WEGO Health Blog

It’s hard to believe it’s the last day of November and the last day of National Health Blog Posting Month! There’s so much to recap – so this certainly won’t be the last NHBPM-themed post.

But for today’s prompt… are you ready for your victory lap?

Play that horn.

Want to  hear a secret? You’re awesome. (It’s actually not even really a secret.) This is going to be hard for you – Health Activists are modest, selfless creatures by nature – but you simply must give yourself props today.

Write three things you love about yourself – things you’re great at – or just want to share about yourself that are important to you.

Don’t you dare signpost or undercut those self-compliments!

The things your community values about you is huge. And as a leader, it’s ok to feel great about the awesome work you do. And the effort you put in. In fact – this is the perfect segue post to get us all ready for an entire month dedication to how incredible Health Activists are. So – as you write today and reflect upon NHBPM, your activism, and your year – get ready to celebrate soon because December is Health Activist Pride Month. And you’ve got a lot to be proud of!

If you were with us all month and would lie to adorn your badge (linking to your NHBPM posts, perhaps?) our lovely graphic designer Jackie who worked hard to make the awesome countdown blog badges for all 30 days has created this NHBPM 2011 blog badge for all participants:

We’re almost at the end of National Health Blog Posting Month! Here’s our second-to-last-prompt…

Greeting card post!

The greeting card industry is all about capturing generally universal feelings in a well-packaged, reasonably brief, presentable way that we can use to express ourselves when we may not be able to express ourselves (or just want to let someone else say it for us). Greetings cards cover a range of topics from the simple “Thinking of you!” all the way to the incredibly tough human experiences like bereavement and illness and the really awesome, celebratory milestones like birthdays and holidays.

And, in the spirit of this already-here holiday season, let’s create a card from Health Activist to their health community.

Write a greeting card for someone in your community to help them express themselves about a new diagnosis, treatment, or experience related to their health condition. Feel free to get creative and pick out a cover image and a personal signature. What type of card you think everyone in your community could use?

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 29 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

And even though the month is ending – you can still check out the prompts to use any time you may want an idea for your blog. click here to get for all 30 prompts.

Say WHAT?!

As advocates, you’re constantly in the health conversation: looking at what’s being said and trying to help people navigate new diagnoses, treatments, symptoms, and stigma. You work hard to put great, honest info out there wrapped in narrative – truly putting a face to what patients go through every day and really making a difference.

So it must be totally frustrating when you come across something false, incorrect, stigmatizing, or just plain outrageous. Let’s use that today. What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard about health or your condition? Was there any context? What did you think at the time you heard it – and what do you think of it now?

How do you address these myths and some of the other absurd internet info on your condition?

This is the perfect topic to ask Health Activists. I can’t wait to see what people come up with and hear how you dealt with these ridiculous situations and what advice you have for others who may hear something just as out there.

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 28 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.

Quote Unquote.

Grab your favorite quote or a new quote from any of the many favorite quotation sites (Google has a bunch of great ones that comes up.) and get inspired!

Feel free to type in any word to the quote site and see what comes up.

Use that quote to set you writing.

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 27 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.

I still remember…

Sometimes the hardest part of writing a post is getting started. That first sentence can be a challenge but, once it’s written, the post can sometimes write itself. So, like when you opened a book to find a random line to inspire your post – today, use something that will help you get the post started.

Today’s prompt draws on memory and can be more of a narrative post.

Free write a post that starts with the line “I still remember…” See where a memory takes you. Write for 15 minutes (without stopping if you can) then go back and see what you came up with. What was the story that you told?

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 26 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.

Never Have I Ever.

Today’s prompt is a bit open-ended and confessional but can be aspirational if you so choose. Often in our blogs we talk about what experiences we’ve had, what projects we’ve got going on, and (as Health Activists) what we plan to accomplish. Health bloggers are great storytellers and excellent at finding a way to teach through a narrative. Today let’s look at the other side: something we haven’t done.

The game “Never Have I Ever” is one where a person says something they haven’t done – and every who has done that thing – is “out” (or, drinks if you playing one of those games.) As the Wikipedia entry notes: “Games such as never have I ever “reveal interesting things about the participants and help build friendships”.” Sounds like a great way to share a bit more about ourselves to our readers or community members.

So let’s draw upon that. What’s something you haven’t yet done that you want to? Or – we know you stick to your guns – now tell us more about that. What’s something you won’t do? If you want to take this an opportunity to reaffirm your personal mission – what’s something you’ve never done and won’t budge on?

One way to write today’s post could be a quick list of 5-10 things you haven’t done. Why haven’t you done them?

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 25 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.

Be present.

Today’s prompt is pretty interpretative. Zoom-in on the world around you and write about it as though it’s a scene in a story. So often when we write in our blogs – we use second person and talk to the readers conversationally as though we are writing a friend an email. This is exactly what makes health blogs so powerful (and effective) at doing what they do – create community, raise awareness, and add narrative aspects of health that really need it.

But it can be fun to try a different style of writing every now and then. It challenges us and perhaps even brings out something creatively in us that we don’t necessarily access often.

So the 22nd post – describe something with as much sensory imagery as you can. It can be scene (a peaceful one is what the original prompt said). What are the sights, sounds, scents, and feelings? Feel free to draw upon a particular story or moment or place that means something to you. Use lots of description and “show” instead of “tell” for this blog post.

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 20 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.

LOL post.

As health bloggers who cover some pretty tough topics on a regular basis – you know the importance of infusing some humor here and there. Let’s go with that today.

Write a post about a moment that made you laugh. Or a video, picture, blog post, or something else that made you.

That’s all! Bring the funny. And, if you care to share – write a bit about how you keep it light and fun as a health blogger writing about some not-so-fun aspects of life. What advice do you have for others who want to maintain balance?

Participating in #NHBPM? Tweet us a link to your Day 20 post and paste a link in the comments here or on the WEGO Health Facebook page - so we can share your posts!

You can still join us for the last days of November – head over here to sign up for all 30 prompts.