Because of the importance of Human Beings taking action to save our planet, Mother Earth, I have designed this award to thank all the bloggers who through their blogs and their efforts show that they love and respect Mother Earth, and do what they can to save our precious and beautiful Planet.  This award is a reminder that there is no Plan B, and no Planet B.

The Rules have to do with you and your conscience:  when awarded this award, try to something good for the Planet every week.

Those who receive this award will be the bloggers who have brought to light the necessity of saving our Planet, and who encourage others to help in this important fight, through their words, art and deeds.

The very first recipients of this award are:

1. Victo Dolore
2. Jackie Saulmon-Ramirez
3. AB
4. Mark Bialczak
5. Lady Pink Rose
6. Toemailer
7. Maryam
8. Danaiana
9. Bluerock/Debrazone
10. Quiall
11. MsTranquility
12. Grumpygorman
13. Eartlhyradiance
14. Karen Wan
15. Mihrank
16. Lobetero
17. Lilly
18. Abuse Ends when you Love Yourself
19. Sue Dreamwalker
20. Moorbey
21. Chocolate Vent
22. Maxima
23. Nandini
24. Gillswriting
25. Soul of a Gypsy
26. Friendly Fairytales
27. Charles1958
28. Danicopiche
29. Sadie
30. Busy Mind Thinking
31. belsbror
32. Cassidy Frazee
33. Susan Marie Malloy
34. RoSy

Much thanks to Megan Elizabeth for nominating for this award.  It is always an honor and very humbling to be nominated, particularly for this award.

The philosophy behind the award:

“When you consider nominating a fellow blogger for the Versatile Blogger Award, consider the quality of the writing, the uniqueness of the subjects covered, the level of love displayed in the words on the virtual page. Or, of course, the quality of the photographs and the level of love displayed in the taking of them. Honor those bloggers who bring something special to your life whether every day or only now and then!”

Here’s the rules:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

7 Things about me:

1. I am cold.  I am always cold.  I never took the thermal blanket off my bed, all summer long.
2. I was born with jet black hair, and now I’m a blond — by choice! (Total vanity, I admit)
3. I love to read poetry and I love bloggers who write poetry, but I do not write any poetry  myself
4. My very favorite place to visit is the French Quarter in New Orleans.  I love the sights, the smells and the tastes of the neighborhoods.  I find it stimulating and exhilarating
5. My late husband once said that I had more dichotomies within me than any other human being he ever met.  It was actually a compliment!
6. I love music, most kinds of music.  I love classic rock, blues & jazz, zydeco, ballet & opera, classical, new age, pop, and thanks to my 9 grand children, hip hop (sometimes)
7. Even though I did not become a feminist until the 1970’s, as a child I was very aware of the injustice and hypocrisy in the world, and I loathed it.  Always.  Still do.

My 15 nominations for wonderful, Versatile Bloggers I cannot get enough of:

1. Dr. Rex
2. Hunt for Truth
3. Petrel 41
4. Petchary
5. Inavukic
6. Crowing Crone Joss
7. SeaAngel4444
8. Ivonprefontaine
9. Xena
10. Aquileana
11. Modern Philosopher
12. Jane Thorne
13. D. Parker
14. Rajagopal
15. Michelinewalker
16. Hit & Run
17. Dani Lynn
18. Risinghawk
19. The Fifth Column

There are so many WONDERFUL Bloggers in my WordPress Family, and I wish I could give you ALL an award today because you are bright and funny and talented and dedicated and supportive and loyal and passionate.  Perhaps someday…

 

 

I found this lovely discussion on Happiness by Buddhist monk, photographer and author Matthieu Ricard on the TED Talks channel on YouTube.

He presents an interesting perspective that I think is helpful to consider on this Journey we are all on, ultimately, to Happiness.

Each moment of happiness is a gift from the Universe Lake Erie Sunset Photograph and Copyright by Barbara Mattio 2012

Hello, and Welcome to My Blog

I’m the IdealisticRebel (you can call me Barbara)

Those of you who have visited the site before will notice that things look a bit different. I’ve made some changes to make it easier for people to find the content they are looking for here — basically, the blogposts that I wrote and the blogposts that I repost, because the author has something to say that I find interesting or important.

If you’re new here, then again, Welcome! You can see on my header that I post about Women’s Issues, Creativity and Spirituality and Peace.

What does that mean? It means that I post to raise awareness on Domestic Violence, the War on Women, Women’s Rights and other issues that affect women in the United States, and around the world.

I post to promote Peace and Kindness and Beauty and the notion that we are All One People.

I post to encourage people to be Creative — to nurture the Creative Spark within themselves, even in the face of the opposition or misunderstanding of those closest to us. I share the methods I have found that have helped me to be more creative, and I try to highlight the difficulties that the Creative people in the world face when opening up their hearts and souls to allow their art to flow through whatever medium they work in, so that we can all share our experiences and know that we are, none of us, alone.

I post to remind people that, whatever path you are on, we are a children of the Divine. Whatever you call that Divine, whatever method you use to connect to it, Divinity is in all of us and all religions share a commonality of basic decency, humanity and Divinity. I also try to remind everyone that the extremists of any religion, do not speak for all the people of the religion and that we, as human beings, need to treat people as people, not as stereotypes.

I try to remind people that ALL people are equal, regardless of gender, race, religion or spiritual path (or lack thereof), sexual orientation or identity, nationality, creed,  color, economic status or any of the other arbitrary and political attributes we use to stereotype other human beings.  There are differences in all of us that make us individuals, but basically, we are all Stardust and deserving of love and consideration from and for each other.

Whether your are a new visitor, a repeat visitor, or one of my friends and followers, you are all welcome here.

You can find my posts by clicking on the “The IdealisticRebel Says..” button on the menu on the left. You can find posts I’ve reblogged by clicking on “Rebel Recommends”.

Previous posts, which include both my blogs and things I’ve reblogged, are under the heading “Archived”.

I am also a member of the wonderful group Artists4Peace. If you would like to see the articles which I have contributed to this site, click the Artists4Peace label in the menu. To go to the Artists4Peace site itself, click the Artists4Peace icon in the sidebar.

If you want to know more about me, generally, click “About the IdealisticRebel”

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will become a part of the growing, loving community of WordPress!