Winner Announcement: Family & Celebrations Writing Contest
Here are the winners of the second TTO’s Writing Contest
Throughout the holidays, The Taoist Online (TTO) hosted its second writing contest with the theme Family & Celebrations. Like the first contest (Death & Afterlife), this one was put together by TTO’s editors and open to all TTO’s writers.
This time around, we got fewer submissions, but the quality of the entries was through the roof. We received a total of 12 stories and they were one better than the other. Don’t believe me? You can check out all the stories submitted here.
After hosting the first contest, I knew the great potential of our writers. If I may admit to a little bit of silliness on my part, I was concerned I would be left disappointed since my expectations were so high… I tried to talk myself down and manage those expectations out of fear of disappointment. I wasn’t very successful with that. And yet, I was blown away by the quality of the articles we received. There were practical tips, articles that made me cry, stories that warmed my heart, a deconstruction of the meaning of family, and everything in between.
Winners
Last time, I said that choosing a winner wasn’t easy. This time, it was even more challenging. Thankfully, it wasn’t all up to me — all TTO’s editors had the chance to vote (and most of us did!).
Six editors sent in their votes, each picking their top five stories, giving points to each piece according to their personal preferences (five points for the top choice all the way down to one point for the fifth pick). The voting was personal, and each editor was free to choose whichever stories they felt resonated the most with them. The only stories that couldn’t receive a vote were those from the editors themselves.
The surprise came when ALL of us chose the same story as a winner. I couldn’t believe we all agreed on this! Actually, I could believe it, it’s a wonderful story. Part from that, though, we all had different opinions, and not surprisingly, taking into account the very high quality of entries, all the entries received two points or more.
I made a Google spreadsheet for the editors to vote, and watching the votes coming in was more exciting than watching a Hollywood thriller! At one stage, we had three stories tied for the third spot.
Okay, I’m sorry; I’ll rein in my excitement and share the winners. But I highly recommend you check out the entries if you haven’t yet — they’re amazing!
The top three stories for the contest are:
1st place: “When Christmas Brought Me The Gift Of Discovering My Father’s Light” by Heidi Pyper
Heidi brings us a lovely tale of how her father finally found his way to what made him happy, making everyone around him happy, too. A heartwarming story that tells us it’s never too late to follow our hearts!
Heidi’s story was the top choice of all of our editors!
2nd place: “Traditional Irish Music Sessions Celebrate the Resonance of Soulful Friendship” by Kevin L. Hing
Kevin shows us the delightful experience of celebrating through music. In his own words: “It heals loneliness, uplifts the human spirit, and binds countless human souls in a supportive, nurturing community of resonant, joyful camaraderie and wellbeing”.
3rd place: “Reminiscences of Dongzhi, the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival” by TzeLin Sam
TzeLin shares her experiences celebrating the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival, Dongzhi. She goes on to explore how it is to celebrate this festival, even though her family doesn’t live in China and Malaysia, her home country, doesn’t get the cold winter season.
The prizes will be sent directly to the winners.
Fun Fact
Even though we only had 12 entries, we still managed to get two entries with the same cover photo for their stories! Lol
What a fun coincidence.
Check out all the fabulous entries
It was so hard choosing the winners. Unfortunately, not every story could win, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t great. I highly recommend you check them out.
The following stories are in alphabetical order:
- “Curing Despair and Affirming Life” by Kevin Redmayne
- “Don’t Go Broke This Christmas” by Nicole Kinkade
- “Father of Mine” by May More 💜 Tales
- “Happy Capitalistmas!” by James Garside
- “Highlights and Lowlights from Family Celebrations over the Years” by The Sturg
- “In the Most Unlikely of Places” by Zivah Avraham
- “My Dysfunctional Christmases Past” by Lauraleigh Summerhayes
- “Plastic Love” by Edward Swafford
- “Retiree’s Logbook/4 — Taiji is a Winter Sport, and So Is Snowwork” by Pekka Pirhonen
Is this… the end?
Unfortunately, this is the end of the Family & Celebrations contest. However, this is a very fitting theme for TTO, and your articles on the subject will be welcomed in our pub.
The good news is that TTO is falling in love with hosting contests… so this won’t be the last one! Stay tuned to TTO’s media channels or join our Discord community to hear about new contests and other fun activities. The editors are already busy discussing exciting things to come!
In the meantime, I would love to hear your suggestions, criticism, and anything else you have to say about the contest. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment here, or if you want more privacy, send me a DM on Discord or an email. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Thank you!
Thanks to all the excellent writers who participated in the Family & Celebrations contest; your stories are fantastic. This contest wouldn’t exist without your hard work and outstanding articles.
A very special thanks to all our readers who engaged in the stories and made the whole thing even more fun. Writers aren’t as happy if they don’t have readers — so thank you again!
And lastly (but not less important), a big thank you to the TTO team, who helped me put this thing together and chipped in to make the prizes possible: Patrick Stewart, nathanlovestrees, InYah, The Sturg, Edward Swafford, James Garside, and Elle Becker.
It’s lovely to work with you guys!