The Best of Beyond Barbie

A couple of months ago a woman from Chesterfield County's Chesterfield Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Center contacted me to ask if I would be interested in organizing a Best of Beyond Barbie show to be sponsored by her department and perhaps by the Women of Color Caucus of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, and Virginia State University as well.  

I am delighted to announce that we are making it happen!  Here's the information!

Saturday, April 14, from 7-9 PM, at Holiday Inn Koger Center South off of Midlothian Turnpike, near Johnston Willis Hospital.  Tickets $10, available at the door.

The following performers will grace the stage:

 

Gaye Adegbalola and The Wild Roots, Blues Singers

Megan Hicks, storyteller

Dawn Flores, artist, dancer, poet, activist

Denise Bennett, storyteller, musician

Valley Haggard, writer

Karen Morris, Eating Disorders Activist

Frances Wessells, 92-year-old dancer

Jennifer Jurlando, writer

Lisette Johnson, blogger and Domestic Abuse survivor

and yours truly, artist, writer, activist

Though we're calling it The Best of Beyond Barbie, I'm realizing that almost none of the acts will be exactly the same as at Beyond Barbie.  Almost every person is creating or presenting a new piece for this show so whether you were at our other performances or not, there will be much newness to experience!  The show will have some focus on Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse since that department is sponsoring it, but primarily it will focus on how glorious it is to be a woman, how empowering, how wonderful, how rich and fulfilling.

I will post more information as it becomes available.  I hope to see you there!

A Caring Touch

One of my models, Karen Morris, wrote about her experience modeling for me.  She says it so eloquently, there's really nothing I need to add.  Thank you, Karen, for the gift of your words and of your presence in my  life.  You have become a dear friend.

http://blog.normallearning.org/2012/01/03/guest-post----karen-morris.aspx

Breaking the Funhouse Mirror: The Distorted Reflections of Eating Disorders

Breaking the Funhouse Mirror: 5th in a series of evening performances around women’s

issues focuses on eating disorders—causes, effects and healing

Can eating disorders be prevented? Can they be healed? How do you live with their effects?

On October 20, an educator and a therapist, along with a local writer and a massage therapist,

bring their experience and expertise to explore those questions and how eating disorders stem

from distorted self-perceptions. The event, Caught in a Funhouse Mirror: The Distorted

Reflections of Eating Disorders, is one of a series of seven evening performances in conjunction with Susan Singer’s exhibition of female nudes, Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women, which opens Friday, Sept 16th, at 6 PM at Crossroads Art Center.

The funhouse mirror can be broken. Hear from women who are intimately acquainted with the mirror, its effects and the healing journey toward the authentic self. Kathleen MacDonald believes that eating disorders, chronic dieting and body dislike are preventable epidemics and that educating people about them is integral to the fight to eliminate them. As the education and prevention coordinator for the Gail R. Schoenbach F.R.E.E.D. Foundation, this nationally known expert in eating and body image issues has presented at universities, schools, conferences and many other venues.

Psychotherapist and activist Rachael Stern’s clinical experience encompasses eating disorders (all types), trauma and somatic psychotherapy, couples therapy, self-injury and LGBTQ issues, with a particular interest in activism and social change. Based in Baltimore, where she has recently joined the Pershing Turner Centers, she is the executive director of the Eating Disorder Activist Network and is a registered yoga teacher.

Karen Morris specializes in body contact therapy to counter low self-esteem, body image and/or eating disorder issues, as well as body/touch issues such as those from sexual assault. A board certified massage therapist, Morris brings bodywork and massage to counter issues stemming from eating disorders. Recovered herself from a 30 year battle with anorexia and bulimia she is a member of The Eating Disorder Coalition Junior Board and is an eating disorder Activist.

Local writer and editor Christine Ennulat is not an expert in eating disorders, nor has she suffered from one—directly. She shares her own experience of and continuing healing from an eating disorder in her world.

Beyond Barbie: Piecing Together Today’s Woman runs weekly at Crossroads Art Center from

September 22 - November 3. Caught in a Funhouse Mirror: The Distorted Reflections of

Eating Disorders takes place Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at Crossroads Art Center, 2016 Staples Mill Rd,

RVA 23230. Tickets may be purchased online at www.SusanSinger.com. For more information please go www.susansinger.com or call Crossroads at 804-278-8950.

Contact: Karen Morris, akarentouch@yahoo.com  www.akarentouch.info

Yoplait Ad could promote eating disorders

Thanks, Karen Morris, for making me aware of this!

Yoplait Yogurt had an ad which showed a slender young woman standing in front of a refrigerator at work having an internal dialogue about whether to have a piece of cheesecake or not.  She was trying to justify it, talking about how bad it was, how she could run in place and eat it, or eat it then 8 celery sticks, or anything else just to justify it.  Then her office mate, also very slender, came up and grabbed a Yoplait from the frig.  The first young woman commented that she looked great and had lost weight then grabbed her own Yoplait.  NEDA, the National Eating Disorders Association, monitors advertising and contacts advertisers if they find ads they feel could be dangerous for people suffering from eating disorders.  They are not always successful in getting advertisers to pull the ads, but in this case, Yoplait responded immediately and took the ads off the market.  Well done, Yoplait!  Thanks for the respect!

If you want to see the ad, here's the link:  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/yoplait-pulls-ad-that-pos_n_877618.html#s292684&title=Yoplait


If you're interested in reading what NEDA said about it, or if you want to learn more about the organization, click here:
http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/in-the-news/news-release-detail.php?release=67&title=%91Kudos+to+Yoplait%2C%92+Says+National+Eating+Disorders+Association

Negative Lyme's disease titer leaves me feeling very confused!

Well this is very confusing!
I called the doctor's office today and was told the Lyme's disease titer came back negative.  That means, according to the doctor, that I do NOT have Lyme's disease.  He told me to stay on the antibiotics though because maybe I have some other nasty tick-caused disease and they would wipe it out.  I do not feel confident about this process.  (In my research on the internet, I've learned that the titer will come back negative frequently if the tick bite was too recent for the antibodies to have built up, so I don't know what to think about this negative result.)

Today my headache is still gone.  I'm incredibly thankful for that.  But my rash is getting very, very bizarre.  If you want details, read on.  If not, skip!  Under my right arm, where it was a widespread red patch, there is now the patch plus two other features:  a dark purple splotch where it looks like blood has pooled under the skin, like a bruise but very dark (close to the skin?), plus the weirdest thing - a jagged line, like lightning, that is dark maroon.  That appeared this morning.  I have no clue what it's about.  I told the nurse, but I didn't get a response from the doctor other than I could come back in 10 days if it hasn't cleared up from the antibiotics and get him to look at it again.  I am (again) unimpressed.

Instead I made an appointment with a different doctor today.  I'll see her next Wed.  I used to tutor her kids, so I'm thinking that the personal connection may cause her to take a closer look.  Plus I sense she might be a more thorough doctor anyway.  I wish she had an appointment available sooner, but hopefully things will stay on course.  I'll keep taking the antibiotics and probiotics and see what happens.

This is a very bizarre situation.  Wish I had some clue what was going on!

The up side to all this is that it's giving me the incentive to take time to listen to my body to try to find out what it needs.  That led me to do yoga yesterday evening and to take a nice long walk with Chris this evening.  I also got a very restorative massage this afternoon from Karen Morris.  She is an impressively excellent massage therapist.  I recommend her highly if you're looking for someone who is skilled in many  modalities and who is intuitive and compassionate.  She's doing very good things for my body.  Thanks, Karen! : )

In addition to all those good things, I'm also journaling and taking time to sit quietly and listen to my body.  I had planned to go to Williamsburg yesterday to spend the day with my son but decided after sitting with it for a bit that it would be too much, so I didn't go.  That is highly unusual behavior for me.  I was totally looking forward to the day with Dylan and normally would have pushed it and gone, but the day I had that god-awful headache taught me a thing or two - DO NOT PUSH IT OR YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!  OK, OK, I get it!  I'm listening!

I am such a type-A personality and am used to having tons of energy and drive.  It is daunting to me to not feel like I usually do.  I guess the Universe has figured it's time for me to learn a different way of being.  I'm sure it's all for the good ultimately, but it may take some getting used to!