Return to Zero has been a total grass roots effort to get the support for local leaders, pledges to see the movie when it does actually make it to theaters (because it will, I just know it). It has all been through facebook, google hangouts, blogs, twitter and just passing the word through email and the old fashion way. They managed to get more than 2,500 local leaders, 113,000 pledges and that's been in about 1 month time frame. Amazing! And for any of you that supported by either becoming a local leader or pledging to see the movie, thank you so very much. I can never thank you enough for that. Any of you that still want to pledge to see the movie, you still can here. The pledge forms are in 6 languages.
The STILL Project is the next one. A documentary that is getting made by another couple who lost their first daughter. They are going to be doing a Kickstarter campaign in July to raise money for the next round of their journey in making the documentary. They plan to come to Springfield for an interview of someone in the area to be in their project. If they are able to, they mentioned on facebook that they will try to possibly stay an extra day to meet with local support group(s). I am really hoping they can! I would actually love to meet some of the people causing the Snowball effect. :)
Still Standing Magazine, an online magazine that covers the entire range of topics related to pregnancy and infant loss, including infertility. I've posted links to many of their articles on here. I probably could post links to a lot more, but I do hold back.
Then, there are tons of other individual organizations, people doing their own thing to honor and remember their lost babies from stillbirth, miscarriage, infant loss, infertility and more...all to provide support to other parents out there that have had a loss and let them know they are not alone and everything they are going through is completely normal. They are doing such a fabulous job and many of them are getting support through these bigger channels.
I have found so much benefit from these resources. They provide a lot of support. Allowed me to realize I'm not alone. There is an entire group of people that have gone through something very similar and who I can relate to. It's quite awesome.
As a result of my going "public" with my facebook, support for Return to Zero and putting my blog out there for many more people than just my family and a few close friends, I feel like I have exposed my soul to a whole world of people who had no clue what we've gone through. I hope it can provide a little bit of insight in to our life now or provide support to others out there who have gone through something similar. My blog has literally gone from about 3,000 views in it's entire lifetime (or at least when it started tracking views) to more than 8,000 in less than 2 weeks time. I have had views from co-workers and friends from all over the world. Yes, I can see in my admin page of my blog the country where my blog is viewed from. :) Most of you are from the US, so I have no clue really who sees it here.
Also, on facebook I have been amazed at the people who were willing to share the Return to Zero posts on their walls. Not many people did and most of the ones that did, were not who I expected to (although I'm not sure if I expected anyone to share it really). It takes guts to put it out there, believe me I know. It touched my heart that they cared enough to share the posts. It took me this long for me to be willing to do it and I'm restrained...believe me I know that, too. Most of the people I work with now in my new job, have zero clue about Owen or my recent loss...maybe they will know one day, but now is just not that day. But I've realized in my personal life, at least, I am not about to sit quietly in the corner (just had a brief "no one puts Baby in a corner" thought cross my mind...lol, one of the only movie quotes I probably know) when it is one of the ways I honor Owen. Everyone else gets to post pictures of their kids, I get to post pictures of a movie that will tell a story similar to mine.
Anyway, I guess in a long way (ALBUQUERQUE...that's for Gene and Rob if they read this) I'm saying I am not as opposed to social media as I once was after seeing the power it can have the last few weeks. It can be good power if used properly. :)
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