I’ve been away for quite awhile. I’ve missed my little space here on the web! I’ve given a lot of thought as to why I haven’t blogged since last fall, and I think I finally came up with the reason. I think that the blog served a healing purpose for me personally. First, the blog provided me with an opportunity to share my husband and I’s incredible volunteer experiences with the Karla Smith Foundation and ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition with the world. Not only did the blog allow me to share our volunteer experiences, but it allowed me the opportunity to share some amazing stories about the people we met in Ottawa, Kansas like “Cowboy.” To read more about Cowboy just click here: http://stacysflutterings.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/cowboys-song/.
Additionally, the blog gave me a platform from which I could express my thoughts and feelings about my daughter’s mental illness. It seemed that all of my pain, sorrow and even new growth I poured into my writing. The blog therefore served a great and meaningful purpose.
Interestingly enough, I have felt the desire to blog again. The other day, when I decided to take a look at Stacy’s Flutterings, I saw what appeared to be an emotional residue sprinkled across the blogs home page much like the dust you see on an ignored and discarded piece of furniture, and it had landed here on Stacy’s Flutterings when I stopped blogging. The date is stagnant. It reads November 18, 2013. The pictures that are on display haven’t been updated, and yet within the stagnation I see a tiny sprout. The sprout I see is a mother attempting to be an advocate for change as evidenced by images and comments that you see here and there on the blog. For example, there is the image for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline complete with contact information. It sits neat and tidy near the top of the blog. There is also an image complete with an embedded link titled “Spotlight on Erasing the Stigma” on the right side of the blog near the bottom of the homepage. Again, the image looks great, and it even includes a link within the image that takes you right to the blog post if you click it.
As I think about the blog I find that I don’t want the blog to look all shiny like a new car and to have a flashy blog name to capture readers attention as they peruse the web. When I created the blog I had a much higher purpose. That purpose was to increase awareness about mental illness and suicide prevention. That purpose was to be the conduit that passes information, personal experience and knowledge into the hands of others and for Stacy’s Flutterings to be a beacon of hope.
It seems that as I type these very words I’m blowing off the remaining emotional residue and dust here on the blog, and I’m turning the last page to a successful chapter here on Stacy’s Flutterings. As the pages settle, and I look ahead to the next chapter, I’m excited to see where I go. It’s time I start blogging again and let the tiny sprout of a parent advocate grow. So here goes!
If you are interested, check out CareForYourMind.org. CFYM provides a place for individuals to talk about their personal experience and share their ideas in regard to creating a working mental health care system. Please join in the conversation! Your voice does matter!