Better world - Farewell Stranger

Artisans & Intention (+giveaway)

February 8, 2013 By Robin 28 Comments

So you know that 20 minutes of intention thing I’m doing? It turns out my 20 minutes are not spent writing. At least not here. I did take some time the other night to get caught up on some things on my to-do list, but my writing here is taking a bit of a hit. I think part of the problem is that I have a few posts in draft that are basically complete but not really working for me. So I’m kind of stuck.

If you’d like to read some recent posts (pretty please?) you can find the story of the first stages of my postpartum depression diagnosis on Huffington Post. I think it accurately sums up the depth of my denial.

I also wrote another piece for Postpartum Progress – 6 reasons having a baby after PPD is easier. Not everyone agrees with this, of course, but it makes the discussion around this really interesting.

I’ll share some more thoughts on the 20 minutes experiment soon, but one thing it has confirmed is that I am spectacularly talented at wasting time on the computer. And on my phone. And on my iPad. I knew this already, which is one of the reasons I wanted to take up this challenge. In part I blame my slightly misfiring, sleep-deprived synapses, which make it very easy to zone out in front of a screen and only process something as long as a tweet or a status update. But it’s also a habit, and one I need to work harder to break. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Better world, Stuff I like Tagged With: community

Day of Silence

December 18, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Better world, Hard things, Motherhood Tagged With: community, we're not alone

It Matters

October 5, 2012 By Robin 11 Comments

I am at home with a three-day old baby. He is small and beautiful and so very wanted.

I am in awe, but I look at him and wonder what this next year will bring to our family, because now I know.

I know it won’t always be easy.

I know sometimes it will be really, really hard.

Just below the surface there is a small amount of anxiety. A nagging what if?

I will admit to being scared. To, perhaps, a small amount of paranoia. To the worry that as much as I know now, as much as I’m so much better prepared and informed, I may not be able to avoid it.

But I will admit to hope.

Postpartum depression hit me by surprise last time. I didn’t expect it. Didn’t recognize it. Didn’t get help soon enough. And I never, ever want to experience something like that again.

Nor do I wish that upon any other mother – whether she’s a first-time, second-time, or sixth-time mom. Whether she gave birth or adopted. Whether she’s okay but her partner isn’t.

So today, on my son’s third day of life, I’m supporting Strong Start Day.

I found Postpartum Progress when I really needed it, and the information on that site (and Katherine’s response to my grateful email) was one of the things that led me down the right path towards recovery. That community has been important to me in the time since, as I worked through a really rough time last year and throughout this last pregnancy. I know I will be back there reading (and writing) in the days and weeks and months to come as I navigate my way through new motherhood a second time.

But not every woman can do that. Some don’t have Internet access. Some won’t know it’s there. Some just won’t think it’s relevant to them, as I wouldn’t have in the early days of my struggle. So the goal this year is for Postpartum Progress Inc. — the non-profit that supports the site and postpartum depression awareness (and all other mental illnesses related to pregnancy and childbirth) — to take all that great online information and turn it into material women can get from their clinicians and health care providers when they need it.

And they will need it. Someone you know will need it. Does need it.

Please help if you can. Donate if you can. If you can’t then please share the message. We do this one day a year – today only – and it matters.

It really, really matters.

Filed Under: Better world, Postpartum depression Tagged With: community, gratitude, spreading the love, we're not alone

A Mom for Mental Illness

September 23, 2012 By Robin 9 Comments

In June I wrote a post about the type of mom I think deserves a Mom of the Year award. There were lots of other people who thought a mom they knew was worthy of the award – 16,909 moms, in fact. That’s how many nominations were received for Walmart’s Mom of the Year award.

16,909 nominations – that’s a lot of love for a lot of moms, some of whom likely don’t often get much recognition. How do you narrow it down from that number? I don’t know, but Walmart did and now eight finalists have been selected. Each of those women receives $10,000 for the charity of her choice AND $10,000 for herself, which I think is pretty bloody amazing.

I was browsing through the list of the finalists and reading their stories. And I stopped at one in particular. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Better world, Hello, Inspiration, Motherhood, Stuff I like Tagged With: I was paid for this but it doesn't mean I'm not genuinely interested, we're not alone

Change 10 Lives with Water

September 6, 2012 By Robin 1 Comment

When we moved into this house one of the first things we did was fill up a jug of filtered water because the water here is very chlorinated and I couldn’t drink it. This is where you picture me making an icky pouty face and roll your eyes.

Yes, we have clean water – as much as we can drink. And shower with. And clean and cook with. The only time we really complain about our water is if we run out of hot stuff before the shower is done (very rare) or if someone forgets to fill up the pitcher and we have to drink it warm. Or, God forbid, put ice in it.

This, I believe, is where we note these things as #firstworldproblems.

But they aren’t developing world problems. Those look more like this:

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness.
Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water.
More people have a mobile device than a toilet.

Photo via Water.org

A five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day. There’s a reason there’s no sarcastic hash tag for this.

So, what now?

I’ve signed up to help raise money for Water.org. $25 is enough to provide clean drinking water for someone in the developing world for life. FOR LIFE.

Here’s the challenge:

When you turn on the tap or flush the toilet do you think about what your life would be like without water? We all need it to survive and yet nearly 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to safe water and 2.5 billion people don’t have access to a toilet. It’s 2012, and yet more people have a cell phone than a toilet. These facts take a moment to settle in and can make people feel powerless against a problem so big. Yet, there is something we can all do to help. Alongside the non-profit Water.org I am joining others who are working to end this crisis in our lifetime. Only $25 brings one person water for life and for the next 10 days I will be trying to raise enough money to help change the lives of 10 people. I’d love for you to join me. Donate to my fundraiser at http://give.water.org/f/10daychallenge/, start your own fundraiser at http://water.org/challenge or just learn more about the water crisis. Together we can make a difference.