Positively Wonderful!

“I hope one day you'll believe in yourself.”

Gevlon wrote those words in a comment on my blog the other day, where he also argued logically why I should. I must admit that my eyes turned a bit wet. I’ve got some tendencies to pick on myself excessively. There’s nothing wrong in being humble and questioning yourself from time to time, but doing it all the time is destructive and pointless. Gevlon, you help me to see things a bit clearer. Thank you.

Now I’ve got another reason to believe in myself. A few days ago I received an award from a blog that I think most of you haven’t read or heard about.

It’s a blog called Rick’s Place, where Wildwynd writes about his experiences in game, but also about his real life struggles. He’s got more than his share of sorrows and burdens and he shares his thoughts and feelings about it openly and skinless. Whenever I read it, it becomes evident to me that Azeroth really is a place where people can recover and get a well deserved break, even for just a few hours, when we’re facing one of those life crises which eventually will occur to everyone. Slipping into WoW doesn’t necessarily mean that we neglect Real Life Responsibilities. It’s rather the opposite – this is an escape, a pocket of air for people who are fighting to survive at all.

I’ve been reading Rick’s Place for a while, writing a comment now and then, and obviously it meant something. Wildwynd has initiated a new award, which he calls Positively Wonderful. Since he’s the one making it up from the beginning, he has also set up the rules:

“Link one blog that has had a positive influence on your life, blogging or game. Write what the positive effect was and hope it gets passed on."

He picked me for his award, and I can only say that I’m very, very proud, especially when I read his motivation. I really don’t know what to say, more than that I’ll keep this achievement close to my heart and do whatever I can to deserve it.

Now it’s time to pass this reward on to someone else. There are many blogs out there which means a lot to me. But there's one that has a special place in my heart:

Gnomeaggeddon

I know this doesn’t come as a big surprise to anyone. Because, as Gnomeaggedon put it:

There are two things you can be sure of in this life:

• If Larisa has to tag someone, I will be on the list.
• If I have to tag someone, then she will be on my list.

But expected or not, this needs to be said: Gnomeaggedon, you are by far the most persistent, loving, cheerful and caring supporter I have in the Blogosphere. From the first day you made your blog you gave the PPI a special “recommended link” spot. You constantly link to me whenever you can. In September you even wrote a special tribute post, highlightening some of my older posts, just to make sure that new readers didn’t miss them. You silly old gnome! I don’t really know what strange spell you're under, but to be honest, if it wasn’t for all the love you’ve gave me during the passed year, I’m not sure I’d still be blogging.

And apart from that you’re running a wonderful blog of your own. You show me and everyone else that it’s perfectly doable to have tons of fun in the game even if real life and time restrictions prevent you from raiding. It’s all up us how we choose to see the game – as a boring grind or as a wonderful, sparkling adventure. You manage to find the adventure and a humoristic perspective in places where no one else bothered to look. Your blog sparkles more than any quest item in Azeroth.

You are Positively Wonderful!