Pay It Forward Fridays came from this post by Emily Guido. The idea is to feature a blogger or author on Fridays and give them a little shoutout. Anyone goes as long as they’re interested.
I’ve received an incredible amount of support from bloggers, authors and people I’ve met on line who didn’t know me and were just very kind, supportive souls. And, when I read that post by Emily Guido, I thought: time to give back.
I loved this quote from Emily’s mother:
“I cast a couple of pieces of bread on the water and the waves bring me back a ham sandwich.”
Karma is a beautiful thing.
Today I’m focusing on Part Time Monster.
Part Time Monster is “Part Time Monster is a collaborative and personal blog focusing on books, girls, monsters, and sociocultural commentary.” However, the main ‘Monster’ is Diana Gordon. She’s the mom in the picture.
She says of herself: “I am the mother of a five year old son (the Little Jedi), partner of an independent filmmaker, and guardian of a rescue pup (Tank). I’m also a tremendous nerd trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. I am a sufferer of panic disorder, a curator of the weird, a lover of the beautiful, and a pop culture aficionado. Writing here will thus feature an array of content; I am sometimes a monster.”
However, Part Time Monster also has contributors who need recognition. They are: “Brandie Ashe, Annie Bass, Jeremy DeFatta, Gene’O Gordon, Dawne Kennedy, Lyn Vicknair and Cat Whigham.” For more on them, go here.
This blog has several really amazing features that happen every week:
As well, it also discusses Pop Culture topics with everything from books to gaming, has Series on LOTR and amazing photography and has been Featured on Freshly Pressed because of its incredible talent and content.
If that were all, this would be an amazing blog, but there’s actually more. Part Time Monster wants to encourage healthy interaction and acceptance. Check out their policy on comments:
“We rarely delete comments or flag people without explanation. But we do reserve the right. It’s about maintaining the safety and friendliness of the space.
We believe in freedom of expression, but in the event you trigger the More Robust Policy, don’t waste your time submitting a dozen messages and comments about your freedom of speech. If it happens, and you really want to work things out, it is best to disengage for awhile and come back later.
In short, we’re not the government, and our front page is not a public street corner. The Monster is a little more like a house party to which everyone on the Internet is invited. All are welcome, but no one is allowed to break furniture or demean other guests.
Comments deemed unproductive or inappropriate due to flaming, harassment, name-calling, trolling, or spam will not be published. Comments that add to the conversation in thoughtful and engaging ways are encouraged.”
It’s a blog that encourages self-acceptance and promotes equality. They have an incredible feature for women called Feminist Friday. It’s a very important topic and this blog treats it with both dignity and respect. I had an insight into what drives someone to choose this topic when I read this beautiful post by Diana. I can’t paste the entire thing in here but I want to give you a taste of the incredible posts from this blog.
“…At 31, my body is scarred. I’m heavier than I’ve been probably ever in my life. My ankles and knee swell after high-impact exercise, and though I’ve stopped smoking, I’m still out of shape enough to be breathless after exercising in small bouts.
But I’ve come to see the value in what my body has been able to do, and I can forgive it for its shortcomings.
I’m choosing not just body acceptance, but body compassion and body love.
For me, this means holding myself accountable for what I put into my body now but not punishing myself for my past. It means that when I make a mistake (or 5 days of mistakes, like when Mardi Gras happens and then my birthday happens), I don’t beat myself up over it.
I have to re-choose body compassion every day.
My instinct is to get discouraged when I don’t meet the goals I set for myself, especially as concerns diet and exercise. But body compassion sets me up to say “oh well” and move along after a screw up. In some ways that’s more difficult for me.
But I choose body compassion.
I choose it because I need to be compassionate with my body before I can truly love my body. I choose it because I have to remember the life that my body has been through before that I can get to the life I want.
I choose body compassion. I choose me.”
Isn’t it incredible? I was so moved by this post. And that’s just one example of many on this blog. Why not check it out?
Taylor Grace 