community – My Life as Jan

Reblog: What Makes A Good LGBTQ* Ally?

Recently, I had the honor of submitting a little something for a friend’s blog post on the topic of LGBTQ* allies, and how important they are to the community. You can read Zuul‘s full post (and I highly recommend that you do), and all the great responses, below. Enjoy! Continue reading “Reblog: What Makes A Good LGBTQ* Ally?”

“We Can Do Better”

“Let’s all learn from our mistakes, and try to be a better person than we are today.”

Hello, friends. I want to talk about something today that is very near to my heart. It may be triggering to some, and to others, you may not even care. Today, I want to talk about bullying. Specifically, cyber bullying. Recently, a very funny man named Wade, who I regularly watch on YouTube, and who I follow on social media, made a post to his Tumblr page that tugged at my heart. In his post, Wade spoke poignantly about how we, as a generation who spends much of our lives online, treat other people on social media, and shed some light on the ever growing issue of cyber bullying. Continue reading ““We Can Do Better””

Dream Journal 6/9/16 | Hashtag

#Get********to50k?

I was sitting at my desk, scrolling through Twitter, when I saw the trending hashtag: #Get********to50k. I censored the name, because it is a real person on Twitter, who I have had very public issues with in the past. I thought it was strange, and clicked on the hashtag to see what it was all about. There were thousands and thousands of tweets showing support of something, but it wasn’t clear what their cause was. One tweet read something like: “#Get********to50k because we’re tired of not being listened to.” A couple of the other tweets made it seem like it had something to do with the Warcraft community, but they were all vague enough to give no real answers as to what the hashtag was about.

I went to this person’s Twitter profile, who actually has me blocked in real life, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until I noticed that their follower count was just over 49,000 people. Their tweets were all about equality and justice, but once again, still very vague as to what the cause was. I got upset about it for some reason, and left my computer.

I called Kyle while he was at work, and told him that there was a bad storm happening outside, even though I could clearly see that there wasn’t, and he was confused, and hung up the phone because I wasn’t making any sense, and he knew I was lying.

The last thing I remember was making two salads for Liam and I, and working really hard on them, and he kept throwing all the vegetables on the floor, and it made me start crying.

Then I woke up.

Daily Prompt 2/17/2016 | Secrets

The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt 2/17/2016 | Evasive Action

“What’s the most significant secret you’ve ever kept? Did the truth ever come out?”

If I told you that, I’d probably have to kill you. That’s the point of a secret, right?

Okay, in all seriousness, I am basically the Keeper of Secrets to everyone. Though most of the secrets that I have been keeping are no longer secrets, and the owners of said secrets have brought them to light, I still choose not to tell them. Personally, I don’t have secrets. I have one secret, that is mine, that I have not told anyone. I want to, but I honestly don’t know how, and if it would even make a difference in the effect that this secret has had on me.

But, I will tell you all a secret now that I am finally comfortable telling. Some of you may not understand, or even care, but it is important to me.

I have a friend, who is very near and dear to me. I won’t say his name, because I’m simply not sure if he would want me to. We met online, through Twitter, as well as the World of Warcraft community, and have been friends for years. My friend was married to a wonderful man for 4 years, and they played WoW together. On January 1st, 2013, my friend’s husband passed away suddenly, and unexpectedly, and he was absolutely devastated. There was nothing that I could do to comfort him in his time of need, as I was so far away, and being a friendly ear can only help so much.

During this time, I was also the host of a World of Warcraft podcast called Something Suggestive. While my show wasn’t big, I had made a bit of a name for myself in the community, and decided to go out on a limb, and talked to one of my favorite community managers about possibly having an NPC (non-playable character) added to the game in his husband’s memory. Blizzard is amazing when it comes to in-game memorials. After a little bit of back and forth between this community manager, as well as a game developer, we decided on a model, name, and location for his character.

In patch 5.2.0, the model, who was named and modeled after my friend’s late husband’s own character, was placed in the Seat of Knowledge, in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

Very few people know that I did this, and I kept it quiet for years, even after the YouTube videos, WowHead article, and blog posts came out, talking about the tribute. I asked my friend not to name me. I didn’t want credit, or attention. I wanted to help. I wanted to do whatever I could to do fix some part of this horrible tragedy.

In the following weeks, there were beautiful in-game tributes and meet-ups on several severs, and you can still find the videos on YouTube, years later. I went to a handful of these as well.

The way that the community rallied around our friend was incredible. Strangers, too, came from all corners of the world to pay their respects to our fellow community member.

It was beautiful. And I was so proud to be a part of the large group of people who reached out to show him that he was loved, and not alone.

And to my friend, if you are reading this right now, know that you are still so, so loved. ❤

And now you know my secret. Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan

The Lovely Blog Award

Hello, friends! I am super excited, and totally honored, to tell you that I’ve been nominated for the Lovely Blog Award! As some of you have seen, I was also recently nominated for the Liebster Award, which was so great! I had seen the Lovely Blog Award floating around, given to some very deserving individuals, and now I’ve made the cut! I was nominated by the fantastic Lady CAS, who I adore entirely. I am so excited and humbled. Thanks again, Lady!

The Rules For Award Acceptance:
1. Each nominee must thank the person who nominated them (including a link to their blog).
2. List the rules, and post the blog award badge in the post.
3. Add 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the Lovely Blog Award, and notify them that they have been nominated.

The official rules dictate that I tell you seven facts about myself, and I had to think hard about this one, because I’ve already posted two other posts with 30 total facts about myself, haha. After taking some time to think of a few more, here we are, and here are my seven facts!

7 Facts About Me:
1. Up until the age of 17 or 18, I hated my name. I’m still not a fan, honestly. It is spelled “Janise“, but pronounced the same as “Janice“. You’d think that would be obvious, but every teacher that I’ve ever had, from kindergarten up to my senior year, called me “Jan-EE-se“. Repeatedly. It became a running joke, but I hated it so much. I usually just go by “Jan” now.
2. I went to college in Newfoundland, Canada for one year. I was studying Psychology, which is something I have always been passionate about, but had to drop out due to financial problems. I still owe the school money, nearly 7 years later, and I have fears that I will never get to go back to school, or have a career.
3. I love Harry Potter. I can honestly say that the Harry Potter series played a huge role in shaping me into the woman that I am today, for so many reasons. Not ashamed!
4. I played the clarinet from ages 9-16. I originally wanted to play the trumpet, but my mom wouldn’t let me. I ended up being really good at the clarinet, and was selected as first chair every year. I was even specially chosen to attend several district music festivals (two of which required an audition), and was selected as first chair in all 3 music festivals, beating out over a dozen other talented clarinetists. Playing the clarinet was one of the only things that gave me a sense of pride, yet I foolishly threw it away, quitting band at the age of 16 for petty, stupid reasons. I’ve regretted it ever since.
5. I have mild social anxiety. I no longer experience anxiety attacks when in public, and have come quite a long way, but I still don’t enjoy being around other people. Family, friends, or strangers. Unfortunately, nobody seems to understand this, and often mistake my anxiety for rudeness, which only makes it worse.
6. I don’t really care for coffee, and I don’t like bacon. I decided to put these two facts into one, because they are equally addictive, and I have gotten equal amounts of hate for both. Come at me, bro.
7. I played World of Warcraft for 9ish years, but had to take a 1.5 year break when I was without a computer and internet. I came back only for a few months, after my son was born, but quit when I realized that there was absolutely nothing left for me to come back to. I’ve been drifting through the internet, alone, ever since.

Whew, that was fun! To finish off this post, I’d like to nominate the following 15 individuals for the Lovely Blog Award. I wish I could nominate everyone that I follow… but I can’t. Sorry.

My 15 Nominees For the Lovely Blog Award:
1. Jleigh
2. Supergirl2000
3. Amy
4. John Jr.
5. Gloria
6. The NYC Mom
7. Heather
8. The Flip of the Switch
9. Tessa
10. Matt
11. Accidental Hipster Mum
12. Life Beyond Mommy
13. Annette
14. Everythings Rosie and George
15. Paintbox Mum

Man, I need to follow more blogs. I apologize if this is the second or third time that any of you have been nominated, feel free not to participate if you don’t want to, I won’t be offended! I just wanted to recognize and share some fantastic blogs with you lovely folks.

I do hope that the rest of you guys accept and share! It is so nice that these awards exist, and I am so honored to have been recognized and nominated for two separate ones. They are also so fun to participate in, especially when I’ve got a little bit of writer’s block going on! Be sure to check out my fellow writer friends, and make a connection! Let’s all support each other. Thanks again, Lady CAS, for the nomination.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan

The Liebster Award

What is the Liebster Award?

The Liebster Award is a new-comer award given by bloggers to other bloggers, it creates a great platform for new blogs to be discovered and build communications. The best thing about this award is, it creates a lot of encouragement and support within our blogging community.

I had never heard of this award before, and was pleasantly surprised to be nominated by the fantastic Christina (aka justbluedutch)! I am so excited to answer some questions, and nominate 10 more individuals for this award. I also urge you all to check out Christina’s blog, which is filled with beautiful images and words about living life to the fullest. She is just wonderful. Thank you again, Christina! 🙂

Now, for those who have not heard about the award, here are the rules:

Thank your nominator.
Share the award on your blog.
Answer 10 questions asked to you.
Ask 10 questions to 10 new nominees (who have less than 300 followers).
Notify them via social media.

Here are the ten questions that the lovely Christina asked of her ten nominees, including myself, which I am more than happy to answer!

What have you learned from Blogging?
Patience. Lots of patience. I’ve dabbled in blogging off and on for years, but have had the hardest time sticking with it. In the last year, my life has changed so much, and I’m constantly surrounded by inspiration for writing. I’ve finally found my groove, and I hope I’m able to stick with it this time!
What do you love about the place where you live at the moment ?
Unfortunately, not much. This area holds a lot of bad memories for me, and I would love nothing more than to move away before something else tethers us here. The best thing, I would have to say, is that Kyle’s family is nearby.
Where is your happy place?
Deep within the pages of a good book. Or buried deep within the warmth of my covers.
How do you keep your posts original & interesting?
I don’t know that they are original OR interesting! I write about my life, and what I’ve experienced as a new mother. The most original and interesting thing would definitely have to be my dream journal. I am lucky enough to experience vivid dreams, which I am usually able to remember. It makes for fun writing!
Where do you get your inspiration to write?
My day-to-day life, as well as my brilliant baby boy.
If you had to travel to an isolated location, far from civilization, to live for 2 months without internet, name three books that you would bring with you to read.
Oh, man. I’ll be honest, since having my son (a year and 2 days ago), I haven’t picked up a single book, and I miss it! I have no idea what books are even on the shelve these days! And I’m kind of weird about rereading books… so I’d probably just sunbathe on the beach and relax!
Would you still blog if you knew nobody was going to read it?
Of course. First and foremost, I blog for me. Being able to articulate my thoughts is very therapeutic for me. If people enjoy reading about it, then that’s great!
Who is your favorite Blogger at the moment?
Too many to list!
What is your vision for your Blog for the next 3 years?
I honestly have no idea! Who knows if I’ll even be writing 3 months from now!
What is the best thing about your Blog?
Hmm… my personal favorite is my dream journal. I enjoy looking back and reading through them, laughing about how bizarre my mind is.

The following bloggers/blogs are my super awesome nominees for the Liebster Award, and I hope they are as psyched as I am!

And here are my ten questions for my ten nominees:

If you have someone in mind, who would you say has been your greatest writing influence in terms of your own writing style?
Aside from blogging, what are some of your other hobbies?
What are three books that you have read more than three times?
What is your favorite genre of music? Does the music you listen to affect your writing in any way?
Do you find writing by hand more preferable, or typing on the keyboard?
Do you consider yourself a full-time writer, or a part-time writer?
What time of day is most productive for you in terms of finding time to write?
If you were to start writing a book right now, what would it be about?
What is your favorite topic to write about?
What advice would you give to other aspiring writers?

This was so much fun! Once again, a huge thanks to Christina for nominating me, and putting my name out there! I can’t wait to read what my fellow newbie writers in the community post.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan