Tatiana’s Birthday Wish Contest

(Here’s your chance to win a FREE erotic photo from my collection…you only have 4 days including today.)

This morning I turned off my phone and internet, chose to not think about blogging, writing my novel or cleaning.  Instead I decided I had an even more important mission to accomplish. 

I’ve been asked over and over again what I want for my upcoming birthday.  Each year, for several years now I write a little essay of what I’ve learned from the past year and reflect while I create goals for what I want to learn until the next cake celebration.  I’ve been thinking about what to write this year but negativity has been a cloud that kept covering my happiness throughout the past several months.  I don’t have any things that I want for my birthday that anyone can afford to buy me so a little birthday trinket is really a pointless obligation for others. It honestly won’t do anything for me and will only give me more stuff to pack when I ultimately leave Germany. 

I realized last night that I’ve gotten to the point where I had nothing positive to write in this year’s birthday essay.  This ruffled my feathers and I barely slept.  Walking my toddler to school this morning I realized I was very grateful that my knee is getting better and that I can bend it.  Then I looked at the happiness on my child’s face as she pointed out every airplane in the sky and I noticed how she had a bounce in her step while walking to school.  She no longer fears it and has found confidence in walking up the stairs and into the school without tears.  Though she always cries a bit when we say “good-bye”, it no longer tears my maternal heart out. 

Walking home I decided that despite all the negativity I’ve endured via external forces which somehow suffocated my internal ones, I chose to take this morning’s free time to make a list of all the things I’m grateful for, that make me happy, that I’m proud to have accomplished and achieved and see just how much goodness I tend to miss in my daily life.  I listed 254 things, the last being that if I continued, I could double it. 

So I decided what kind of a gift I want for my 37^th birthday, which is Sunday, August 10^th.   I’d like readers who are willing to participate in joining me to turn their Sunday (or Friday or Saturday if Sunday doesn’t work for you) into a “Things I’m Grateful For” list day.  I’d like you to take a few hours, alone or with family, and sit comfortably with a pad of paper or a lap top and begin a list of all the things to be grateful for, from the big to the very small.  Certainly this is not a new idea but one which we don’t engage in often I could only assume and I believe we can all use a little self-reminder of how good we have it even when it seems life punches us over and over again. 

This is what I’ll be doing with my family because it’ll be my birthday wish and the kind of party I want. (*take note family members)  For my readers, those who choose to “give” me a birthday present (I see it more of a gift to yourself), respond to this post by Monday, August 11^th and offer how far you made it on your own list.  You can add a few words of your experience or simply the final number itself, that’s up to you. If you prefer you can write me your results in an email instead: namaste dot tatiana at yahoo dot com. 

The individual who has the highest count will be mailed a free, signed photograph (below).  It is my most favorite erotic photo I’ve taken as to me it represents eroticism in the most fundamental way I see it, for now.  It encompasses everything I find beautiful, sensual and mysterious about eroticism and feminine power, sensuality and love.  Maybe I’m just attached to it because it’s from my first erotica photo shoot and it came out exactly as I had envisioned it in my mind.  I surprised myself. Someone should own it.  It’s merely sitting among my portfolio pages, hidden as though ashamed. 

You don’t, of course, have to participate by writing how far you got but I hope you’ll at least participate for your own sake.  I think Sunday is a good day to remember our self-worth. I plan on doubling my count.

*clearly this little contest can only stand on the blind trust in the fact that participators actually made a list and that they’re honest in how far they’ve gotten.  I can ask no more than for another’s honesty.  If you do participate, I hope you’re proud of your greatness and remember it every now and then, especially when you or others make you feel smaller than your potential demands. 

**pass this contest on to those who you think might like the free photo or those who could might be interested or in need of creating their own list. 

Thank you and have fun,

Tatiana von Tauber

UPDATE Sat. Aug, 9:

So sorry to make a change but a reader brought my attention to the fact that it would be better for several reasons to have participants of my Birthday Wish Contest to email me their results rather than post them on the blog entry.  After some thought, he was right; so if you’d like your chance for the free print, please email me at “namaste dot tatiana at yahoo dot com” with your results and I’ll announce the winner next week.

 

Free Photo for Contest Winner: 8×10 sized, original signed print