Tag: Question of the Month

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Blessings IWSG

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

IWSG

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.

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Question of the Month

#Question of the Month: a #bloghop to think about. No. 19- “What was your “growing up” moment?”

A little while ago, Michael D’Agostino, of A Life Examined, brought up the idea of a new blog hop called Question of the Month. He thinks blog readers would like to know a little more about us, the bloggers. So we’re all gathering to show you guys who we are by taking part in the Question of the Month blog hop, the first Monday of each month.

Happy New Year Everyone! Let’s jump right in.

This month’s question is: What was your “growing up” moment?

I don’t think I can narrow this down to any one specific moment. Being one of those kids who was always told I was wise beyond my years, I matured early and became a realist shortly after. Here are a few things I think helped me grow up rather quickly.

1) I was too young to really experience the years of my mother being a single parent because she soon got remarried to the man I call Daddy, but she always instilled a since of independence into me and my sister just in case. Still, I have a few post toddler memories of doing things for myself so my mom wouldn’t have to.

2) I went to stay with some cousins when I was about 8 or 9 and remember ironing my own clothes for the first time because I was the youngest and didn’t want anyone to have to wait for me to get dressed. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I did it anyway.

3) The first year my mother, sister, and I lived in Virginia was a tough year in many ways I’d rather not discuss right now, plus my dad was still in Texas finishing up a degree (He went back to school for it). I was either 11 or 12 and I prepared my first Thanksgiving dinner… If I didn’t do it, we would not have had one that year. My sister helped, but it was still a life altering experience for me.

4) During my older sister’s rebellious teen years, my parents often left the house and car keys with me if they had to leave for the night or over the weekend. I couldn’t even drive yet, but it was up to me to see that my big sister didn’t destroy anything. (In retrospect, she really wasn’t that bad; I was just a boring straight edge that my parents trusted more at the time.)

Lastly, at the age of 16, when I found myself trying to mentor a 13-year-old-girl into not having sex just to be liked more by boys, I knew my childhood was over. It was time for me to be an example to other young black women and show them that they didn’t have to be a teen pregnancy statistic if they didn’t want to be.

Sorry, that got a little deep.

Please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like. I’m curious to see if others had really deep or easy-going growing up moments.

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

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Question of the Month

#Question of the Month: a #bloghop to think about. No. 18- “What does retirement look like for you?”

A little while ago, Michael D’Agostino, of A Life Examined, brought up the idea of a new blog hop called Question of the Month. He thinks blog readers would like to know a little more about us, the bloggers. So we’re all gathering to show you guys who we are by taking part in the Question of the Month blog hop. On the first Monday of each month, we answer the question that gets posted here.

This month’s question is: ““What does retirement look like for you?”

In many ways this is a simple question for me to answer, but then there two different ideas of retirement I hold dear, so…

First, I’d like to retire from a traditional day job and be able to write and or create full-time. I dream of being able to wake up some time after 7:00 am and walk my dog. I’d have a light breakfast and a quick shower before putting on sweatpants and a t-shirt as I sit to write or work on other creative projects. The entirety of my day would be a combination of dog-walking and food breaks as I create. I’d travel and create without the stress of knowing that I have a job to get back to.

Second, I imagine a time when a few smart investments would allow me to have a hobby farm. All the animals on the farm would have jobs to do, whether farm labor or therapy animal, none of them would need to work too hard. I’d bake and make preserves to sell at farmers’ markets and then give the proceeds to whatever cause is most dear to my heart at the moment.

So, not sure if that’s much of a retirement for some, but it’s what I’ve got in mind.

Please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like. I wonder what cool things others have in mind.

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
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