filling the silence in the motherhood discussion
Just a quick reminder that the Road Map to Healing program starts this Saturday.
If you missed the information, you can find the original post here and more details about the program here.
It’s free to join, but you must sign up before end-of-day tomorrow to get the materials on Saturday.
Over the past few years, I’ve learned a lot about loss and grief, and the process of coming-to-terms with living without a dream I always thought I’d see fulfilled.
I learned how important it was for me to mark the end of my dream clearly, at least to myself, so I could stop hanging onto “what-ifs” and start mourning what I’d lost.
I learned how to start finding myself again when the real me had become so lost in doctors’ visits and dashed hopes that she couldn’t envision doing anything fun again.
And I learned the importance of a compassionate support network of people who understand me, even if I’ve never met those people in person.
As you can see, I’ve learned a lot from my experience. The only sad thing in all this is that I learned these lessons in hindsight, after I needed them, and so I struggled through the early days clueless and on my own. In fact I had no idea how important it was to find support until I started this site to offer support to others…and realized how much I needed that support, too.
So, now I want to share what I’ve learned in a program called “Road Map to Healing,” and I’m offering it free to anyone who wants to access it.
There are eight video modules and you’ll receive one a week in an email, beginning October 19. There will also be a group on the forum so you can talk through what you’ve learned and get help in the places you feel stuck from others in the same position. (Remember the value of peer support?)
I’m offering the program free so that anyone who needs it can access it (because goodness knows, if you’ve been through any kind of infertility treatments, your wallet is already tapped). For anyone who might have a couple of bucks to spare, there’ll be an opportunity to support the program via donation. And as with any good public television pledge drive, supporters will be acknowledged with a fabulous bonus gift.
If you’d like to join the program, you can sign up here.
You can also find out more details about what I’ll be covering in the modules here.
I hope you’ll join me, because hard-earned knowledge is a terrible thing to waste.
Tomorrow marks the third blogiversary of Life Without Baby! Three years ago, I sat on the patio of a little café in Wine Country, I ordered a dozen oysters and a glass of sparkling wine, and I wrote my first blog post. My, how time has flown.
For the sake of my health I am writing this post from the couch in my office and drinking tea rather than champagne, but it’s fun to reflect back on the past three years and see how far the blog has come, and how far I have come on my own journey.
I’m thinking of all the people who’ve come and gone from the blog over the years, those who’ve stayed, and those who’ve become good friends. I’m thinking about the 808 posts, 359, 577 visits, and 5,594 comments that the blog has accrued, and it makes me smile.
So, maybe it is cause to crack open the champagne after all. In fact, I’ve decided to throw a party to celebrate. And as with any good party, there’ll be presents.
If you’d like your very own copy of my book, I’m Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood (or you’d like to give one to someone else) you download a free copy in whichever e-format you like from Smashwords. Just use the coupon code EJ59W.
In addition, several people have expressed an interest in the new Road Map to Healing program, but don’t have the resources to pay, so I’m also offering a Pay-What-You-Can donation option. Registration is normally $159, but this weekend you can sign up for whatever amount you can afford to pay (although, I’m asking that you consider a donation of at least $30.)
You can learn more about that program here, then if you’d like to enroll, please use this link, not the registration link on that page.
Both these presents are only available for the blogiversary weekend only, so if you want to get yours, please do so before the end of Sunday.
Oh, and if you’d like to bring your own blogiversary present to the party, the best thing you could give me would be to write a glowing review for my book on Amazon. It’s about the most valuable gift a writer could ask for.
So, thanks for all your support these past three years, and I do hope you’ll get yourself a present to celebrate.
~ "a raw, transparent account of the gut-wrenching journey of infertility."
~ "a welcome sanity check for women left to wonder how society became so fixated on motherhood."
