Get to Know @abigail-dantes

Three weeks ago I was nominated by @saunter to take part in an interesting challenge created by @anomadsoul. The challenge requires the nominated bloggers to look back at their own work here on the platform, select and compile 10 posts which they were proud of. The idea behind it is for current readers get to know the author a little better through their Steemit work.

I love this idea first, because it gives us writers the chance to revisit our previous writings. It is a great opportunity to evaluate our progress as well as to analyze what still needs to be improved. Secondly, because it gives another opportunity to bring those articles to light which, due to how Steemit is formatted, mostly get left behind after 7 days. Finally, as for me, it is a fun way to break the Psychology Addict routine 😊

Having said that, I trust that most of you know that my blog is dedicated to evidence based articles about psychology. What some of you might not be aware of is that I also, whenever inspired, like to write short stories.

SHORT STORIES

I remember creating and bringing Mr. Bales to life. It took me a week, on and off, to develop him. Whenever I write a short piece of fiction I know how it’s going to end. So, my work mainly lies in finding my way there. This was the first short story I wrote in first person. It was really enjoyable. In case you are interested in knowing ‘my encounter’ with Mr. Bales, it won’t take you more than 10 minutes to read it through.
Another Day with Mr. Bales

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The same is true for Christophe the Cricket. The only ever piece of writing I did for children. This tale, although meant to be for the little ones, touches on the social topic of diversity. Something that had been playing on my mind after I witnessed an unpleasant situation. The beautiful and inspirational illustration by @agneslaczo gave me the opportunity to discuss it in a light-hearted way. So, please meet: Christophe the Cricket & Paco the pony. *Please make sure you visit Agnes' beautiful colourful blog!

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The last short-story I wrote here on the platform was nearly one year ago. My husband and I had recently moved to the little village we live in now. While exploring routes for my walks I bumped into a huge abandoned house. The very one you see in the photo below. This building put a spell on me. I used to walk there and spend a long time looking at it, from the sea side, while allowing my imagination to go wild. The product of those moments is The Abandoned House.

CHALLENGES

The first time I was challenged here on the platform was 10 months ago by my dear @karencarrens. What was I required to do? Post B&W photos of things and places that represent my day-to-day life, for seven consecutive days! That was not an easy feat as I was/am not used to posting daily. Although, nothing compares to the nightmare I had with @trumpman’s awful, awful beer challenge, which consisted of posting - for an entire week – a short review of different kinds of beer that you’d tried and would recommend to others. As a non beer drinker I found myself having to resort to ‘innovative’ ways of tasting (e.g with a teaspoon, straw) this smelly beverage.

I am proud of having completed those two challenges 😎 Also, they made it possible for me to interact with my readers in a different way. Further, I learnt that while I am willing to accept to take part in the odd Steemit challenge I understood that I am not cut out for the ‘7-day’ type.

That is why I broke all the rules when @ruth-girl nominated me for the 7 Day Way Back Music Challenge and did it all in one single post! That was a wonderful post to write. I got so carried away that I even shared one of my photos there.

PSYCHOLOGY ADDICT

Thus far, I have written 47 articles for my Psychology Addict series. I enjoyed writing every single one. However, each of them elicits a different emotion when they are finally ready. With some I go ‘oh, no!’ 😖, while with others I go like ‘yep!’ 😊 Here, I am going to share with you some of my old posts that fit into the latter group.

Nine months ago I wrote: Depression – Where to Draw the Line?. A post which discusses the fine line that separates ordinary sadness from mild depression, it briefly touches on the topic of resilience, and attempts to explain the different levels of this condition that for some can be an occasional episode in life, but that for others becomes something they battle with day in, day out.

One month after that, a combination of events motivated me to write the post The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness, drawing from the principles posited by positive psychology I argue how for happiness to become something achievable we need to be proactive about it. I turned to the study conducted by Lyubomirsky to support my claim, and concisely described a few other pieces of research on forgiveness and gratitude for further evidence.

Then, after 4 weeks without writing for my Steemit blog (yeah, sometimes life gets in the way) a chat I had on SteemSTEM discord channel inspired me to write about Dementia. On that post I described the causes and symptoms of not only Alzheimer’s, but of frontotemporal and vascular dementia too. I talked about my friend’s late mum and my uncle Joseph, who due his older age is often forgetful, but doesn’t suffer from any kind of dementia.

Due to a line I wrote on my post about dementia (Another possibility, of course, is that the naughty little boy she[my grandma] often saw running around was a real ghost) I received a few requests to write about ghosts.

Now, this is a topic that has interested me for most of my life. I have always been fascinated about the supernatural connotation given to certain psychological phenomena. Hallucinations and OBEs are some examples. Because I had so many subtopics to cover I decided to write a 2-part series entitled: Making Sense of the Supernatural. In part one I shared with you the experiences my little brother had when we were small children, my own OBE, and visits from lost loved ones. I reached for the works of Dr. Oliver Sacks and W.D Rees among others, to explain these situations from a neuropsychological perspective.

What about you my dear reader? Out of the posts I wrote that you were available to read. Which one did you like the most? Is it on this list, or is it a more recent one? 😊

To keep the ball rolling I am going to nominate for this challenge @agmoore, who I have been in love with lately ❤, @dysfunctional, the author of one of my favourite blogs here on this platform & @samminator, a kind gentleman who I have the pleasure to interact with both on Steemit and Discord 🌹 Good Luck guys! 😃

Image Source: Featured image, cricket