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Thursday, March 16, 2017. WOW what a blessed day! I have spent quite a bit of time since writing my last post out on the streets of this little amazing town talking to people. Because I am too lazy to write this post in a Word document so I can ‘fancy up’ links, I will simply put this link here to what I think will be the PERFECT venue for my One Global Family Creative Arts Team project (as I described it in my last post).
http://silvercitytourism.org/destinations/penny-park/
I was told by a mother who says her 8-year-old daughter is incredibly talented in art and photography about this park possibility today. I just came home at sunset now from a two hour venture over there and this park is INCREDIBLE! I have never seen a nicer child and family friendly park in my life! AND it has two LARGE pavilions that can be used for the Team project! Tomorrow I will speak with someone from the city about using this amazing place for this amazing project!
How such a really poor town could create such a park is a miracle! The entire community worked together to build it. It is called Penny Park because EVERY child and person who was a part of its creation brought a penny to contribute!
How perfect is THAT? And the One Global Family is already there in the beautiful tile and mosaic artwork that is integral to the design of the park.
On my way walking home just now I met a wonderful elder man whose business card reads in part “TOOLS AND TALENTS TO SHARE — Paying it Forward.” On the back of his card are the words, “To live Joyfully, even in the midst of Difficult times.” He teaches parents and children how to make sailboats from pieces of 2′ by 4’s, dowels and paint – and says he would love to be a part of this creative venture because he wants to help children learn to CREATE with their own heart and hands in a day when digital toys are NOT giving young people this gift! This expert sailor has also been asked by the University here to teach a course on sailing small crafts through Lifelong Learning courses. Evidently there is a prediction that this skill will be in increasing demand in the near future for wilderness lovers who enjoy the many lakes in the protected wilderness areas north of town.
I also met another man and his soon-to-be 8 son at the park who just moved to town three days ago! He is a woodworker. His wife is an herbalist, dietitian and yoga teacher. We had a most wonderful positive conversation about positive change! This family is buying land outside of town, planning to “go off the grid.” They want to pay me (!!!) to teach them basics of gardening in the desert. I told him I call my honed technique “Down and Dirty Desert Gardening.”I have a lot of practice! see
LINDA’S ADOBE PEACE GARDEN
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I also wrote a little classified ad and began running it in the daily local paper on Fridays in the ‘notices’ section (at a cost of around $20 for 3 weeks’ worth!). It simply reads:
ACE challenge! Learn important public health facts about risk and resilience related to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)! PLEASE google — “youtube Laura Porter ACES” — and watch 1st video on the list. Share with others! Together we can change trauma patterns for our younger generations! Facebook: Self Healing Community, Silver City.
Here is the Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/self.healing.community.silver.city/?ref=bookmarks
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Long time readers of this blog know that I have carried an ‘attitude’ about the use of the concept of “resiliency.” Although I have not yet resolved my own conundrum about this term, I have moved forward at least as far as to occasionally THINK about writing a post about my thinking up to this point in time.
Protective factors and resiliency – two separate yet intimately connected processes?
Basically I am ‘sensing’, personally, that I would divide things up along these lines:
(1) Protective factors might be things in our lives that have and do work to give us increased powers toward healing from trauma. These factors ‘soften’ trauma impacts. I think protective factors might be somewhat tangible. We can POINT to them in some way.
(2) Resiliency, in my current contemplations about it, is RELATIONSHIP based. It is an interactional process with living substances – which definitely includes with PEOPLE! I would put interactions with nature and animals in my resiliency pot!
So, for example, as horrific as my first 18 years of abuse were, I can name protective factors – as I categorize them – that enabled me and gave me the strength to, endure and survive what was impossible to survive! Among these: I was born white and female (unfortunately in our not-very-healthy culture this is true); my parents were smart, educated; my father was professionally employed; neither parent was in prison (although my mom qualified, that’s for sure!); I went to school during an era when bullying had its lid on; I was not an only child; I went to good schools…… etc.
I did not have ‘resiliency relationships’ with adults to sustain me and only fare bones contact even with my own siblings (as explained in my book noted below). HOWEVER, once my parents moved from Los Angeles to Alaska when I was five, and then staked claim to a mountain homestead there when I was seven, I had the incredible power of the wilderness to have relationship with — and I DID!
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Now, fast forwarding past these few notes on the topic, I will say that I have some instinctual “patterns” within me about resiliency, especially as it connects to powers to overcome trauma (see Facebook page noted above for link references). What I am going to do is work to create a community resiliency program — in some ways as an experiment in PROCESS — to see how this all interplays together.
It will take time for the “ACEs Awareness” to gain ground in this little town, but I am NOT going to wait any longer with hopes “something will get going” in terms of HOW to introduce ACE healing here. As the man I met in the park mentioned, there are forces one might call “divine appointments” that bring us together in ways that we cannot anticipate.
These are life’s wonders. They are miracles.
Miracles. Sure!
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Oh, an one of my neighbors stopped over for a little chat today. He said he recently read in one of the newspapers here and article about the fact, evidently (hard to believe!), that the county this small town resides in currently has the highest unemployment rate of any county in the nation.
Hummm…. Using my formula above I guess I would say there are some problems with ‘protective factors’ here. I was, in fact, told by someone in town yesterday, a native of this town, that NO parent will come to a child-parent activity because ALL of them are working 2-3 jobs. This woman told me that 50% of the population here is at the poverty line.
I might take the time soon to study ALL statistics on this town that I can locate. Or — that can wait. I might also be able to find the article my neighbor mentioned by scouring the piles of papers at one of the local coffee shops. Or — that can wait, too.
Details. I bet those are connected to protective factors.
Talking to people, discovering interest and talent for this project, all THIS part of my life? Yeah. I will call this resiliency building.
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Here is my first book out in ebook format as it provides an outline of the conditions of my malevolent childhood. Click here to view or purchase–
Story Without Words: How Did Child Abuse Break My Mother?
It lists for $2.99 and can be read by Amazon Prime customers without charge. A daring book – for daring readers – about a really tough subject.
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Tags: adult attachment disorders, adult reactive attachment disorder, anxiety disorders,borderline mother, borderline personality disorder, brain development, child abuse,depression,derealization, disorganized disoriented insecure attachment disorder,dissociation,dissociative identity disorder, empathy, infant abuse, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),protective factors, PTSD, resiliency, resiliency factors, risk factors, shame
Stop the Storm 