{"id":3831,"date":"2016-03-03T09:39:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T14:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healwritenow.com\/?p=3831"},"modified":"2016-03-03T09:39:54","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T14:39:54","slug":"sample-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healwritenow.com\/sample-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"Sample of Heal Write Newsletter, March"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a sample of the newsletter I do every once in a while. I’m not a once-a-week or even a once-a-month regular. They are long for traditional newsletters but shorter than most of what I post. When I do them, this is what they are like. I don’t normally post them here on the blog but this once I will.<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s the essay.<\/h3>\n

Spotlight on the Oscars!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a happy Oscars hangover. I’ve got the buzz of hearing silence broken. How things have changed and are changing!<\/p>\n

Did you cry at home while watching? Talk about it the next day at work? Write about it in your journal? It’s amazing!<\/p>\n

I know there’s work left to do, trauma and tragedy happening now and people still healing or in recovery from past sexual assault.\u00a0The fight is not over but this is a moment worthy of celebration.<\/p>\n

For survivors, this was an\u00a0Oscars like no other!<\/p>\n

On the red carpet there was\u00a0Lady Gaga talking\u00a0about\u00a0being a survivor and her song, “Til it Happens to you” from the movie The Hunting Ground.<\/p>\n

There was\u00a0Mark Ruffalo talking about the SNAP<\/a> protest he joined\u00a0<\/a>the same day\u00a0to support\u00a0survivors living and lost to the abuse by priests in the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

Then during the Oscars\u00a0there was Lady Gaga’s performance of “Til it Happens to You<\/a>” with\u00a0 survivors on stage with her\u00a0dressed in everyday clothes looking less like Hollywood and more like the rest of us.<\/p>\n

It was almost hard to believe. I felt emotional too.<\/p>\n

On their wrists were the\u00a0“It’s not your fault” and\u00a0“Survivor” actually what choked me up the most.\u00a0Many survivors have post-traumatic stress and high rates of cutting, self-mutilation and suicide attempts. To see powerful words on their wrists was a powerful message.<\/p>\n

And to have a song about recovery and the aftermath of rape, sung about surviving by a survivor of sexual assault, about the secondary trauma of not being believed or supported? And to have the song\u00a0introduced by Vice President Biden asking us all to pledge on helping whenever consent is not or cannot be given?<\/p>\n

It would have been important if that’s all that happened Sunday night. And you cansee it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it wasn’t. There were other\u00a0other\u00a0survivors for speaking for survivors and as survivors. There were\u00a0allies too using moments in in award speeches\u00a0to lend support as well.<\/p>\n

No one was saying\u00a0“survivor” on prime time\u00a0like this at the Oscars before. EVER! Maybe there would be one movie or one song or some mention of a protest by someone.\u00a0To have this topic\u00a0addressed by more than one person in more than one movie….<\/p>\n

This is epic.\u00a0Times are changing.\u00a0I can’t even keep up with all of my friends, advocates and groups anymore posting comments, links, insights and feelings.\u00a0I can’t keep up with the writing and articles and voices and editorials about the significance or what more is needed now.<\/p>\n

This is an AWESOME problem to have considering most of have marinated in silence most of our lives.<\/p>\n

It’s prime time topic now at least for a while.<\/p>\n

And yes, it’s going to\u00a0take more than\u00a0songs being sung and\u00a0conversations continued. It takes follow-up action too –\u00a0listening, hearing and supporting survivors and\u00a0funding activism and programs and initiatives to protect others from becoming survivors.<\/p>\n

But that’s a whole lot easier when\u00a0silence is shattered.<\/p>\n

And Oscar night was the opposite of silence.\"photo<\/p>\n

Oscar night was\u00a0community replacing isolation.<\/p>\n

It was a\u00a0peanut butter and jelly sandwich of voice and validation.\u00a0It’s not what survivors are used to.\u00a0 So I’m devouring every bite. It’s what so many of us have needed, craved and tried to create for ourselves and others.<\/p>\n

We know we can’t create solutions to problems we minimize or ignore.<\/p>\n

We can’t work on\u00a0preventing something we pretend isn’t that bad or doesn’t impact us or others we know and love.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to heal from things we haven’t spoken of.<\/p>\n

So acknowledging the reality of sexual assault on such a large stage – not only as\u00a0words\u00a0 whispered in a therapy office or\u00a0scribbled in a diary – as though rape and molestation are personal problems and not crimes caused by individuals or systems (family systems or religious systems) is\u00a0a freakin relief.<\/p>\n

This is how change happens.<\/p>\n

It’s happening now. Right this very minute.\u00a0Long overdue, urgent and necessary.<\/p>\n

There’s work to do still. There’s violence to prevent and heal from. And other problems discussed or touched about at the Oscars (racism, sexism and saving the environment).<\/p>\n

But I feel joy and hope and gratitude to the\u00a0artists, musicians,\u00a0directors using voices, talents to confront such an important issue.<\/p>\n

Silence is breaking.\u00a0I’m happy dancing in my home. Because not alone is wonderful and never gets old!<\/p>\n

There’s the Writing Prompts<\/h3>\n
Writing Prompts:\"writetruth\"<\/strong><\/div>\n

Just let the pen (or keyboard) take you away. Write quickly and without censoring yourself or worrying how you sound.\u00a0Let the words come and finish these sentences.<\/p>\n

Watching the Oscars this year…………..<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve always wanted….<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve never felt so….<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are a research lover, like I am, and\u00a0want to know more about the healing power of writing, especially for trauma survivors, let me know. I’ve done a research paper on the topic and am happy to share it – just email me at cissy_white@comcast.net and I’ll send it along. There’s a snippet here.<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s the Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n
This month I’m shouting out to my Survivor Activist Soul Sisters (SASS)<\/span> who have been doing breaking silence and who I get to brainstorm, connect with, support and get loved by. And some of these are worked on by more than one person.<\/p>\n

If you are curious, want\u00a0inspiration or dying to give some money to non-profits and do-good efforts that are survivor driven – consider these.<\/p><\/div>\n