Versatile Blogger Nomination

Well, after four days of fun, fellowship, education, and spiritual growth with my Scottish Rite brethren, I decided to get caught up on my blog reading. Much to my surprise, two of my favorite blogs nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! This is a real treat for me because I absolutely love both of the blogs that nominated me.

I was nominated by:

A Second Cup– This is a wonderfully refreshing blog, where the author mixes various musings and insights into eclectic and humorous posts about life spiritual practices. I really enjoy reading this blog over my first (and sometimes second, or third, or fourth…) cup of coffee, and it never fails to make me smile and/or provide me with material to reflect upon.

Zen Being– This is a great blog which applies Buddhist teachings and practices to every day life. I always enjoy reading this blog, and I find the author’s insights to be extremely helpful and meaningful. This blog has continually helped me to continue striving to live in the now, and simply “be”.

Part of the nomination involves naming 7 blogs that I enjoy, other than the ones that recommended me, thus nominating them for this award:

1) The Art of Manliness: This is a blog by my friend Brett McKay. This is the first blog that I ever really followed, and was an inspiration to start this site. This site gives great advice on rediscovering the too often lost art of manliness, which involves being a well-rounded, gentlemanly, secure man, which is in direct opposition to the hyper-masculine, chauvinist (sexist) style man that is often depicted in popular culture whenever “manliness” is portrayed.

2) The First Gates– This blog runs the gambit from book reviews, current events, and spiritual topics. I love the eclectic nature of the blog, and it is well written, and extremely insightful.

3) Fierce Buddhist– This blog is primarily composed of Haiku poems, that are simply amazing. I love the author’s talent, and how much wisdom and insight he manages to squeeze into poems that are a mere 3 lines long.

4) A Year of Living Wisely– This blog documents the author’s reactions to the podcast “Zencast“, and her strives to live an insightful and engaged life. I love the author’s honesty, as well as her takes on life and spiritual practice.

5) Figments of a Duchess– This blog is an eclectic mix of various topics dealing with life in general, and spiritual practices. I enjoy the writer’s insightful takes on life and spirituality.

6) Through the Healing Lens- This is a blog that I recently discovered. The author uses the medium of photography to document life, and her insights.

7) Madness in the Right Direction– This is a blog by my  friend Cole, and covers Freemasonry and the Western Mystery Tradition.

8) Musings Along the Road Less Taken– This is a great blog from my friend Jason Eddy, which is full of wonderful poetry, and articles on living a spiritually filled life.

9) Esoteric Hyperbole– This is a great website covering esoteric and spiritual topics. I really enjoy the author’s unique insights.

10) Buddhist at the Gas Pump– Not a blog, but one of my favorite podcasts of all time. I listen to this every day during my commute to work, and I love the concept that any person can live an enlightened and spirit-filled life. I guess it appears to my Buddhist/Gnostic leanings.

Now I am supposed to list a few things about myself that most of my readers probably wouldn’t know about myself:

1) I’m a second generation identical twin (My father is an identical twin, and I have an identical twin brother).

2) I’m scared to death of snakes and spiders. While I realize they were all created by God, and serve a purpose, I just prefer them to not be in my presence. Ever. 😉

3) I used to sing as a child, but now you can’t pay me enough to sing in front of anyone (much to my wife’s disappointment).

4) I love to travel, and I have been fortunate enough to have visited France, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, The UK, as well as the majority of U.S. States. In fact, that leads me to number 5…

5) I proposed to my wife on top of the Eiffel Tower, and fortunately she said yes! 😀

I appreciate the nominations, and I want to also thank all of my loyal readers. I figured creating this post was a fun way of participating in the award, as well as a fun way of breaking up the usual format a little bit. Now then, I am off to write a post on my amazing weekend!

Take care!

– Jason

Also please check out my book, “The Path: Using the Religions of the World as a Guide to Personal and Spiritual Development.” (Click on the book cover to view on Amazon.com)