Thank you to all who have been supporting me and my family in the emotional state we have been in during this past week. I want to briefly let you know what's happened, to express my gratitude and also request your continued support, and then also share some other thoughts I'm having that I believe you will find of interest.
As I mentioned in my previous post, http://isitaspergerssyn.blogspot.com/2018/08/new-house-rules.html, we have a new girl living in our home. If you do not already know how I responded to this last weekend, I encourage you to please read the previous post.
The next paragraph in this post has been corrected since first post. I made some mistakes in facts, based on what I understood, and have since learned different, so I am writing here to take responsibility for my mistake, grateful that her mother forgives me for miscommunication as I have done in a very public way.
Regarding this girl, here is a bit more detail... We are saddened by the fact that this young girl's circumstances have led her to join the epidemic of "couch surfing" teens in our community. In a previous version of this same post, I had indicated that her mother told her she could not go home. However, it turns out that's not the case. It's true that she cannot go home, but it is not her mother's fault. In fact, her mother is equally saddened by this situation, wishing the situation was not as it is. I'll not get into private detail here further, but will say that her mother is a very caring and compassionate person, and we will continue to support her daughter as she goes through her challenge. Reality is that there is a reason this girl cannot go home. As stated before, we feel we are not here to judge - that is up to God and we are trying to support this young girl who we have grown very fond of.
You can imagine this has all been very overwhelming for us. To cope, I choose to write and pray, and I am using Facebook to share each time I do this, to invite you to read and then pray because I believe there is power in group prayer. I have gradually been building a "Prayer" play list, so you can either pray in your own way or use this as a tool to support you in praying by listening as well:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZGPWcnDl7QWYd1NZekTqtMgZNr1y8Gx0
Another significant event is also happening in our household. As you may know, I am blessed to work as an IT professional in a globally distributed corporation known as DXC Technology. The company is sending me and about 50 other people to an event in Manila, Philippines referred to as a "Buildathon", where I am thrilled because I will get to meet some people I've worked with for over a decade and never met face-to-face, and where we are going to work on using something referred to as "Platform DXC" to improve the solutions we engineer to provide Workplace Device Services to customers globally. Strikes me that there is high probability that we can transform our world in positive ways as a result of this event, and this is leaving me very excited and energized, struggling to sleep as I have a LOT to do to prepare myself for this trek in September. It will take me 24 hours to travel just to get this event!
As you read this, I suppose you might reflect that this might be a dangerous place for me to be going. There was massive flooding in Manila in this past week: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45166382 and this is a place where sometimes people are kidnapped and held for ransom as well, I have heard. I am grateful for conversation I had this past week about this, where I have managed to feel comfortable that where I am headed in the city was not impacted by the flooding and that my safety should be protected as well. Most people in the Philippines are much like I feel they are everywhere, kind and loving, and so I feel grateful that I am getting the opportunity to meet some of these people. I am now working with our company to identify a reputable charity, and will be sharing with everyone an opportunity to make cash donations to support flood victims if they choose to.
I have felt a major shift in myself in this past week as well. I was moved to sign up for a service called Gaia that I learned about in Facebook, and the first video I watched as part of this was called "E-Motion". I was pleasantly surprised to learn, after paying just 99 cents for the first month, that this service comes with option to share with non-members up to 3 times each month as well, so here is a link to the video I watched that I feel somehow was instrumental in beginning to transform me: https://give.gaia.com/cjl0botoi000j01n50lu5nm9m
Despite fact that I am sleeping less, I think I have been releasing "trapped emotions" as described in the video in the past week. I am breathing easier and have stopped biting my nails. My weight seems to be dropping a bit, and I am eating much healthier than I had been, feeling really great in this moment as I write to you, feeling I think great clarity in every moment I experience now. No, they are not paying me to share all this! Yesterday, I bought myself four dresses as well, which is something I've wanted to do for quite a long time, but was not able to actually get done because I've not enjoyed shopping up to now. It was VERY hard for me not to buy every beautiful piece of clothing in my line of sight yesterday!
As I wrote in Facebook on August 16th, I feel like God picked me up and threw me, but now at last is catching me. What I meant by that post was that I think many of my "trapped emotions" have dated back to when our dear friend Cecil was killed by a drunk driver. His fiance and also his ex-girlfriend both have not spoken to me and my husband since that time, I think because that is how they are handling the immense grief that came with that event, and this often has made me feel very sad. We used to all be very, very close. Today, I feel desire to again try to find them and see how they are doing. Last time I tried this... I learned Cecil's fiancee was working somewhere in PEI, but could not seem to reach her. I learned his ex-girlfriend (who remained a dear friend of mine even after the break-up) was working for Salvation Army in Halifax - she said she wanted to reconnect in person sometime, but then never called me back and we've lost touch again as she is not part of the social media world that I use so actively to connect with people.
Now, all those thoughts led me to begin to organize a special event in our community before I leave for Manila. This will be on Saturday, September 1st, and I am trying to invite ALL of our family and friends to attend: https://www.facebook.com/events/716085615428115/.
Know that I fully understand this event is being scheduled during a holiday weekend, where many already have plans and so will not be able to attend. However, I want to say that if you are able to attend then my family will express deep gratitude for this. I have visions of this being similar to parties my maternal grandparents used to host when I was a child, where we had well over 100 family members and friends come together to celebrate life. I have outlined many special activities that I would like to lead during this event, as described in the event link that I've shared. Please do use the link to learn more, and somehow let me know if you plan to attend, as I would like to be prepared with enough tables for all the food I hope will arrive. As I think of more details, I will continue to "Comment" on the picture included in the event - just please click on the picture and you will see a LOT of detail that I have shared already:
https://www.facebook.com/Christine.Marie.MacKenzie/photos/gm.716085648761445/985466334968786/?type=3&theater. I will collect donations for Manila leading up to and as part of this event, once I work out the details for the charity we can support.
If you made it this far in reading, perhaps now you will be able to understand what I write next. My faith in God is now firm. People have been reaching out to me all week long, and I am humbled by the number of views of my blog and personal stories people have been choosing to share with me. In the past week, the one post that I shared on Monday has already been viewed by 449 people as I write this. You may be able to see this statistical data using this link:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5535501989687009602#postsstats.
I truly think all actions in my past were directed by God and have led to what I feel now is a time of awe and wonder in my life that I am truly grateful for, and I want to share this "good news" with the world!
Perhaps some of you recall this picture that I shared back in February: http://isitaspergerssyn.blogspot.com/2018/02/its-not-about-me.html
I wish to use this as an example of how past actions seem to be leading me now to something more in a very intense way.
There is now a very BIG thought that I'm having. I started blogging on January 22, 2011. Through all my posts over the last several years, I have shared many "ups and downs" with those who have taken the time to read what I've written. If you have read those posts, as by viewing blog statistics I observe at least a few hundred people seem to have done, you will know that I have a passion for wanting to help people focus on and use their strengths to achieve their goals. I now especially want to help this young girl who has entered our lives, and to help other people as well, using what I have learned in my journey.
One day soon, I want to lead establishment of something I think might best be called "Pictou County Virtues Center". My vision is that this will be a safe place for people like the new girl in our home to go, to learn about virtues like I described in my previous post, and to learn the strategies for better living that I am so very grateful I learned as taught by the Virtues Project: https://virtuesproject.com/strategies.html. I want to teach other people these strategies, as I believe this could help other people as well.
As a result of our conversation, Eva is suggesting that she lead an "Introduction to the Virtues Project" workshop for anyone who wishes to learn: https://virtuesproject.com/programworkshop.html. Also, she is going to host some more intensive training for me (and it will go better if others participate as well), to help me become formally certified as a Virtues Facilitator.
Following certification, I want to start to building the center as I dream will someday exist. In the center, I want to provide people with access to activities that support practicing virtues and using the strategies to help each other. I see people doing things like working together to make items that are needed by our local hospital, participating in various charitable activities, or playing with the hundreds of books, board games and toys that I've accumulated over the years, in order to build valuable social skills and connections with other people in ways they perhaps feel today is not possible. Perhaps even this will be where our son Connor finally finds many good friends! I hope this will be a place that will help people who are struggling to move forward, much like I had felt, to find a path to a better life as I feel I've done.
Do you think Pictou County Virtues Center is a good idea? If you wish to support my dream, please let me know and, after I return from Manila, we will try to find ways to get together to explore this idea further. I have MANY ideas about what we could do together to make this world a better place, both inside and outside this building, and I sincerely want to take action in this direction.
God bless everyone!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider finding my fan page in Facebook as well, to follow me and give me a "Like": https://www.facebook.com/Christine.Marie.MacKenzie/. This will result in notification in your Facebook feed when I write posts in future.
God bless you all!
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