At this party, we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of Shine. And as all of us who are lucky enough to work here look around the room, we can only say thank you to all of you who have made this site as radiant and alive as it is.
Here on Healthy Living, I am astounded, humbled, entertained, informed, and delighted every single day to read what all of you are writing about your journeys to live well.
I read your comments and laugh, tear up, nod my head in agreement, and sometimes, am shocked or confused or even angered. No matter how I react, I am always grateful to see your words and opinions filling up the screen and to know you care enough to tell us all how you feel.
I've worked at and written for many sites in the years I've made my living as a professional writer and blogger, and it has been the loveliest surprise to see how many of you have opened up about your health concerns, triumphs, knowledge, and questions as you have on your Shine blogs. I feel proud every time a user post goes up in the editor's picks of Healthy Living, on the Shine homepage, and even bubbling up to the front page of Yahoo! What you say clearly matters, not just to me, but to thousands of other readers and bloggers.
It is my privilege to raise my glass -- of half-caf coffee, organic non-high fructose corn syrup soda, red wine (later, later), or my giant reusable bottle of water -- to all of you. Thank you.
I'd also like to recognize some readers who have invested their time, research, writing, commenting, and feedback, and voices in profound ways in Healthy Living in the last year. Cheers to you!
FatFighterTV - Sahar is the author of the site FatFighterTV and a seasoned broadcast journalist. She brings you The Weekly Skinny, a compilation of heath news items you need know, and frequently adds her words of encouragement to your posts and my own. Sahar writes fairly and with a faulous sense of humor, and gives reliable, accessible information about issues ranging from explosive food portions to the price of an airline ticket for someone who is obese. One of Sahar's posts, "The top ten worst foods of 2009", was chosen to be featured on Yahoo.com and it brought so many readers to Shine and on to FatFighterTV, that it crashed her site. Who knew we would all be so happy to see a site go down! Sahar, you and the work of FatFighterTV, are shining stars. Visit the FatFighterTV blog on Shine here.
Carla - New to Shine, Carla writes about getting and staying phenomenally fit and gets fabulously sarcastic on her blog MizFitOnline.com. She's quickly made a place for herself on Healthy Living. Read Carla's Shine blog here and be sure to view her amazing Mother's Day video on the healthiest gift she thinks we can pass on to our daughters.
Please join me in toasting, reading, and giving some love to:
Karly Randolph Pitman, who is helping us all take better care of our bodies and spirits, one poetic post at a time
Gretchen Rubin, who brings her own Happiness Project to Shine in a quest to help us all find our way to enjoying each day
Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance, the Shine Community award winner of 2008
Dr. Kate, who gives us straightforward, compassionate advice about tending to our sexual health
Meditations for Women by Jane Powell, who have brought us daily words of wisdom, reflection and empowerment
And many, many more of you who put your heart, opinions and hilarity into a few paragraphs of Healthy Living goodness often! Mwahhh!
