I want to thank Leanne at Eat and Get Moving for my 3rd blog award: The Sunshine Award.  Receiving this award today is fitting considering the fact that it’s currently pouring rain outside. It’s an honour to receive recognition from the blogging community, knowing that other people are reading and appreciating your work. So, thanks, Leanne! I highly recommend visiting her blog, which is another good source of sunshine!

The conditions of receiving this award are to:

• Include the link in a blog to the person/blog that nominated you.
• Answer 10 questions about yourself
• Nominate 7 fellow bloggers and link their blogs in your post.
• Let the people you have nominated know that you have nominated them

Here are the 10 questions, with my responses:

1) Who is your favourite philosopher? Plato: a fabulous writer, teacher, philosopher and idealist. Reading his works and their interpretations give me inspiration and set the stage for further inquiry into Western philosophy.

2) What is your favourite number? While living in Cartagena, Colombia, I had a strange, perhaps mentally disturbed neighbour. One day, while waiting for the bus, he approached me and asked, with no preamble, “What number do you prefer: 42 or 46?” I thought about it for a moment and replied, “I don’t like the 40’s.” He mulled this over for a second and it seemed to satisfy him. Then he walked away. So, the answer is, I’m not that into numbers. Math was never my thing. If we’re going to talk about kindergarten preferences I’ve always been more partial to colours and letters. That’s just me.

3) What is your favourite animal? Easy one: Dog.

4) What are your Facebook and Twitter? My Twitter name is Taliamarcheggia (because Marcheggiani didn’t fit) and my Facebook is just my full name. I “twit” when sharing a recent blog post, other than that I’m not too much of a twit.

5) What’s your favourite time of day? I am definitely a morning person. I love waking up knowing that there are 18 hours stretched before me as I ease into the day.

6) What was your favourite vacation? I adore traveling but rarely view traveling as “vacation”. I love to travel when I have a purpose: a volunteer opportunity, going to live abroad, meeting a friend, going to a conference, etc. I love visiting new places and really living them as much as I can in the time that I have there. That being said, my last trip to Colombia was a very beautiful, fulfilling and relaxing time for me. I was able to experience a different side of a country that’s played a big role in my life for the last few years.

7) What is your favourite physical activity? I make it a rule to be active absolutely every day. I love snowboarding, yoga, swimming and hiking while enjoying the sights and smells of nature.

8) What is your favourite non-alcoholic drink? I have three favourites: coffee, coffee and… coffee.

9) What is your favourite flower? Right now, I’m really into calendula for its cheerful colour  and amazing skin-healing properties. Plus, it’s the flower on the Blog Award photo!

10) What is your passion? I am passionate about health, healing and self-expression. I adore art: painting, photography and writing. I love design and visual aesthetic. I love working with and seeking to understand other people and their personal realities, which is probably why I love reading, good movies and the performance arts. Exploring and sharing the world’s truths through art is one of the most beautiful forms of communication we have. I believe that, at its core, medicine is more of an art than a science. Also, I am passionate about nature, how its fabric weaves its way through our lives and how that affects our health and well-being.

As for the 7 blog nominations, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce my fellow naturopathic medical student bloggers at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM). A few of my colleagues also write regular blogs about their experience with naturopathic medicine and I think it’s time I share them:

Erica wholelifehealth.ca/blog/

Jasmine vegangreenie.blogspot.ca

Amy navigatingnaturopathy.blogspot.ca

Andrew eatplaylurn.blogspot.com

Shannon gingerandgreentea.wordpress.com

Nora gonaturopathic.com

Alison dralisonchen.com/blog/

Congratulations to all the CCNM bloggers out there and I hope you continue to share your inspiration with the rest of the world!