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Blessings IWSG

#IWSG Jan. 2025- Who did you admire as a kid?

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?

My answer is also available as a YouTube Short I’ve shared on social media.

So for me, this was kind of a difficult question. I think I’ve always looked up to the adults in my family, and those throughout my family history. It’s hard for me to pinpoint whether or not there was someone specific, outside of my family that I admired; however, I know there are so many noteworthy historical figures that I’ve learned about throughout my life. They cover many facets, like, science, politics, literature, and entertainment. I’m human, like everyone else, so I have different people that I prefer over others in terms of celebrities and public figures.

I think for me though, what it boils down to is that growing up in Texas meant that I had Texas history. When I was around 11 or 12, I moved to Virginia and I started getting Virginia history. There are a lot of similarities but the most resounding thing that sticks out to me, is how a lot of the figures that I was taught as a child were so great and noble, as an adult I’ve learned that they’re not so great and noble. Some of them I learned about before I was even an adult. So much of history is based upon where you’re getting it who you’re getting it from. So while these people may have done a lot for their communities, what they did was based on greed and oppression and suppression.

So, there’s no one person, but there are a lot of people that I may have admired as a child that I don’t admire anymore, but there are a lot that I do still admire.

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Personal Updates…

1) Here’s a post you may have missed where I give an update about my Mark of Bletsian series.

2) I’ve moved my personal updates over to Patreon. Anyone can access this post because it’s public. And though it requires a one-time login, so does Substack. In any case, my feelings will not be hurt if no one is willing to click through.

I’d love to grow my Patreon community to 100 free subscribers by 2026, but I’d also be happy with one more than I currently have. It is what it is.

My Patreon community was able to watch my Counting My Blessings video three days early, but now its public if you’d like to see it and don’t want to go to Patreon. There’s also a short for it, in case the full video is too long for you.

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Commerce update…

I HEART Books crewneck featured.

If you’re interested in the featured item or other clothing, click to visit Sell My Tees.

I’m happy that people are starting to show interest in my merch. The stickers of this design have been doing well. It also comes in white letters on a black background. It’s the only thing I currently have that’s selling. The stickers and other accessories can be found at Redbubble.

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Do you still admire someone you did as a child?

It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Rebecca Douglass,
Beth Camp,
Liza @ Middle Passages,
and Natalie @ Literary Rambles!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #23).

Did you know you can join my community for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
Blessings

Count Your Blessings 23: Tea

blessings

Tea

I’m not much into vices, but I do like tea. I’m sensitive to caffeine so I must be cautious about what type I’m drinking and how often. There are many benefits to drinking tea, but when you enjoy the flavor, none of that really matters.

I sometimes go beyond enjoying the flavor. I enjoy the process and the presentation of having a cup of tea: selecting the type, deciding on additives, choosing a cup, choosing how to brew it, letting it steep, deciding what type if any sweetener, and more. Even when I’m in the rear mood for iced tea, I make it meticulously. I even have a monthly meme I write on this blog where I sit down with a topic and sip tea as I write about it. Then when I post what I’ve written, I share a Pinterest image related to tea.

I’m blessed to live in a world with so many varieties of tea, and while it doesn’t have the seemingly magical powers that music has, tea does tend to connect tea drinkers (same goes for coffee drinkers) across racial, cultural, religious, and even national borders…I like tea.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Blessings

Count Your Blessings 22: Trees

blessings

Trees

I don’t think it’s necessary to mention why trees are so important, but I will just a bit. Trees help hold all the land in place, they give us clean air to breath, they offer us shade, can be as a source of food, can be used for fuel and building material, and more. Trees are an essential part of life on earth, but aside from all that, trees are beautiful. Even with my allergies I’ll take the natural shade of healthy, strong tree any day.

I’m blessed to live in a world where all the trees aren’t gone, yet. I hope I never live in world where- let me see; how does the song go? “They put all the trees in a tree museum, then they charged a dollar and a half to see them.” ~Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

Some terms, when you hear them said so often, start to have negative meaning and “tree hugging hippy” is no different, but I understand it. Some people do go to unhealthy extremes, but I don’t see a problem with people wanting to preserve trees. Needless to say, I look forward to Arbor Day each year.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords