10 Years of Typepad Blogging Contest: Congratulations to our Winners!
June 28, 2013
When we announced our special 10th Birthday Blogging Contest, inviting Typepad bloggers to write about why they blog, and how blogging has changed their lives, we never expected to receive so many touching, inspiring, and thoughtful entries.
We won't lie - judging this contest was tough! The three winning posts are heartfelt, passionate, and really express what blogging with Typepad is all about. We're sharing their stories with you today, both to celebrate them as winners, and in hopes that they will inspire our other bloggers as much as they have inspired us.
First Place - Grace and Light
Blogging pushes me to look for beauty in the moments of my life. I find myself looking at life with an editor's eye. While this sometimes means that I turn a blind eye to (or at least omit from my blog posts) the less "pretty" bits of life, it also means that I am particularly sensitive to all of the wonderful blessings that surround me.
Blogging encourages me to be a self examiner. It feels a bit like therapy (or what I imagine therapy would feel like). I write a lifestyle blog and that means that I get to dole out little pieces of my life on a daily basis. Every day I consider what to share.
What's better than big doses of self examination? Turning them into presentable pieces of writing. It is one thing to take time for reflection and quite another to put those reflections into words. It is a process that I am still learning, but I feel like it is taking me somewhere. Somewhere good.
Second Place - Special Needs Mom
Women everywhere have always talked about motherhood and connected with a common bond; in the produce aisle at the grocery store, in the waiting room at the pediatrician’s office, the hair salon, and thanks to blogs and online communities.. on our laptops and Ipads. We are experiencing moments of affirmation, understanding, even comfort if that is what we seek and it’s happening when we share our stories.
Third Place - XO Panda
I love that blogging has gotten me to do things that I normally wouldn't have done. Held me accountable to challenges I've created for myself. Done things so that I can share. It makes me get up an hour earlier to go take pictures at the beach on a Monday morning on a clear, beautiful Southern California day. How I can have a case of the Monday's when my Monday includes going to the beach? It makes me think of projects and recipes I'd like to try, DIYs to share and probably the most significant thing, forced me to be okay with taking pictures of myself.
Because we received so many wonderful entries, we extended the contest and selected three special Honorable Mentions. These folks will receive a Typepad t-shirt along with a month of Typepad service.
Honorable Mentions:
Remember, everyone who entered will receive a free month of Typepad service, and we'll be applying those credits today. We'd like to express our thanks to everyone who entered the contest, and everyone who reached out via email, Twitter, and Facebook to let us know how blogging has touched your lives and how proud you are to blog with Typepad. We know that we're the real winners, here - we can't thank you enough for blogging with us, and we can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.