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Are You Finally Ready to Dive into May Contests at Nothing but the best for you all!
Be sure to fan your favorite contests and contest owners!  |
Looking for lists of companies to use / not use for self-publishing and related services? Check these out! Writer Beware Best and Worst Self-Publishing Services |
| Actually looking for a company to print our calendar for Clubhouse for a reasonable price. Clubhouse is a non-profit organization that provides a day program and other services to clients of Community Mental Health. Our fundraisers allow us to go on outings to various places and to get supplies for various activities such as a craft session or prizes for our bingo games we have at our celebrations for holidays. We are putting together a calendar for 2027 that will exhibit our members artistic talents...... Hopefully someone out there might know where we could find a company to help us with this endeavor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. |
S🤦♂️  - I haven't even considered self publishing or even finished a book and I still fell into that rabbit hole... my brain was just like "ooh, illegal companies!"  |
S🤦♂️ is looking for clicks. He actually makes his living with his writing and we can help him out by just clicking on 5 quick and easy links. No need to actually spend time reading the info or listening to the songs if you're not interested.  Every click from a new IP address helps him, so feel free to borrow your spouse's phone, friend's laptop, etc.  "20260506 External Writerings April 2026" |
Hey, MB Lovers! Get a brand new exclusive MB for only 50k. When they come out, they'll be 100k! Friendly Neighborhood Derg posted "Note: LAST CHANCE!!! Sale Ends Midnight Urgent Der..." |
| Part 3: Final part in my explanation of my dissertation. When writing a dissertation, you choose a "lens," generally a theory, to "view" your topic through. I chose Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy. See Part 1 in "Note: Part 1: Since I've had a few people ask,..." See Part 2 in Note #1188245 (IDK why the 2nd note won't link. But you can find it from the 1st note.) For those who don't know, Viktor Frankl is a famous psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camps. While there, he noticed those who found meaning in their life there tended to do better and survive longer. Whether that meaning was revenge against the Nazis or simply to find their family and be together again, it didn't matter. Having a reason to carry on is what made the difference. Logotherapy has 3 main aspects: Will to Meaning: The primary motivation in life is to find meaning. Meaning in All Circumstances: Life has meaning even in suffering, pain, and death. Freedom of Will: We have the freedom to choose our attitudes, even when our circumstances are not in our control. I think coaching (or therapy) using a lens like this is very helpful, so with the assistance of my dissertation chair, I selected this one. We all have suffering in some aspect of our life or we wouldn't want/need coaching (or therapy). As we age, life often becomes increasingly difficult. But if people in concentration camps could survive better using the ideas later formed into Logotherapy, I think we can, too. It's why I enjoy focusing on older adults as a life coach. |
| Part 2: This is a continuation of "Note: Part 1: Since I've had a few people ask,..." where I'm discussing my dissertation topic from my PhD. Anyway, while coaching, I had questions about how to help my older clients and turned to research, only to discover there was so little on life coaching older adults, especially if it wasn't about health coaching. Thus, in an effort to bring attention to this situation and hopefully drive more research into other areas, I've decided to do a critical analysis of the literature -- a unique dissertation style my school allows. I'm critically analyzing coaching research focused on older adults and demonstrating that there is much more health coaching literature for older adults than regular life coaching. I haven't done the math yet, but I'd expect it's about 90% vs. 10%. with perhaps another 15% of that 90% touching on some aspects of life beyond health, such as healthcare costs or the impact of poor health on family relationships. There's MUCH more to the life of an older person than just their health, people! When my dissertation is complete, I do hope to be able to also chop it up into a smaller paper and submit it to a peer-reviewed journal for professional publication. But we'll see about that later. I may be sick of the topic by then. Hahaha! To read the first part, see "Note: Part 1: Since I've had a few people ask,..." The final part of my explanation, where I describe the lens or framework used for my dissertation, see Note #1188248 Ugh. I can't get them to link for some reason. They appear linked in the WYSIWYG, but aren't when I post. You guys are smart. I'm sure you can find them. lol |
| Charity Marie - , I'm so sorry for all you've been through, but you are right. There will always be grief. It's what we do with it that makes the difference. I'm glad you found the strength to not just survive, but to make the commitment to your future to be the best you that you can be. Well done! |
Schnujo  - I still have days when nothing helps. But one thing the counselor told me was to have one small thing or goal each day. Just one thing. I still have days when I don't get that one thing done. I had to wait 15 months to get my husband laid to rest at Arlington. That was a huge goal. It's the small goals that cause struggle, the things he would have helped me with I guess. There is so much that I never anticipated. It shouldn't be a surprise, but it is because I avoided thinking about how it would be if he went first. |
♥HOOves♥  - Oh Hooves, that's so hard. I haven't been exactly where you are but I remember when I was divorced for the second time, it was a bit of a shock to return to my full independence. I had gotten a bit used to more of a safety net and some form of support. Having someone to talk through things with. The companionship. Despite the relationship being toxic and bad for me, at least I had that. It was at least six months before I felt stronger on my own, and probably a full year before the fear left me. I started to relearn my strengths and navigating the world on my own independently again. I wasn't dependent on him as much as I was used to having a structure there that was gone overnight. And it felt scary even though I knew I could and would handle anything that came my way. We'd built a life together over 12 years and the world looked and felt different without that framework. But eventually, it got easier. Now I have someone in my life and am rebuilding differently, and consciously avoiding being too dependent. I'm keeping my independence within the relationship and so is he. I fought too long and too hard to gain this new strength, I'm not giving it up. I hope you get to that point too one day when you can look back and see how far you've journeyed and be proud of your progress. That's what's ahead for you. One day. |
| Part 1: Since I've had a few people ask, I thought I'd share my dissertation topic. (BTW, for those who didn't know, I'm working on my PhD in counseling & psychological studies with a focus on life coaching.) I'm a certified life coach and while I'll coach nearly anyone, I do tend to focus on coaching older adults as I have a master's degree in gerontology -- the study of aging and older adults. (I also have a master's degree in social work, a bachelor's in psychology, and a bachelor's in special education -- behavioral disorders...and English, with a focus on teaching English as a second language, but that doesn't really help my life coaching as much. lol) Because of my education, I feel I'm uniquely equipped to life coach older people, a population that many coaches either ignore or are ill-suited to work with. (Though, again, I'll take on almost any aged client with my youngest being 18 when we started.) This has become longer than expected and I know folks often don't read longer Newsfeed posts, so I'll break this up into a couple of them. To read the next part, see "Note: Part 2: This is a continuation of [Link to N...". and Note #1188248 Ugh. I can't get the other note to link. Sorry. You can just find it on the Newsfeed or in my Notebook in my port. |
I don't know if I need your help (or someone like you) but I thought you might be interested, with your education and all, in me. I've been through a lot and to tell the truth this isn't even half of it.......
Please. Anyone is welcome to take a glance or two at any time. |
May Contests Are Now Available
Check them out!
Be sure to fan your favorites! |
Not much time left in April to enter
You can do it!
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| When I was doing my own challenge, I constantly fell short from slackness, Angelica Weatherby- Rainsprout. lol Good thing I allow catching up. I spent most of the year I did my own challenge trying to do catch-up entries. I did finish in 12 months, but only barely. Hahaha! |
April 30 is Silvern   's 1-year anniversary.  To celebrate, she's sending a gift to all her current fans.  If you aren't a fan yet, she's also sending 1k to all new fans who fan her within the next 4 days.  Remember, to become a fan, click the person's heart and select the option to fan them. Their heart will turn yellow/gold. Check her heart in the 1st line to see if you're a fan. |
| Don't feel bad about fanning someone just to get GPs. That's 100% WHY they give fans GPs! lol Only feel bad if you fan them, get the GPs, then unfan them. That's not cool. But I don't think either of you is like that. FYI, I pay 10k to both new fans of me and new fans of "The Contest Challenge" , in case there's anyone interested who isn't already a fan. |
Time is getting short for your April entry in
Get started before it's too late!
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There's still time to enter the April round of
but you'd better hurry!
Find your favorite contest or prompt and enter today!   |
In case you haven't heard, 🌝 HuntersMoon  has passed away.  ~Odyssey  shared it in "Note: My heart is broken! Our beloved [Link To User ..." |
If you want, you can pray to God for the departed soul of Ken through the following forum: -
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I just had a 30 minute conversation with a retired 2-Star General (Major General)! He now runs Vets4Warriors, an amazing hotline for veterans (or active duty/reserves) to call in times of crisis. And after you call, they continue to follow up with you (unless you ask them not to) to ensure you're still doing okay. I had a conversation with him because I'm looking to put them in my Will. They probably saved my life. When I called as I was getting out of the Army in 2016, they talked as long as I needed. The other 4 or 5 hotlines I called wouldn't talk to me for various reasons. I wasn't actively suicidal or they would only talked for a couple of minutes. Some wouldn't talk to me because I wasn't really active duty anymore since I was on my terminal leave as I was getting out. Others wouldn't because I was technically still active duty since I hadn't fully been medically retired yet. Vets4Warriors talked as long as I needed. Then, they called me a few days later! And a week later for a few weeks, then every couple of weeks for a few weeks, then once a month for a bit, then quarterly! They stretched out 1 phone call to them for a year! I felt SO CARED FOR! I found it incredible that this organization did so much for me when I felt abandoned by everyone else! I 100% love them and highly recommend them!!! For any US military -- regardless of your discharge or if you are in or out, no matter your branch or when / how long you served, if you need help, please call them! They are all Veterans and 70% have also deployed. They have people from all eras, as far back and the Korean War, working there. You'll find a caring, compassionate ear who understands what you're going through. I'm sure they've heard it all before, even if they didn't go through it, themselves. If you need them, call them! https://vets4warriors.com/talk-to-us/ 855-838-8255 |
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You can do Ctrl F (or whatever it is on Mac) with all the Previously Highlighted Contests dropnotes open to easily find other times something was highlighted.
Note that if you're trying to apply a contest to a month when nothing is available now, it needs to be a similar type of contest. For example, in June and November, I highlight super short contests. In August, I highlight long ones. So, you can't substitute a June 2026 contest for August 2025 (or any other month except June and November). April is for poetry only and September is for contests that allow previously written items, even if you choose to write something new. So, April, June, August, September, and November are the only months you have certain rules about what can be substituted. For the rest, you can choose any regular-length contest to substitute if nothing from that actual month is open -- essay, poetry, short story, whatever.
Good luck with your entries this month!