Can you believe it?! Thoughtful Pinch was established one year ago on March 3, 2015! Whoot, whoot! That’s right folks - for 52 weeks I have written one post a week. Hey, I know there are millions of bloggers out there that post multiple times per week and have been doing so for multiple years. I’m not saying that I’m the only one out there.  So why am I patting myself on the back for accomplishing 52 consecutive posts?  Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going make it. Now that I know I can do it, I feel like I can CONQUER THE W-O-R-L-D!!!! Just kidding. But I can certainly do more than I did a year ago.  

Before I rolled out the blog, I contemplated what I would call it.  I came across the word pinch and felt it was fitting for the little holiday gifts that I like to give throughout the year.  As my blog started growing, pinch began to evolve into different things because the word pinch has so many meanings.  The potential for topics is endless, which is a thumbs up in the blogging world.  Here is the official dictionary definition:

verb

1 he pinched my arm: tweak, nip, squeeze, grasp.

2 my new shoes pinch my toes: hurt, pain; squeeze, crush, cramp; be uncomfortable.

3 I scraped and pinched to afford it: economize, scrimp (and save), be sparing, be frugal, cut back, tighten one's belt, retrench; informal be stingy, be tight.

4 informal you pinched his baseball cards: steal, thieve, take, snatch, pilfer, purloin, loot; informal swipe, rob, nab, lift, “liberate”, “borrow”, filch, heist.

noun

1 he gave her arm a pinch: tweak, nip, squeeze.

2 a pinch of salt: bit, touch, dash, spot, trace, soupçon, speck, taste; informal, smidgen, tad.

PHRASES

feel the pinch many of our customers are feeling the pinch: suffer hardship, be short of money, be poor, be impoverished.

in a pinch there's room for four adults, five in a pinch: if necessary, if need be, in an emergency, just possibly, with difficulty

There is one definition of the word pinch that will never be found in the English dictionary and/or thesaurus.  I know this because I made it up.  Pinch means “The use of an exaggerated motion to show that you like something so much that you just can’t stand it.” I feel like Brene Brown who recently shared that she makes up her own definitions if she doesn’t like the ones she finds.  

Well I can’t speak for all Filipinos, but for my family, which is technically ALL Filipinos because we're all related one way or another, there is a Tagalog word “gigil” - with a soft g as in giggle but pronounced “ghee-gal”.  The term is used when something is so darn cute or awesome that we instantly want a piece of it.  Envision this: we squish up our faces, grit our teeth and our bodies slightly shake as we reach out and pinch the cheek of the cutest baby in the world. See examples of my nephew below. I have many pictures of him but these photos make me have that feeling of wanting to pinch him because of "gigil" from my Filipino culture! We have no intention of hurting anyone with this pinch.  In fact, it may even be an air-pinch. We are merely taking an imaginary piece of whatever is cute or awesome for ourselves.  

I can’t help but “gigil” at all the opportunities that social media has to offer now that I’ve gotten my feet wet with my blog. There is a little platform called Pintrest, you may have heard of it.  Ooooh I MUST take a pinch of Pintrest for myself so be sure to look for past and present ideas on that site.  I L-O-V-E it!  Additionally, I hope to get a pinch of Youtube.  Oooooh, let the squishy faces, teeth gritting and body shaking begin. I’m ready to pinch Youtube too!  These two social media giants are so awesome, I just can’t stand it.   

I am really look forward to these next 52 weeks, I hope you will continue to join me.

Pinches,

Barb