original meaning of the word blog was a chronicle or a written diary (web log – blog), but I also stated that I believed blogging had evolved.
The new breed of bloggers are a creative group of people who care and want to be nurtured in return with comments and words that will further them along in their endeavors (their hopes, their dreams, their goals, their disappointments, their pain, their successes, their joy, their laughter).
Blogging has become much more than a written diary. Now it is a personal connection between like-minded people and a medium of exchange in the finest, truest and most meaningful manner.
So I decided there were a few letters missing from the word BLOG. Those letters are ‘e’ and ‘n’ when blended 
with the word BLOG you get the word BeLOnG. This is the word that I feel describes the blogging community. A place where we belong. That’s how I feel when I write a post, upload a photograph, share music, videos, recipes, anything that I want to share. When I hit the publish button I feel I’m a part of something so much bigger than I. I feel I’m making a difference.
When I follow and visit other bloggers I feel connected. When I read their posts and share in the comments then I know I’m a part of something enriching and vibrant. I finally feel I’ve found a place where I fit in. Where I belong.
In the last several weeks I have been honored in a variety of ways and I am humbled by the caring appreciation bestowed upon me by this wonderful community of bloggers.
The response I have received from all of you is gratifying and overwhelming: Reblogs, the links sharing me on twitter and Facebook, the mentions on other blogs, an original poem dedicated to me, (thank you again mixedupmeme) the wonderful comments, the nominated blogger awards (I apologize I am behind there, I think there’s 4 or 5 more to go!). I am so grateful.
I wanted to do something special for all of you. I wanted to give you a gift. Something to give to you that you could share in return.
My gift to you is the gift of Belonging Award. There are no rules. It is yours to take if you wish and share it in return with other bloggers when they visit your blog. Pass it along, that’s why I made it. To remind all bloggers they do belong. That’s it’s purpose.
To those who Blog, I honor you, you belong to the Blogger’s community.
Please accept this gift of Belonging Award. There are no rules. Just post it on your blog, share it with your followers and enjoy!
The picture I sketched some time ago. He is a Troubadour. In the middle ages the troubadour was a traveler. A talented and clever person who wrote and sang songs and shared stories with those he met in his travels, A little bit like bloggers today. Our travel method is a bit different is all. The words at the bottom say I BELONG with the word I BLOG superimposed over it. I hope you’ll share the story of the Troubador when you pass this award on to other bloggers who belong. It does seem to be the one thing we bloggers do well – Share!
With heart felt thanks, Penny
The Why About This 
I love this award! My very favourite of them all, sentiment – and beautiful graphic-wise! You’re a wonderful soul and artist, my dear!
Thank you. I just really wanted to give something to express my pleasure for being a part of this amazing world of creative and caring bloggers. Thanks for your generous words to me, so very appreciated, with sincerity, Penny
As I am still catching up with older posts I am commenting late on this lovely post. Yet, do do want to take the opportunity to say thank you, Penny! I have put your beautiful gift on the sidebar on my blog (including the story of the troubadour) and am feeling honoured by your wonderful gift to us.
Much love to you! 🙂
Thank you Stefanie, the longer I spend blogging (just starting my 3rd month here – prior too that I think I had written 3 posts in the last year and a half) it seems that there is a world wide commonality of bloggers (for the most part) They’re creative, they care, they feel strongly about things and they want to make a positive difference. I feel so privileged to have joined this group I truly felt the need to say thank you in a way that expressed that, thank you for adding my gift to your sidebar, it is greatly appreciated, my friend, much love returned to you! 🙂
Hi Penny. your BeLOnG. You could also have BioLOGy. Just at home in my blog and it came to me. 😉 Ralph
What a great idea Ralph. I love it! A nice analogy also, we are all biological creatures with Blog hidden inside. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Very clever! How are things going over there for you. Never mind, I’m coming over to see right now! 🙂
I’ll leave the door open 🙂
Penny this is just amazing and lovely of you. It’s so beautiful and thank you for such kindness and generousity. I’ll post it on my blog. Thank you million times.
Thank you. I really appreciate your posting this Belong badge to your blog. To me I just want to spread the word about what a wonderful place and the bloggers who dwell within are! 🙂
People here are amazing ,seas,miles ,set us apart but that distance makes us closer for tender hearts here serve as a bridge ,strong one,i’m really honored to meet many distinguished bloggers and you’re one of them,though i’m a new fan of your blog ,but i start to build a connection with it 🙂 my visits are rare but i enjoy evey visit 🙂
A beautiful picture and a very smart way to include blog into belong!
Thanks Tina, I had fun creating the “badge”. I have been enjoying so much meeting and sharing thoughts/ideas with other bloggers like you that I really felt the need to do something that expressed this feeling. I’m glad you liked it! Have a great day today! 🙂
You are an amazing artist.That troubadour is magnificent! And I am so glad I found your blog 🙂
Also, this post reminded me why I blog…it’s all about that sense of belongingness, isn’t it?
First thank you for coming to visit Sanchari. Much appreciated. Thank you also for your very generous praise. I wrote this post because of how wonderful meeting people just like you is making me feel. It is definitely about belonging! 🙂
Just so gorgeous!! Inspiring talent, connection, perfect description of blogging and what it means to so many of us!! Thank you so much for passing this on to all of us. You are a treasured gift 🙂
Of course I’m no where near as eloquent as mixedupmeme or AnElephant…both are better than I at writting their poems…so will leave it to their capable hands (or feet in the case of AnElephant :p ). Hugs and Love!!
Thank you Christina, your poetry is uniquely your own (and beautiful and inspirational) as are the others you mentioned. This is what is so wonderful about the blogging world. Getting to view so much individual creativity and be interactive with these blogging artisans . Perfectly wonderful place to be. Thank you so much for your praise, I appreciate you very much!
Agreed, we each have our own “voice”in how we espress ourselves…so ageed “Perfectly wonderful place to be ” 😀
I like that, BeLOnG 🙂
Artwork for the recognition is definitely lot nicer than all the rest I’ve seen. It will look great on every blogger’s “mantle of awards”. It means a lot coming from a very sensible & smart blogger! How do I know you are sensible & smart? Very easy; that clean looking windows7 PC laptop says it all…lol. Incase you are wondering, I’m not too kind with Mac’s 🙂
Thank you for the very generous praise, Chris. I’ve been away from professional graphics for a while so the tools I used are very basic. Glad it turned out okay. Yeah I keep the PC open even when I’m not using it, if I close it one of my two cats (brothers) will sit on it and they are large! So I do my best there too. 🙂 or try!
You are a professional graphic artist, too? Thats actually really good combo. Professional writer + professional graphic designer. Ever consider having your own publication? 🙂
I am a professional “tried this and tried that” sort of person, with some experience in a few “creative” areas in life. Don’t laugh I did once consider that! Once! 🙂
lol, ME TOO!! I’m currently trying to be a “professional” architech…haha. I’m driving my builders & contractors crazy 🙂
I’m just starting to dive into your blog and I have a bad feeling I should not have asked you about the 1year off 😦
You can ignore my last comment in your about-me page 🙂
I love the drawing you created of the Troubadour. You have many talents. As Arnold Shwarzenneger says…..I’ll be back 😉
Thanks Ralph, love your wit and love having you visit! 🙂
I really like your view on the evolution of blogging. For a long time I always considered a blog as the internet equivalent of standing on the street corner and shouting at passers-by. And while so much of what happens on various blogs is still just that, at it’s best a blog is a give and take, a creative discourse between like-minded (and when it goes well, non-like-minded) people. Wonderful post.
And your illustration? Wow, simply fantastic.
Thank you. There are a few “special people” that I have already referred to that are the main reason I wrote this piece. YOU sir are one of them. Your comments today have made my day.Again thank you for your generous compliments! 🙂
Very clever idea! I love BeLOnG. And, your sketch is charming. Such talent!
Much thanks. You are appreciated, I enjoy knowing you and following your posts. You add substance to sharing. Also the wit and cleverness displayed on your blog are fun to read. 🙂
Same to you toots!
My point exactly!
You’re absolutely right—blogging HAS evolved. Thanks for giving us the evolved WORD to describe it! 🙂
I have never felt better or more sincere about saying to you – it was my pleasure. Thank you Kana for your kind words!:)
I’m happy to BELONG to your blog family
& Happy to have you BEONG in mine!
Happy Weekend to you Penny 🙂
Oopsie – BELONG – not BEONG – See how excited I was to respond!
You don’t know how happy I am to know that I’m not the only one that comments and then after the fact realize I’ve errored in some way! Thanks for being human like me. Good to know. 🙂
Thank you Rosy, you’re one of the special ones. I do appreciate you. You also have the bestest weekend! 🙂
Fantastic Penny. It is a beautiful award…and although I did an awards post only once, and thought that was more than enough…. I would love to include this one in my collection ~ very special that you created it! Much Love and Appreciation dear friend ~ RL
Thank you so much. YOU are an inspiration to me Robyn and one of the reasons I wrote about bloggers the way I did. To me you epitomize what this wonderful blogging world is all about, with all my love and appreciation to you, my most special friend, much love back to you! xoxo
That’s a beautiful sketch. Thank you for sharing your creation and wonderful message. I’m happy to BeLOnG 🙂
Thank you so very much. I love the blogging community and becoming friends with like minded people – like you! Isn’t it great? 🙂
Penny, you are so lovely! I, too, have strong feelings about the evolution of blogs and their ability to create a strong sense of supportive community. You’ve written elegantly about this here, and elsewhere, on your blog, and your blog award is a lovely idea. (I had wanted to do something in a somewhat similar vein awhile back, but have not gotten around to it. When I do, though, I will be giving you a nod— I love the idea of a no-strings attached, just because you’re you, award!)
Aw, so happy today! Thank you for writing about blogging and bloggers and community! Cool badge, Penny!
Thank you Courtenay, you’re on my ‘special’ list, just want you to know that. All the bloggers out there in bloggerland are great but there is a handful that especially make the day brighter for me. Thank you for that my friend, your wit and vivacity I greatly enjoy and admire, but not your hot weather! 🙂
Oh, Penny, you just warmed the cockles of my heart! (Wait. It’s still hot here. You’ve cooled the cockles of my heart doesn’t sound right, either. You know what I mean, right?)
I think you’re special as well— you write about subjects that are dear to me, personally, but I also believe you have an especial talent for finding the pulse of your readership.
I am so, so, so glad we’ve become friends! (And thank you for the wit and vivacity comment. I’m going to wander around saying that to myself for the next week!) : )
Thank you Courtenay, those are very nice compliments. I will do my best to keep doing so. Wit and Vivacity are hard words to say together how about cleverness and creativity, flows better and still applies to you, Oh and add funny off the wall! 🙂
: ) AwwwwWWW! Thank you!
Always very welcome, always! 🙂
: )
What a generous and thoughtful gift to us all, Penny; thank you! And the drawing is so beautiful!
Thank you for you compliments and kind words. I am very appreciative. Since I became a blogger I wake up every morning having a little something extra to look forward to. Don’t you? 🙂
I agree; it’s a wonderful little community we have here 🙂
Thank you, Penny! I just love that Troubadour (keep drawing) and I think you are sweet! The bees are right… ~ Wendy
Thanks Wendy. High honors indeed (re:the bees)! I sketch once in a while when the “muse” inspires. Mostly I work with others and encourage them. I was a portrait artist for years (during recovery from extensive surgery – my way of supporting my children as a single mom) and became a bit burned out in that medium. Again thank you for saying such nice things. It is appreciated! 🙂
I love your Award and will pop it on my blog when I can. I also feel a great sense of belonging to a community when I blog and agree with valeriedavies’s comments. I love the exchange of ideas and appreciation that happens. I thank mixedupmeme for pointing me in your direction.
Have a good day. 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words and for visiting me today. mixedupmeme is great isn’t she. You and I agree on several things already! I hope your day is filled with sunshine! 🙂
what a creative award – and I agree with you that blogging is much more than journaling – though if it were just that, it would be fine too
Thank you LouAnn, I’ve privately journaled for many years. Still do. With blogging today the interactions and exchange of ideas and thoughts that happens with other bloggers, like yourself, is so enjoyable its like spending a bit of time with people in a format where I’m already comfortable – the written word and visual expression. It is simply lots of fun! Have a good one today! 🙂
I love it Penny and accept :). You are very kind, thanks for doing this and sharing. Hugs
http://boomiebol.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/where-i-belong/
Thank you boomie. Just so you know the talent reflected in the words you write is an inspiration to me. You are one of the reasons I wanted to try to give in return what I keep receiving when I visit all of our fellow bloggers. 🙂
Wow! A wonderful idea and a wonderful award! It is all about creativity! I agree how you earlier mentioned that blog is a connection more than a diary now – connection between people and their minds!!
Good day ahead!
-Naima.
Thank you Naima. Much appreciated. Just the knowing that I’m connecting with others, like you who perhaps feel and think like me, is a wonderful ‘not alone’ kind of feeling. An everyday dose of inspiration! 🙂
Yeah, connection and communication always encourage inspiration!!
Good day!
-Naima.
How absolutely beautiful. I for one will be honored to post this on my blog. you are the spirit of this blogging world we “belong’ to. Beautiful drawing as well.
Thank you len for your very very nice words. I appreciate them and you very much! 🙂
AnElephantCant hide his admiration
For the great idea you have had at this time
But he is no Mixedupmeme
He be not as clever as she be
He can’t write poetry so he just decided to create and dedicate to you this elegant and very nearly perfectly scanned but perhaps rather daft rhyme
Very clever concept, Penny, and a brilliant idea beautifully expressed.
Thanks, I’m keeping the poem you know. Well perhaps not really, but in my heart for sure. Did the ElephantCant happen to notice the statue of the elephant in the photo of my desk? I am a major “nut” about elephants. I love everything about them. So I occasionally add to a collection I have of them (not the actual :)). I appreciate your compliments very much! 🙂
Daddy! Funny, but I remember him being bigger than that.
Ah, but memories play such strange tricks.
And you are more than welcome to the rhyme, we can hardly call it a poem!
But very glad you enjoyed.
That, as you so charmingly express up top, is a large part of what it is all about.
And now it belongs to you.
Thank you. 🙂
Penny, this is lovely – as a newbie, it’s just how I’ve discovered the blogging community to be, and I don’t know whether you saw my blog – another milestone, – where I described how I felt about blogging. You’ve put the whole new concept of blogging into words, and redefined it – beautifully and lovingly. Thank you..
I find it’s hard to explain to others what a creative, supportive, fun community the blogging world is. You have to ‘do the thing’ to know about it !
Thank you Valerie for your very kind words. It definitely is the “port in the storm” to me.:)
A lovely idea from a lovely lady (and it’s a very lovely picture too) 🙂
Thank you Dory. Coming from you that means a lot to you. Did you know you were the 3rd person to follow me? Thanks for that too! 🙂