Owning Our Stories

This was a Facebook find today.  I think it’s an amazing statement.  We all have a story.  And many parts of that story are very, very bad for survivors of rape and abuse.  But it’s us.  It is part of who we are.  Too often we push that part of our story down and silence it because it is so very painful.  Bringing it forward and owning that part of ourselves takes great bravery and courage.  And with it comes power.  Power over our rapists.  Power over our past.  Power to change our futures.  There is a lot of wisdom packed into this one short sentence.

Human Rights Ads (74): Rape (“Viol”)

Translation: Rape, a crime against humanity

Rape Worldwide

(I should put a special trigger warning on this one.  This information is very distressing, especially to survivors.)

I found a very interesting site today called WomanStats.  The site has so very much information about the status of women worldwide that I have only begun to read it.  But I was fascinated by the maps they provide, giving a clear visual picture of the conditions that women live under in various countries of the world.  I highly recommend that you spend some time perusing the site.  It’s extremely informative.

Cookie update!

I just wanted to post a quick note for my regular readers. It is an update on my Father’s Day Cookie post of June.

While Father’s Day cookies were a bit bittersweet and angst-ridden, it turns out that “My Baby Graduated from High School and Now I’m Throwing him a Big Party” cookies are full of smiles and joy!  No flour, eggs, or vanilla were injured in the making of these festive cookies.  Although, I must say it was a whole lot easier to make 2 dozen cookies for one father-in-law than it is to make 15 dozen cookies for a large, but happy, mob of friends and family.

The weather report looks perfect…80 and sunny, with none of the horrible thunderstorms we’ve endured all week.  Congratulations go out to my college-bound son, (cum laude, mind you, and with a hefty college scholarship–Praise the Lord!) And please send all your positive energy to me, his sleep-deprived mom, who hopes to make it through the graduation party festivities tomorrow!

Courage

I apologize for the lazy blogging lately, but I’ve been really sick.  I still want to share any messages of encouragement that I find.  I’ve been chatting with lots of fellow survivors lately, and I’m finding a lot of messages that show their despair and desire to just give up on fighting this fight.  This is to remind all of you that the fight is worth fighting.  Please, please don’t give up.  You’re worth too much to this world.  Listen to that little voice, even if it’s only a whisper, and try again tomorrow!