I asked:

Which, I fully acknowledge, is a total ripoff from Dora the Explorer. But I PROMISE I won’t ask your kids a question in a minute, and then tell them that I want them to say the answer LOUDER.

(What a cunt! Who authorized that in a children’s show? As if I need my kid saying ANYTHING LOUDER.)

Ahem.

I thought you might like to see the responses I got…

Holy.Shit.

Can I just say, it’s really freaktasting hard to do all those damn image captures and links when you’re drunk? Because, um, yeah.

I’m not even going to tell you how many times I had to correct the typos in that last sentence. The first time I typed it, it said something about fromage crimpage when I’m stank.  Or something of that nature.

During my quest to find out what the everyone’s favorire part of their day was, @undomesticdiva queried the same back at me. My asnwer was:

It’s true. And it works pretty much any time you try it, in case you’re wondering.

What was your favorite part of today?

And that was true. In fact, for some time now, I haven’t had the mojo to do a lot of things that I used to do. The only thing I’ve really had mojo for is sleeping.

I could sleep for lifetimes.

And while I was half asleep mentally and emotionally, I asked some fabulous bloggers to step up and provide wonderful content for you – and, oh my, they did! I am humbled and amazed at the response I got from those I asked. In fact, there are still guest posts waiting to be published here. I can’t say thank you enough to these wonderful people.

I made a page containing list of past and future guest posters, if you’d like to look them over.

The thing is, lately, I can feel Ms. Mojo poking back around her old stomping grounds. And as I’m waking up slowly from this coma, I’m feeling like things are just not as they should be around here.

I’ve missed PSBN for months. That makes me sad, and I hate it. My blogging schedule has been here, there, and everywhere.

It’s time for me to exert control over mah blawg again. I want to get things back in order so that you don’t come over here feeling like you were heading to a bake sale but ended up in an S&M Bar.

(But don’t think I didn’t see you grinning at the black leather-clad lady holding the whip. Mm-hm. I saw ya. But I won’t tell. Maybe.)

So, I have a handful of plans to get my groove back and have some fun with you guys again. I’d love to get your feedback.

I do this blogging thing for me, but I do it for you, too. If I didn’t, this would all be in a journal in my nightstand. So let me know what you think.

Please vote on the polls that go along with these questions, and I’d love to have any suggestions/elaborations you’d like to give me in the comments on this post!

PSBN starts back up this coming Monday. Will you post along with me?

The “I Wonder” Series has been dead – should I start it up again?

The BEWB Vote was fun – should we do it again?

Would anyone be intersted in a Bi-Annual Photo Contest with prizes?

I still have guest posts to share with you. But to offer some consistency, I’m thinking of starting a weekly Guest Post Day on Tuesdays called, “Lazy Douche Enablers”

*note: this poll allows you to choose more than one answer. you can also choose “other” and write a comment, but keep it to a few words, or it will get cut off and I won’t be able to see it all

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PS: Thank you so very much to all of you who voted on my question about whether I should try to sell my handmade paper.  The response really overwhelmed me – 95% of you chose one of the options that directs me to sell the paper. So many awesome comments and suggestions, too.  Thanks so much, guys! I will let you all know when the Etsy Shop is up and running with product.

There is no phone, laptop, car, house, etc that is worth me going out like that.

Personally, I think it’s great that this young lady is unharmed, and that the criminal was apprehended.

However, I do NOT think she was “brave” or “courageous” as I have heard some people in the media refer to her. I think she was “foolish” and “very fortunate.”

But maybe I’m just all hormonal from pregnancy and I’m thinking life is far more precious than material belongings. Crazy me! Or maybe I’m not only a lazy douche but also a total wuss-bag pussy-baby and the idea of a gun pointed at me just makes me weak and wimpy. “Give me your phone and your laptop!” “Okay, would you like my car, too? Please don’t hurt me!”

Do you think it’s better to hand over your crap so you won’t get hurt… or do you think the criminal is more likely to kill you once they’ve got your stuff so you can’t ID them?

What do you think you would you have done?

In a past email Jenny sent, she also mentioned that the best thing she did to help her heal was to let herself feel all the emotions that resulted from the heartbreak of her miscarriages. I think that’s important to mention, too. And this applies to any kind of heartache or grief, any emotionally tumultuous experience you might have. I think tempering yourself between these pieces of advice – fully experiencing the pain while still remembering your blessings – is the best place to be.

We can’t push down the painful feelings and just wash, rinse, and repeat the “be grateful for what you have, be grateful for what you have” to ourselves over and over again, as if validating the painful emotions would be a sign that we’re not grateful for what we have. (I know that Jenny understands that, because she shared with me that allowing herself to experience those emotions fully was the only way she’d be sure she would actually really heal in the long run.) But I wanted to make the point here, too. Because I think allowing yourself to be in pain when you are in pain is just as important to remember as consciously taking note of your blessings and being grateful for what you have.

Obviously, I feel that these are good pieces of advice – some of it is Jenny’s (that I agree with) and some of it is my own. And I clearly wouldn’t pass it on to you if I didn’t think it would do someone some good.

So, for today’s installment of “I Wonder…”

What’s the best piece of unsolicited advice you’ve ever gotten?

What’s the worst piece of unsolicited advice you’ve ever gotten?

But I digress.  Wait, can you digress before you even start really talking about a thing? *mentally scanning*  Okay, yes.  Because it was a mental digression.  I was thinking of the thing, but then…. oh, nevermind.

Okay.  Are you still reading? 

I wonder about things constantly.  All day long my mind jumps around to different ideas, ponderings, and musings. 

And I wonder what other people think about the stuff I think.  (And whether I’ll ever be able to write sentences that don’t sound like a 3rd grader composed them.)

It’s kind of why I enjoy writing here.  Because I can vomit all that stuff onto the screen and get feedback, suggestions, etc.  Sometimes, though… I wonder whether people are thinking things that they really want to say, but are afraid to say.  And that makes me sad.

And I don’t mean rude things, or childish things.  I’m not talking about being negative or picking fights.  Or calling people names… like, oh, “lazy” and “douche,” you know, just for example.

What I mean is really honest commenting, introspective stuff, sharing, discussion.  I think I’m craving more of that.  Know what I mean?  Not that you guys don’t do that, many of you really do, and I appreciate it.  In fact, I really appreciate every comment I get.  I know I don’t respond to every single one – I certainly wish I had the time to do so, and I do read them all, and respond to what I can.  Also, I know that a lot of you read but just don’t have time to comment… or comment, but you don’t have time to get all deep.  TOooootally understand that.

I want this to be a place where my readers feel really comfortable saying how they feel.  I’d like to be a person you find approachable and fair.  So I really welcome you to tell me when you disagree or to call me out when you think I’m wrong (without being rude, because that is entirely possible to do, I swear, and I have a hard time doing it, myself, sometimes, so this has weight, heh). 

I will admit that i have a tender heart, and I can be hurt… but I appreciate honesty in such a great way that I don’t even know how to put the right words right here on this part of the page in such a way that you would understand how much I appreciate it.  I promise to put my big-girl pants on (and save my silly pants for until I’m done) and take the constructive criticism maturely. (Okay, at least 99%  95% of the time.)

I’m going to start a series here called, “I Wonder” and it’s basically going to be me asking you guys what you think about topics that cross my mind.  Sometimes they’ll just be really silly things, and we can all have a good laugh.  Sometimes it might be more serious stuff that I just really want to hear your perspectives on.

I invite you to share with me and one another and I really hope you accept that invitation.  We talk a lot about building community around the blogosphere.  While that is not the only reason I blog, I am also very much into that. 

Today, I’m wondering… have you ever really wanted to say something on a blog, but were afraid to for some reason?  Would you be willing to talk about it here?  You don’t have to be specific (but you can feel free to be as specific as you want).  What was it about, and what stopped you from saying what you wanted to say?  Did you regret it later?

Additionally (but I’d really like an answer to the above in comments):
Has it ever happened to you here?  I’m going to add a poll here, so you can answer anonymously.  But you can also answer in comments.  I just want to get as many honest responses as possible.  So, if you’re feedreadin’ and you would like to answer the poll, it’s here!  You just can’t see it until you click over.

[I also welcome you to email me at thelotuscarroll@gmail.com if you want to talk about anything further in private.  You can do that anytime, by the way.  I just request you give me a little time to respond.  And, as always, if I don't respond after a few days, nudge me! I may have lost or overlooked your e-mail.  I'm very human!]

Thanks, in advance, for sharing yourselves with me.  After all, I’m a psychologist at heart, and by degree.  I have an inherent interest in people.  That’s you!