D.A.M.E.S
Last year, one of the things I began doing again to get my book out in the world is participating in events. The fun part is that I never know what’s going to happen at these events.
Who will buy my books,? Who will I have a meaningful conversation with and possibly make a difference for? Who will I connect with and work with in the future? Each event is a possible stepping stone to new directions.
I met Michele Knowlton-Thorne at a Sensory Santa event here in Phoenix last December. As we began talking, it felt as if we were kindred spirits in that we were both passionate about making a difference for parents. We both agreed on the importance of parents taking care of themselves. We wanted parents to see that they could thrive on this journey of raising a child with autism or any special need. In our own ways, we wanted to help guide them along on their journey.
Michele has created a wonderful online community called D.A.M.E.S. (Differently Abled Mothers Empowerment Society). D.A.M.E.S. was created for mothers, by mothers of differently abled children.
Its goal is to provide mothers with:
Access to a community of peers via an online forum.
Access to monthly webinars with experts in education rights and disability rights, financial wellness and self-care.
Access to weekly meditation, yoga and exercise classes that mothers can take whenever they find time in their busy schedules.
I recently had the privilege of giving a webinar for D.A.M.E.S. The theme was self care and I took it to a deeper level than the usual. I went a few levels down, wanting to broaden the understanding of self care.
To me, self care includes understanding the human experience.
The power of thought. Yeah, yeah, I’m a bit obsessed with this. That’s because I see how powerful just understanding it can be.
Understanding wisdom. Obsessed too. Tuning in to wisdom, learning to follow it and understanding we are all connected to it at all times. We just forget or are unaware of it when caught up in our busy minds.
Understanding our true nature, the diamond within and how resilient we are. Our diamonds just get a bit caked with beliefs (made of thought, of course). But they never leave, even when we have a child with special needs. And psst, our child (or adult child) has that same diamond.
Want to know more? Here’s the webinar…