It knocked me backwards...

Last time I was here, I had been tagged with an award. Not just any award, but the Bella Sinclair Award. The tagging literally stopped me in my tracks.

First, I took time to find out what the award was about and in who's honor it was given. I spent a lot of time thinking about Bella's circumstances and the artful community she is a part of. (Grammar be damned...) I was sincerely flattered, but also touched by her story - would I, could I, manage in her shoes? How would I be whole again if half of me was gone? What would my art become?

I stopped to think about it a great deal.

And it gave me reason to think about a lot of other stuff this last month. It turns out, when you are thinking, you don't do much talking. That gives you plenty of time for listening. Which, in turn, means you hear more. What you hear, provokes more thought, and so on...

So, yes, I have been here all along. Lurking, mostly. But commenting when I could. And listening.

Now, the goal of the creator of this award was to have it spread across the Web as an honor to Bella. But I don't feel qualified to "nominate" blogs to carry on; there are so many and how do you choose just a few? So I am leaving that up to all of you. Feel free, if you know of a blog that embodies the ideals of being "gifted, accomplished, eloquent and talented blogger whose friendship and influence inspire us to do our best" then I look to you for help.

Tag, you're it. Pass it on.