My tendency to overthink — and sabotage myself and my wild ideas — prevented me from going public with The Hot Goddess blog until February of this year, for my 61st birthday. I never imagined that just three months after launching, The Hot Goddess would be a nominee for The Dazzling Blogger Award.

Gratitude

What? Who wants to read about the exploits of an over-60 solo woman who has reinvented herself by giving herself permission? Permission to change the life she was living so she can live a life she loves. International solo travel…domestic dating…early retirement…and lots of whiskey and wine all around. Unfiltered humor mixed with some uncomfortably painful revelations. All part of the journey to an authentic life. As a social media resister, I was afraid to put myself out there, but the feedback and encouragement I’ve received have helped grow my courage and boldness. Thank you.

Thank you to The Goddess Attainable for nominating The Hot Goddess for The Dazzling Blogger Award. I am so appreciative of GA’s early and constant support. The Goddess Attainable blog — and now podcast — shines a light on women of all ages, with relatable insights and observations. Thank you, Libby.

Paying it Forward

Part of being nominated is then paying it forward by nominating other bloggers. Following Goddess Attainable’s lead, I am also focusing only on female bloggers. Here, in alphabetical order, are the women WordPress bloggers I nominate as Dazzling Bloggers. They make me think, make me laugh, make me want to know more. While these women and their blogs couldn’t be more different in focus, tone, and audience, they all consistently support, encourage, and inspire me and other women bloggers. That’s dazzling. They are fire chiefs, solo travelers, caregivers, philosophers, tarot and erotica aficionados, and fabulous bitches. Thank you for your thoughtful content, feedback, questions, and connections.

In alphabetical order:

I’m Thinking of Retiring

Lady in Red Again

Natali Martinez

Over Fifty and Fine

Still Bitchy After 60

Undomesticated Bitch

Writer of Words, Etc.

Questions & Answers

Another part of being nominated is answering questions from your nominator, and then asking your own questions to the bloggers you nominate.

My answers to Goddess Attainable:

1. Who is your most inspiring icon (living or dead) and why? My father. He died in 2018 at 94. The youngest of 13 children, and the grandson of a slave, he grew up in 1920s Alabama, where Jim Crow laws denied him and his family basic rights and dignity for decades. When I was born in 1960, my father and mother still were not allowed to vote in their hometown of Montgomery. When his father died of a stroke because the nearest hospital refused Black patients, his family sank deeper into poverty when my dad was young. According to my father, he and his siblings even resorted to trash-picking for food. He later served in the Navy during WWII, and then used the GI Bill to attend the University of Michigan, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering. He became the first Black engineer hired by The Standard Oil Co. at its world headquarters in Cleveland. He was not an easy man to live with, but his grit and relentless expectation of personal responsibility and achievement despite hardship have defined who I am. For better or worse, I am my father’s daughter.
2. What part of your body do you love the most and why? I love my neck because it’s long and graceful, and still smooth. I also love my breasts, which I wrote about here.
3. Of all kinds of settings in nature (mountains, ocean, lake, forest, desert, etc), what is your favorite and why? Ocean all the way! I’m an Aquarian. Water-bearing is my thing. I love Lake Erie, but I plan to settle in a home by the ocean. The salt water…the tides…the sea spray. Heaven.
4. What is the last thing you had to eat (please describe in detail, I LOVE knowing about what people eat)? A plate of crispy-on-the-outside air-fried Tater Tots with spicy ketchup, and two fingers of Cleveland Whiskey’s award-winning cherry wood finished bourbon, neat. F*cking perfection.
5. Describe a dream you hold in your heart that has not yet manifested. Moving to Portugal, in a home overlooking the ocean, is my dream and I’m working to make it happen.
6. What is something about your personality that you could stand to work on or improve? I am impatient AF, and trying to work on this daily. It’s taking too damn long.
7. If you had just met yourself on the street, how would you describe this “person you just met”? “I just met this tall, funny, kinda goofy chick who was so easy to talk to. She smelled like whiskey, though.“

My questions to my nominees:

1. Who or what would you like to come back as in another life, and why?
2. What alcoholic drink best represents your personality, and why?
3. Which do you most crave: a good night’s sleep or a night of good sex, and why?
4. What is one thing you’ve done or said that you wish you could take back, and why?
5. Name one famous person, living or dead, you wish you could interview, and why.
6. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be, and why?
7. Which would you choose, and why: (a) to never feel fear, or (b) to never feel sadness?

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Rules

While The Hot Goddess is all about breaking rules, this is not one of those times when rule-trashing will do. If a nominee for The Dazzling Blogger Award chooses to participate (of course, nominees are free to decline participation), there are rules:

1. ✅ Thank the person who nominated you for The Dazzling Blogger award.
2. ✅ Link back to the original post.
3. ✅ Answer the seven (7) questions they asked in their blog post.
4. ✅ Make up seven (7) new questions.
5. ✅ Nominate seven (7) more people for The Dazzling Blogger award who you think exemplify excellent blogging skills.

Notice there’s a 777 thing happening here. If you’re into angel messages you know 777 represents being on the right path to abundance and making dreams and goals come true. Just saying.

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Have a dazzling week on the path that’s right for you.

All photos by Natalie Wester at thehotgoddess.com retired_rewired_inspired

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