Tiny Buddha

Tag: giveaway

  • Giveaway and Review: the 2-Year Anniversary of Tinybuddha.com!

    Giveaway and Review: the 2-Year Anniversary of Tinybuddha.com!

    Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. They are:

    It seems like just yesterday I wrote, “It’s a pretty exciting week in Tiny Buddha world,” before crafting a massive year-in-review post for the site’s first anniversary.

    Yet here we are again, a full year later.

    So much has happened in this year, but instead of creating a lengthy year-in-review list, I’m just going to recap the five biggest highlights, for the site and me personally. I’ll also provide a selection of posts from the year that you may enjoy reading if you’ve missed them. But first I’d like to thank you—every last one of you.

    This site is what it is because of you. I am continually inspired, humbled, and flat-out blown away by the vulnerable, generous, insightful blog posts many of you submit. You really put yourself out there, and it changes people’s lives—more than you may realize.

    For those readers who haven’t written for the site, you also make the site what it is. For your heartfelt comments, here and on Facebook; for your willingness to learn and grow; for being exactly who you are and bringing that light here, thank you.

    Lastly, thank you all for your help in keeping Tiny Buddha up and running. Earlier this year when the site crashed, signaling it was time to get a dedicated server, many of you sent thoughtful emails and generous donations. I saved all of those emails, and I refer to them whenever I need a reminder that what I do makes a difference. There are no words to describe my gratitude for your kindness and support (well, except those ones).

    The Giveaway

    To celebrate the site’s 2-year anniversary, I’d like to offer 5 readers a free copy of my eBook, Tiny Buddha’s Handbook for Peace and Happiness.

    This is a compilation of some of my most popular posts, including a few posts that you won’t find on the site. If you’ve already purchased a copy, you can enter to win a copy for a friend. I’ll be happy to send it to them instead! To enter:

    1. Leave a comment on this post, including something you’re proud of from 2011 so far.
    2. Tweet: RT @tinybuddha Giveaway and Review: the 2-Year Anniversary of Tinybuddha.com http://bit.ly/oQKkxU

    Please note this is an electronic book, meaning you will receive a PDF file through email. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter by completing the first step.

    You can enter until midnight, PST on Monday, September 12th. I will choose the winners using randomizer.org, and contact them on Tuesday, September 13th. (more…)

  • Giveaway and Interview: The Book of (Even More) Awesome

    Giveaway and Interview: The Book of (Even More) Awesome

    Update: The winners have been chosen! If you didn’t win, you can purchase a copy of The Book of (Even More) Awesome on Amazon.

    Last year, I posted a review of The Book of Awesome, by Neil Pasricha—a compilation of blog posts from his wildly popular website, 1000 Awesome Things.

    I was so inspired by his ability to recognize simple pleasures where I never even thought to look that I decided to follow suit with a post I titled 50 Peaceful Things.

    Neil’s blog has been one of my favorites since he first launched three years back, partly because it’s the exact opposite of the type of writing I often do.

    While I generally write a lot about all the messy things under the surface—our struggles, fears, and instincts—Neil has a gift for highlighting all the beautiful things we often don’t notice above it.

    From my original review:

    He doesn’t just appreciate all-you-can-eat buffets–he explains how to navigate them for maximum enjoyment. He doesn’t just acknowledge it’s cool when the parking meter still has time on it–he explains the different types of meter-feeding styles, and how awesome it is that they all exist.

    The result is an encyclopedia of joy, from observations to interpretations to experiences. Some moments are silly, some poignant, some nostalgic–but everything is familiar. The book is a brilliant reminder of everything that inspires a smile without treading into saccharine-sweet, Pollyanna territory.

    The Book of (Even More) Awesome picks up where the first book left off, and I’m pleased to offer two copies to Tiny Buddha readers. But first, a little from Neil: (more…)

  • Interview and Book Giveaway: And I Shall Have Some Peace There, Margaret Roach

    Interview and Book Giveaway: And I Shall Have Some Peace There, Margaret Roach

    Update: The winners have been chosen! If you didn’t win, you can purchase a copy of And I Shall Have Some Peace There: Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road on Amazon.

    I recently received a copy of Margaret Roach’sbook And I Shall Have Some Peace There.

    I was not previously familiar with Margaret’s wildly popular garden blog, A Way to Garden, but I was fascinated to learn about her transition from editorial director of Martha Stewart Omnimedia to full-time gardener at her country house in upstate New York.

    I know a lot of people who fantasize about giving up monetary success to create success on their own terms, so I was grateful to learn a little from Margaret’s experience.

    Though I am only about half-way through Margaret’s book—and really enjoying it!—I decided to ask her a few questions that may be helpful to anyone who is considering a major life change.

     

    1. When you decided to leave your job, did you feel you knew for certain that this was the right choice for you?

    Getting to a certain age helps with “certainty,” if there is such a thing in any action we ponder or take. Finally, when I approached my 50s, I knew that I would simply dry up and blow away if I didn’t bolt.

    And I knew that I was getting too old to pretend that forever and ever lies ahead; carpe diem.

    I don’t think I was certain at all what life here would be like. I don’t think we can really accurately forecast what lies across any threshold. But I knew that life back there—the urban static, the disconnection from outdoors and its creatures, the rhythm dictated by a back-to-back meetings and not my internal pulse—was too brutal.

    For all of my adult life, I felt as if I was the spirit of a hippie-chick back-to-the-lander trapped inside the body and skyscraper existence of a corporate executive. (more…)

  • Book Review & Giveaway: You Cannot Be Serious (Tips for Balance)

    Book Review & Giveaway: You Cannot Be Serious (Tips for Balance)

    You Cannot Be SeriousUpdate: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen:

    • Laurie from Cuddle Hugs
    • Cyndi from So Much More Than a Mom

    I have the utmost respect for mothers.

    Their daily lives require an aptitude for all the qualities that make us good people: love, kindness, patience, generosity, and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of balance. If anyone knows chaos, it’s a mom.

    With this in mind, I was thrilled to read Elizabeth Lyons’ book You Cannot Be Serious and 32 Other Rules That Sustain a (Mostly) Balanced Mom.

    Make no mistake: I don’t have any children. Or friends with children. Or even access to children—there appear to be none in a fifteen-mile radius.

    What I do have is a need for balance in a world that is never predictable and rarely calm.

    Elizabeth’s book provides just the right anecdote, and it was so easy to relate to her reading it.

    She’s not the high-waisted jeans kind of mom who fills her days with baking and gardening (through she does both). She’s the mom who runs her own business, writes her own rules, and still manages to run a household without any hired help. (more…)