Hello, everyone. I am the new Community Co-Manager of the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care & Healing community. I’ll be joining Morgan Vien in working with all of you to build a virtual space that encourages and supports us in creating better health for ourselves. Thanks to Morgan and a rapidly growing, active membership, the community is already off to an energetic start only one month after its October launch.
My ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) “aha moment” happened in 2009. I don’t remember what I was Googling, but there in the results was a link to a website about the CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study and the original 10-question ACEs survey. I was rapt. What I read explained so much about my experiences growing up and my ensuing struggles as an adult. There were reasons why certain events of my childhood continued to shadow me despite my best efforts to shake them off. It wasn’t that I couldn’t let them go, it was that they wouldn’t let me go. It was a great weight off my shoulders to learn this, and I wanted to learn more.
Since then, I’ve read many articles, books, and blog posts on ACEs, trauma, and toxic stress. Donna Jackson Nakazawa’s book Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology And How You Can Heal led me to acestoohigh.com and ACEs Connection. Here on ACEs Connection, I’ve been astonished and heartened to discover the large and growing community of people—counselors, therapists, social workers, educators, nurses, physicians, policymakers, journalists, writers, mental health advocates, and so many others—committed to the ACEs movement. And I’m grateful for the steady stream of current news, research, tools, resources, information, fresh perspectives, expertise, and lively discussion of all things ACEs that the ACEs Connection Network provides. There’s not another resource like ACEs Connection Network that I’ve found. For this ACEs survivor who would like to see an end to adverse childhood experiences for as many children and adolescents as possible now and in the future, ACEs Connection Network offers hope. And for this ACEs survivor looking for ways to become more involved personally and perhaps even professionally in eradicating ACEs and helping those who’ve experienced them to heal and thrive, it’s an opportunity to explore ways of doing just that. That’s why I’m thankful for Cissy White’s invitation and Morgan Vien’s willingness to share community management duties with me—I now have a chance to contribute a little something of my own to healing ACEs and improving lives.
A little on my background: I have been writing all of my life, about everything from the effects of trauma on DNA to topics in genealogy and history to short fiction. I hold a B.S. in English and a Master of Library Science degree and have worked as a librarian, software system analyst, patient care tech, freelance newspaper columnist, newspaper journalist/obituary writer, editor, and technical writer. I do genealogy, read, knit, meditate, and for several years I’ve been teaching myself how to code. To offset all of that sitting, I practice yoga, swing kettle bells, and walk. I most enjoy spending time with my family, friends, husband, and sweet red Australian Cattle Dog/Labrador mix pup. Currently I am writing a novel loosely based on my family history.
If you haven’t joined us yet, I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to do so. As soon as I started hearing rumors that the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care & Healing community would debut this year, I got excited. I believe this community is a much-needed addition to ACEs Connection—it’s a foil to the more academic and clinical bent of much of the rest of the site. So many members of this site are here—and many of them do what they do professionally or as volunteers—because they have survived ACEs. This new community offers us a space to share and practice methods of self-care and healing with each other. Even those with zero ACE scores may benefit from observing what works for those of us higher on the ACEs score scale. If you’ve joined ACEs Connection because you’re concerned about ACEs, then no matter your ACE score, this community has something to offer you.
- What you can expect from me in the Practicing Resilience Community:
- Each month, we will focus on one resilience practice to learn and try. You'll get one reminder in a weekly update, so you don't miss it.
- Each week, I will share relevant articles/blog posts about resilience. You can share inspiration, resources, articles, and how practicing resilience for self-care and healing is going for you.
I would love to hear from YOU:
- Why have you joined this community?
- What resources would you like to see and read here?
- What are your experiences and questions?
- What do you want to share about this topic?
- You are welcome to share your own resilience, self-care, and healing practices. Please add to the blog, the resources, and the calendar. I would love to read what you share and I’m sure others will too.
- If you prefer, you are welcome to also message me resources and links and I can post them for you without revealing your identity.
I’m looking forward to getting to know you all! Welcome!
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