Writing has always been an outlet for me. Since I was a child, I was drawn to reading books (I was a regular at my local library) and soon to follow was journal writing, poetry, and excitement whenever given an essay assignment in school. As time went by, like most people, I strayed away from my creative passions to earn more accessible income employment through the common employment sectors of retail or administrative work. I eventually became a parent and the rest is history. I was officially another number added to the percentage of creatively inclined individuals that stopped doing the things they loved. It wasn’t until my youngest child survived a stroke that I got my writing groove back. At first it was to help me cope with this unexpected trauma but it became more than that as time passed.
The year 2020 invites many cliché statements to make it a year of gaining a new perspective, making a year of clear visions and so on. While I do hope it is a year of new opportunities and realizing the potential available for all of us, I wanted to reflect on 2019 as a contributor to Alive East Bay Magazine. With my decision to focus on special needs inclusion and provide awareness along with hope for the special needs community, I thought it would be articles that would help families going through similar struggles. As I sought new ideas and topics each month with the typical writer’s block, I had an epiphany. In addition to provide awareness, hope and resources for special needs families I thought “why not interview individuals or organizations?”. And so I did. It was the most enlightening and positive decision I could have made. The year 2019 turned into such positive introductions to the many people in our community that have hearts of gold. With all the despair shoved in our faces and our ears, it was a breath of fresh air to interview those that provide assistance, time and love for others that struggle. My warm and fuzzy monthly articles not only gave me a new appreciation for our world but introduced me to a new definition of the term “special needs”. It is a term intended to reference those with physical or developmental delays. I found, through the many people I got to meet in person or by phone, that it is an umbrella term because although not every person needs physical assistance, every human has a special need to feel included, acknowledged, appreciated and most of all loved. Everyone, no matter their physical or developmental abilities, has a need of emotional, mental and spiritual fulfillment. We all have a need to feel special. We all have a need to not just survive but to feel “Alive.”
My articles began as a way for me to inspire families with medical struggles but I was inspired- by the people I met and the tenacity of their focus to help others struggling daily. As a new year begins, while my focus is still inclusion, it will encompass my new appreciation for those who have survived the unthinkable. It will also encompass those who lend a hand along with blood, sweat and tears to provide some ease for those going through unfortunate moments that can happen to any of us. It’s a boomerang. What we give, we get back in tenfold. It takes not just one person but a village. So begins 2020 with grateful hindsight and a new vision for my articles- to expand my promoting of inclusion that started with those with medical delays to also encircle all random acts of human kindness. Welcome to “It Takes A Village.” I hope you join me monthly as I share my experiences of meeting people that continue to enlarge the circle of inclusion, connection and joy that covers the multitude of struggles all humans may face in their lives. May my articles be one of many droplets that help maintain a spiritual, mental, and emotional 20/20 vision that reminds you that you are never alone.
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