Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed with blogging as it’s not only my hobby and passion, it’s also my career. Aside from that, it revolves around my daily life which can be sporadically busy, chaotic, and emotional. I’m sitting here at the Calgary Airport and yes, I have cheated with Blogathon a little bit, I have pre-set blog posts about the participants. You’ll hear about the rest of them while I am 39,000 feet in the air flying over Rutland or Keremeos.

To say that this week has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. I lost a friend, and friends lost a brother, father and son. It has been moving journey out to Calgary to see old faces and celebrate the life of someone truly inspiring. Throughout all of this, I tried to put together Blogathon so that we could all give back to great causes and give a little bit of ourselves for someone else. I can’t even begin to fathom how the family feels at this time given that I myself am feeling terribly rundown on my own and although I continue to shed many tears, my loss was in no way as great as theirs.

I try to give a lot of myself to others only because I was first shown love, compassion, selflessness and kindness from so many people. Flying across the province, writing notes, sending texts, making calls and composing blog posts are just tiny ways that I can repay all those that have blessed my life.

I’m not sure how long I’ll last for Blogathon but I’ll try to persevere. My cause is the Union Gospel Mission in the downtown eastside that helps out those who cannot help themselves. Their values and compassion inspire me everyday to want to help others so it is my pleasure to give part of myself to help them this weekend.

… and in the words of my friend Tanya last night – if you love someone you should tell them that every chance you get.

Isabella Mori – An inspirational blogger who dedicates her time to helping others, Isabella is the former coordinator of the Vancouver Blogger Meetup group and still holds an important role in the local blogging realm as well as the Twittersphere.

i’m a psychotherapist in vancouver, canada. i’ve been working in the field of mental health, counselling, psychotherapy and movement therapy for 15 years and enjoy helping people build better lives. [Moritherapy]

Isabella’s website: Moritherapy
Isabella’s cause: Canadian Mental Health Organization
Isaballa’s Blogathon motivation: “right now all i’m thinking about how i’m connected to all these other bloggers from the vancouver blogathon and the blog-a-day, how this is going to be an experience of a lifetime, and how this is going to get me feel even stronger about the organization i’m sponsoring, the canadian mental health organization in the vancouver/burnaby region.” [Moritherapy]

Ayeza Garcia – The beauty of the Blogathon is that it can also introduce you to many other blogs that you may not have had the chance of spotting before. I’ve been able to explore Ayeza’s blog and aside from having a sleek layout it’s filled with great information from such a unique perspective.

Balikbayan box – translations:
BALIK means to come back.
BAYAN means hometown or homeland.
So if you put the words together, BALIKBAYAN means someone who is coming back home.
Balikbayan – refers to Philippine nationals who are permanently residing abroad including their spouses and children, regardless of nationality or country of birth. It also refers to those of Filipino Descent who acquired foreign citizenship and permanent status abroad. [Balikbanyan Box]

Ayeza’s website: Balikbanyan Box
Ayeza’s cause: Davao City High School – visit the website or there is a PayPal donation button on the blog.
Ayeza’s Blogathon motivation: “I finished my high school at Davao City High School now known as Davao City National High School. It is a public school but this school produces not just good students but very successful graduates. Through Blogathon Vancouver 2008 i would like to give back to the school who mold me to who i am now.” [BalikbanyanBox]

Karen Hamilton – I have not had the pleasure of meeting Karen although she runs one of the most successful food blogs in the city. With beautiful photos to accompany her reviews and comments, she’s truly a frontrunner when it comes to recipes and recommendations.

Karen will be mobile during Blogathon and you can follow her ‘game plan‘ on her site.

Karen’s website: Tiny Bites
Karen’s cause: Davie Suzuki Foundation
Karen’s Blogathon motivation: “While the coherence of my posts will likely deteriorate as I near the finish line, I do hope that I’ll be filling your screen up with true content and not sleep-deprived gibberish. There will be posts dedicated to the David Suzuki Foundation and its programs. Many of the posts will attempt to be relevant to regular readers of Tiny Bites.” [TinyBites]

Shane Gibson – Through the magic of the Vancouver Real Estate Tech Meetup and the Vancouver Young Professionals Meetup groups I met up with Shane Gibson. He’s a highly successful sales blogger and podcaster who shares his winning international entrepreneurial knowledge through the power of social media.

Shane’s website: Closing Bigger
Shane’s cause: MSMF – “Manjari Sankurathri Memorial Foundation (MSMF), a registered Canadian charitable organization, is aiming to promote rural community development in India, through education and vocational training, health care and emergency relief.”
Shane’s Blogathon Motivation: View Shane’s first video podcast for Blogathon here to learn more about his cause.