#Reverb10 Tues. 12/7/10 - Community

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michelle Medina <michellem86@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:47:38 -0500
Subject: #Reverb10 Tues. 12/7/10 - Community
To: michellem86 <michellem86@gmail.com>

December 7 – Community.
Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010?
What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect
with in 2011?

www.owningpink.com
is where I found the most community in 2010! They also have an actual
community at ning.com, which is something I've mentioned before! I'm
actually pretty disheartened right now as the OP community decided to
upgrade or change something at the Pink Posse community *the ning.com*
site, & I can no longer post anything there. JAW's won't work with the
pages.
I actually thought about skipping this post altogether, that's how
much this affects me. I found not one but two coaches there, a life
coach & a body image coach. I've been working with Amy since the
beginning of August & Kimberly since the beginning of November. I've
made huge strides & finding the Posse in May was one of the best
things that has ever happened to me in my entire life! You can talk
about ANYTHING there, & when I say anything, I mean ANYTHING! I can
discuss my health, my body, sex, love, relationships, dreams,
spirituality, arts & crafts, I can even say that I believe I'm
bisexual & it doesn't freak anyone out. I can discuss vibrators &
masturbation & people won't run. Alternately I can discuss my birth &
how I don't fear death, or all my past, attempting suicide so many
times & so on & no one cares. When I posted that I felt like killing
myself again back in July they actually started messaging me & trying
to look up my phone number to contact me. Noone had ever done that
before. When my parents did find out *which was only a couple times,
my mom yelled at me the one time & the other time my Dad said he was
sorry but he didn't have time to 'join the suicide club. I've got
bills & stuff to take care of here!' I know why he did it, I don't
blame him. He didn't know how to help me & he's known about how I'd
felt for a long time. So I don't blame him at all. To be perfectly
clear, that is past. As I said, finding OP was one of the greatest
things that's ever happened to me! They are completely & utterly
loving & accepting. So they were the people I was hoping to grow
closer to in 2011.
I do also have a great community in MiCleft & the craniofacial world
at large & would love to continue growing & connecting with them! It's
wonderful to be able to share old experiences hospital or otherwise, &
not have people either ignore me or say they want to talk about
something else, or to just have the feeling that I 'shouldn't talk
about it because they don't talk about it & it would make them
uncomfortable.
So that's what I'm hoping for in 2011!!

--
"Something in the way. . .
Hmmm. . .
Something in the way. . .
Hmmmm. . ."
--Kurt Cobain "Something In The Way"
"Pain? You don't know what pain is!!"--Author Unknown