One of the things that has surprised me most about the world of blogging is how much there is to learn – from other people’s blogs, from your readers, and from the material you write yourself (I don’t know about you but I often find myself answering my own, hidden, questions as I write.) One thing’s for sure – whatever the critics might say – blog reading and writing is a great prompt for getting us to think.
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking bloggers out there (her blog is full of the most amazing material on the workings of the brain) so I was surprised and honoured to find that she had named me for the Thinking Blogger Awards.
I’m one of five that she’s listed – the others are Word Sell, Branding and Marketing, Own Your Brand and Design Your Writing Life. I’m familiar with Word Sell (a great read) but not the others – so more to add to my list of reading material (= brain food).
The challenge is then to come up with your own list of five nominations: the blogs that really make you think. It’s hard, because each one gives you something (else why would you read it?). But there are some that really do give my brain a good workout – and here they are:
1. Roger von Oech at Creative Think, whose questions, prompts and challenges get you thinking creatively
2. Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand, who gets you thinking about leadership – of teams but also of yourself – in a very natural way, using stories and anecdotes from everyday life
3. Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud, who gets us thinking about our ability to be happy right now.
4. Liz Strauss at Successful Blog who gets me thinking about how to use great questions to stimulate conversation, and to help us to get to know who we are
5. Rosa Say at Managing with Aloha, who has started me thinking about the values of aloha and how to apply them in my life. The start of an amazing journey of discovery.
Robyn’s blog, I hasten to add, would be on the list had she not already been tagged…
If you don’t already know these blogs why not dip into them and give them try. I guarantee you’ll get some interesting and unusual food for thought.
Here are the participation rules for the Thinking Blogger Award:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link back to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ (I know you’ll want to!)
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{ 17 comments }
Hi Joanna, Congratulations on being a fellow thinker! I’m really enjoying your blog.
Aloha Joanna, and mahalo (thank you) for the nomination! You are right that this will be hard to do, and you’ll have to give me a day or two to compose my post, however this must be one of the most fascinating new memes to emerge if one considers how varied the ways in which we think … it certainly is a jewel for picking up some new feed subscriptions!
Ho’omaika’i ‘ana Joanna (congratulations!)on your Thinking Award – very well deserved.
Hi Joanna,
Congratulations to you (and thanks for the kind words to me).
Good luck to you and your readers!
Hello, and thank you so much for visiting and thinking of me as a thinker. I believe I was tagged a while back, and honestly didn’t get that it was a tag (sure you want to call me a thinker?). All that is to say I owe both of you a response!
I will happily take this on. Glad Robyn is on your list, she’s amazing.
Best wishes!!
Hi Rosa, you’re right, it’s a great way to reflect on the different ways that we think (something that I have been learning about from Robyn McMaster’s site). I look forward to seeing your list – but I know it will be hard for you to choose from so many members of your learning community
Joanna
Roger and Brad – thanks for your comments and feedback – and of course the brain food in your own sites
Joanna
Hi Lisa, it’s good to hear from you. I guess you were just busy thinking about something else
Joanna
http://theengagingbrand.typepad.com/the_engaging_brand_/2007/06/joanna-wood-at-.html
Joanna Wood at Coaching Wizardry is a great contributor to this blog and I was delighted to see that she had nominated The Engaging Brand for the Thinking Blogger Awards. Thank you Joanna and glad that my blog helps even
Hi Joanna
Congrats on being a Thinking Blogger. Rightly so. And thanks for your own suggestions. I’d not come across Creative Think so I’ll be checking that out soon.
Joanna, keep running with all your wonderful talents. I’ll need to check out some of your recommendations since they’re new to me. These memes are a great way to find bloggers that are really tops! And, thanks so much for your kind words.
You’ve a fine fine blog here Joanna – congratulations on your newest award
– what a terrific 5 blogs you choose!
Thanks everyone for your kind words – and hello and welcome to Bob!
This is certainly proving a great way for us to exchange thoughtful and thought-provoking links. I’m enjoying watching other people’s suggestions too.
@ Emma, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Creative Think. I first came across Roger’s work when I read “Expect the Unexpected or you won’t find it – a creativity tool based on the ancient wisdom of Heraclitus” and got hooked on his approach. I was then delighted to find he had a blog (and is a therefore a ‘real’ person who also calls by and comments on other people’s blogs!)
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
Thanks so much for this! And what a hard task – how to choose?!?! I promise I will pass this on though in the coming days.
all the best,
Hilda.
It’s okay Hilda, I guess you’re still floating on cloud nine listening to all those songs that make your heart sing
Joanna
I’ll be back!
I have been very absent from my blog of late. I haven’t been reading or writing as things going on in my personal life at the moment are requiring an inordinate amount of my time and energy. Any time I
Sunday M?lama: Aug12′07 Spirit Spilling
Preface ~ If this is your first visit to Managing with Aloha Coaching, you can read of our intention with Sunday M?lama here: Sunday M?lama: A Beginning. A trackback there will easily help you return here. Back in June, Joanna
I wanted to tell you that you have a very gracious writing style. I actually determine this an interesting matter and showing the talent.
Wonderful thought!
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