Liebster Award

 

I was nominated by Happy Bunny Beauty, who has a 100% Cruelty-Free Blog featuring makeup and skincare reviews, as well as vegan snack ideas and spreading insightful love about amazing animals! Thank you for nominating me for this award that’s dedicated to helping newer bloggers share some “behind the scenes” info about themselves to properly venture into the world of blogging. This award gives bloggers and our readers a way to get to know more about each other.

I basically just went with the flow of every answer that came to my mind as I started writing. Some of the questions are on the surface and others brought out my more philosophical side! That’s one of the reasons I love reading other people’s Liebster Award posts because I’m getting to know more about the person behind the blogger!

Rules:

• Post the award on your blog.
• Thank the blogger who gave you this award and link back to his/her blog.
• Answer 11 questions given by your presenter.
• Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award (Below 3,000 Followers)

 

1.One beauty product you couldn’t live without?

Foundation! I have to admit that I don’t ever feel as confident or comfortable “in my own skin” in front of most people without at least a medium coverage mineral foundation. In my humble opinion, all the other beauty products can go and are just for fun because without having a balanced, even canvas all the other products can’t really shine or do their thing effectively.

2.If you had to give up one beauty product what would it be?

Mascara. I didn’t actually start wearing mascara until about 4 years ago! And then it took another two years to find a mascara I actually liked enough to use regularly. So, I didn’t really start wearing mascara as part of my makeup routine until around 2 years ago. Even though I’ve found two mascaras that I really love and feel that they add a lot of volume and natural curl to my otherwise wimpy, stick straight lashes, it’d be the easiest thing to give up because I’m the least attached to it.

3.The thing you enjoy best about blogging?

Wow, this is really hard to narrow down! I love that blogging has inspired me to write almost every day again and that my words can help someone who lives half a world away from me! I’ve always loved writing creatively, but life has a way of getting in the way of keeping up with it as much as I would like; until I committed to starting a blog. Once I started blogging and I saw that I have regular viewers from Serbia, The Netherlands, and countless other continents/countries, it just fueled my passion to inspire the world in any small way that I can. That’s what I feel my inherent purpose in life is and blogging allows me to fulfill a big part of that by helping people make healthier choices in their daily lives!

4.If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?

I would change the idealistic notion that is placed on the concept of competition in our society. We’re raised to believe that competition is a healthy urge, as we are told that it pushes us to better ourselves and to try our best. We end up believing that without “healthy” competition, we would basically resort to living a mediocre life, putting in minimal effort, and have no ambition to thrive. I’ve studied Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy for the better part of the past 17 years, 9 of those years in college and then grad school. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no form of “healthy competition” because we’ll always put ourselves before others as we strive to win while someone else has to lose. Competing with someone else instills an “each man for himself” type of attitude and a “as long as it doesn’t hurt me directly, I don’t care about it” perspective on life. Competition is at the heart of every dark, tragic human flaw we’ve ever witnessed when the act is really broken down and is observed from an out of the box point of view.

5.If you could travel back in time where would you go?

Ahh…I love this question! And this one is so difficult for me to answer. I absolutely love the topic of time travel, as well as historical fiction novels, and period pieces in general. To pick just one time is absolutely daunting to me because my mind scatters in a million directions with this question. Part of me wants to answer a specific period in history, while the other part of me wants to say I’d travel back to visit myself year after year, until I was born so I could witness and experience my own evolution. Another part of me wants to go back in time to when my mother was growing up so that I could spend time with her when she was a child, a teenager, a young adult, etc. I can go on and on, but I might just leave it at this….otherwise I’ll start getting political and that’s never good! But, suffice it to say there are many periods in history where a certain person was said to have died a certain way and I’d love to know how it really happened in reality.

6.Your hobbies beside blogging?

I’m an avid reader and I’ve always loved reading, most likely from the first time I listened to my mother reading me a bedtime story. I wholeheartedly feel that reading is the most positive form of escapism and I also believe that reading allows people to become more empathetic. Readers have read stories told from so many perspectives and imagine a story unfolding from the mind-frame of such a variety of characters that it becomes second nature to begin thinking about how someone else might or might not view a given situation.

I also love writing, as mentioned above, in the form of poetry, short stories, novel-length stories, and journaling.

I also love music and can’t imagine my life without it.

I’m relatively new to actually considering cooking as a “fun hobby”, but I do enjoy reading about healthy recipes and using food as fuel, as well as the mental and physical benefits and utilizing food as nature’s medicine.

I’m a crystal collector and I’ve been reading about the benefits of each crystal’s energy.

I’m an essential oil enthusiast and love incorporating essential oils in my daily love for their healing and aromatherapy benefits.

I’ve been practicing Yoga and Pilates on a regular basis for the past 10 years. I also enjoy reading about the mental and physical benefits of regular exercise and how our bodies are designed to move every day. Since I’ve studied Psychology, I’ve read countless books and peer reviewed articles, as well as witnessed first-hand how exercise helps address many mental health concerns and symptoms.

7.Your favourite thing about yourself?

My willingness to learn. I truly do feel that learning is one of the main reasons, if not the sole reason why we’re in this Universe. I don’t believe that with age comes wisdom because I feel that wisdom has to be earned by an active effort to take in new information. We should never stop questioning. I don’t fear getting older because I’m hoping that with each year that passes, I’ll be able to look back and think that I’ve figured out how to be a better person and that is always the right way to go. I can openly admit when I’m wrong about something, when I’m being judgmental, and I’m open to changing on a regular basis in order to grow as a human being. I never feel like “I know everything”.

8.If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

The joke in my family when I was a kid was that I could live off bread and butter and be happy. I have to say…I rarely eat actual bread with real butter (otherwise I’d be about 100 pounds heavier!). But, every time I get a whiff of freshly baked bread with creamed butter, it’s something I can’t imagine getting tired of. Even though, if I technically had to solely live off bread and butter I’d end up with high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and then Type II Diabetes, along with high triglycerides and a whole host of other health issues, but my taste buds would be having a party!

9.What are you watching at the moment?

Lol…this is always an interesting question to read the answers of. I find myself the most surprised at the answer of this question more so than any other..as long as the person is being honest! I go through periods of watching a lot of shows and other periods where I hardly ever turn the TV on. I have cable, but I rarely ever use it or just haphazardly turn on the TV for the sake of “finding something to watch”. This is partly because I’m a reader and I have a lot of other hobbies to occupy my time with. I have never felt bored….in my life when given the opportunity to do something or be in a place I actually wanted to be in.

However, I do immensely enjoy watching genuinely good movies (which are rare) and I do like winding down to a really good TV show to just relax.

Currently, the most recent movie I watched was The Dressmaker with Kate Winslet, which is a dark satire based in 1951 Australia based off a book with the same name. Suffice it to say, the movie was NOT what I was expecting, but it did end up being quite interesting to say the least.

The shows I’m DVRing are: Gotham, Damien, Bates Motel, Vikings, and Pretty Little Liars (Yes…I actually admitted it! I always thought this was the most ridiculous show that ever aired..and it’s not epic by any means or standards, but it has an addictive quality to it that simply fascinates me—You’d be so surprised at the all the varying ages and genders who have fallen victim to getting sucked into this show).

The shows that I’m currently waiting with bated breath to come back on: Outlander (I read part of the series), Poldark, and Call of the Midwives.

The show that I’m watching re-runs of here and there for the hundredth time is Gilmore Girls. This show is one of the funniest and most intelligent shows that I can watch over and over because each character makes so many witty references that you’re bound to catch new elements/dynamics/pop culture motifs time and time again.

10.Your favourite piece of clothing you own?

I have a floral Free People Dress that I bought at a consignment shop that literally fits me perfectly and looks like something straight out of a 1970’s photograph and I absolutely love it. I wish it was made in the USA under ethical guidelines and principles using organic fabric, but at least I got it second hand…? It’s silly, but it’s a dress that I put on and I instantly feel happier because it reminds me of 70 degree days with blue skies, a light breeze, and gardens that go on for eternity.

11.What or who inspires you?

Oh boy… I don’t think I can answer this one without somehow moving into the political zone… I’ll try. Positive people with a naturally upbeat nature inspire me. My mom, who is the most good-hearted, down to earth person I know inspires me every single day and reminds me that no matter how many horrible things occur around the world, altruism truly does exist. And when there’s the possibility of altruism, there’s always hope 🙂

I nominate the following blogs (And I sincerely apologize if I nominated you even though you have more than 3,000 followers–I think it’s a silly rule and we should have fun with this!):

Etheric Archives

Good For Nature

Laura Bruj

Beast Loves Beauty

Organic Beauty Journey

AYRGalaxy

Jenny Douglas

Middle Me

Brilliance Today

Charbot and Wanderlust

A Marie Style

My Questions:

1. What is the main reason that you started blogging?
2. What is your goal for your blog over time?
3. What is your favorite memory?
4. What event/person has influenced your life the most?
5. What is your favorite book (pick a show, movie, or type of music if you’re not a reader)?
6. What hobbies do you genuinely enjoy?
7. What is your ideal career?
8. What part of life do you love the most?
9. What do you feel is your most unique quality?
10. If you had the ability to time travel, how would you use it?
11. If you could make your mark on the world in one way, how would you do it?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and get to know more about me! I can’t wait to read the responses from the 11 blogs I nominated!

Happy Blogging!

xoxo,

Julie

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