share

Today's post is about other writers: writers whose work I like to read and want to share with you.

Great writers share others' work, according to Jeff Goins. And I'm sure he's right. It's great to give others a platform, an opportunity to shine and to be noticed, and the chance to be heard. Promoting others is both an act of generosity and a gesture of encouragement towards someone in whom you see potential of any kind. The best leaders are those who don't stamp on others during their journey to the top, but who help them out and offer advice and raise them up. Great writers tell others' stories, promote their work and make them the hero. So that's what I'm going to do today, and I'm going to do it in two ways.

First of all, I'm altering The Page Formerly Known As Raising Awareness. For several months now I've sporadically maintained a part of my blog which is devoted to posting links. I've updated it every so often with details of how to help particular charities that are close to my heart or important to friends of mine. I think I can do a better job of raising awareness in other ways, and am going to give some proper thought to how this might happen over the next little while. In the meantime, Raising Awareness will become Blogs I Like, and I'm going to add to it gradually and post a little shout-out in Friday's Five Favourites each week for the blogs and posts I have especially enjoyed during the previous few days.

Secondly, I want to introduce you to my friend Nik's blog, Any Answers Questioned. Nik was teaching bassoon during his gap year when I first got to know him, and he left for Cambridge University the following autumn but kept in touch and would often bounce into the Music staff room during his student holidays for a cup of tea and hours of good conversation. He's intelligent, hilarious, musically talented, compassionate, articulate, thoughtful, great to talk to and a Christian. To quote from his blog, "I've often thought that I'd found the answers to life's questions, and have mostly discovered later that I was wrong. This blog is intended to encourage reflection and spark debate." And that's one of the many things I like about Any Answers Questioned, and about him. He doesn't pretend to have all the answers. In fact, some of his blog posts are open-ended by way of conclusion - though others aren't - and he is genuinely interested in hearing what others have to say about real-life situations and struggles. I want to promote his blog today by sharing it with you, a person who has very kindly taken time out of your day to visit Tea with a Friend. I so much appreciate that - thank you! And, as always, I'd love to have your recommendations too.

Freely share the work of those who deserve to be noticed. Wise words from Jeff! You can find more of Jeff's words here. He's a writer whose work deserves to be read, too, so I hope you'll visit his website.

See you tomorrow!