As of January 4th, 2021, I was nominated for the Original Outstanding Blogger Award! I must thank Helen of Crispy Confessions for this honorable nomination. I quite honestly thought that this blog wasn’t worthy of this noble award, but the people have spoken and here we are! Ha!

The creator of this award is listed in the link above with his original post. His name is Colton Beckwith. In case you don’t check out his blog post (which you should because supporting other blogs in the blogosphere is super importante), the award was created last year and basically I answer some questions provided by the person who nominated me (Helen) and create a list of questions for ten people of my choosing to answer in their own posts. Then you must nominate your own ten people, answer questions, tag people, so on and so forth.

Q & A

1. What is your biggest hope for 2021?

I hope that on a societal level, we grow together as the vaccine for COVID-19 becomes more prevalent to the public, and we are able to establish a new normal. I hope on a personal level that I get accepted into the university of my choosing, which is University of Washington Tacoma, and I will be able to attend school in the fall. I love my job and I hope to continue working with children on the autism spectrum throughout my collegiate career as I work towards my bachelor’s in social welfare and then master’s in social work. I hope for a lot of things, it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing. I hope to be successful in regaining trust with my boyfriend, Diego as I continue not to gamble (day 112 clean), I hope to grow my blog, and continue on with my new year’s resolutions.

2. What is the one thing that you think we should keep from 2020?

I believe we should keep our sense of importance and loyalty to friends and family. I think society has really put a true value to how important family is and how finite and disposable we are as humans. I think people learned to embrace that by finding new ways to connect with our friends and family via technology. Others have distanced themselves from either family or friends in order to work on themselves and that’s okay too! I just hope that as we go back to and establish a new normal, we don’t lose sight of the importance of family and friends.

3. What is your favorite book?

Technically my favorite book is written as a play, but it’s in the format of a book, so I will have to say it’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut. If you are forcing me to choose a “real” book, that would be Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

4. What motivates you to blog?

What inspired my blog was my love for writing and advocacy for mental health issues. I was diagnosed with bipolar two disorder when I was eighteen years old, and now at nearly twenty three, I have been fired from jobs and discriminated against for being so open about my mental health issues. I want to normalize that it’s okay to not be okay and I never want anyone to get fired from a job or feel like they can’t communicate with management about their mental health. I know many of my followers and those who come across my blog are either mentally ill or know someone who is, and you all, the readers, is what motivates me to put out new content even when I am dead ass tired or suicidal or manic, you guys are what keeps me alive, you guys are what makes me happy.

5. If you had to change your blog’s niche, which one would you chose?

Probably broad lifestyle or political opinions on taboo topics. Or cooking. I have thought about creating other blogs to pursue my other passions, but with school this quarter, working full time, being in a committed relationship, housework, friends, family, etc. I don’t have time to sell my soul to another passion project so I figure the likes of Precarious Aquarius are here to stay. Hooray!

6. What is your day job?

I work as a behavior assistant for kids with autism. Essentially I implement programs from a behavior analyst and run behavior interventions. Often times, people call me a therapist but that isn’t what I do at all. Everything I do is extremely regulated because of how ABA therapy is; it is very tedious and must be exact in order to teach correct coping skills, manners, life skills, education, and social skills., all to reduce problem behavior. Each plan is tailored to the child and their families and family involvement is extremely important in the successes (or failures) of those with autism.

I have had many jobs from grocery store cashier, bank teller, marine machinist mechanic for the navy as a civilian employee, psychiatric aide, paralegal, medical records specialist, hardware store customer service desk, debt collector, and now this. I have literally done it all haha. This has to be my favorite job by far.

7. Do you believe in UFOs?

Simple answer to a stupid question: no.

My questions to you

1. What makes you believe in God or not? What religion are you and why.
2. Top 3 favorite bands/artists.
3. What are your coping skills that you may have for when you are depressed/lonely?
4. What is your favorite memory?
5. What are you most fearful of?
6. What has been the most defining moment of your life thus far?
7. What are your views on mental health? Do you suffer from mental illness or know someone that does? What do you know about mental health issues? (Sorry for the multiple questions, but I’m curious since this is my blog’s niche)
8. Favorite physical item.
9. Who would you like to get to know more, famous or not, dead or alive?
10. Lastly, what are your vices?

My nominees

Alexandra Organica

Scenic Views from the Bipolar Rollercoaster

I am my own island

Reasoned Cases for Christ

Growing with Spawn

Wandering Bipolar Bear

Fish Robber

Each of these blogs are special in their own ways and have had made an impact on my life for the better. Please go check out these awesome people and congratulate them on their nominations for the Outstanding Blogger Award! Without these folks, I know I wouldn’t have continued with my blog for as long as I have and I am utterly grateful to have been nominated myself for this noble award. Thanks again to Helen and Colton!

Keep calm and keep bloggin’ on!

Much love,

Dani, the Precarious Aquarius