Samuel Johnson once said that, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."
Well, I guess that makes me a blockhead extraordinaire. Oh, I do get paid to write – but not this blog. No, this blog is about the sheer love of words. It’s about making a connection with people I know and with people I hope to.
And, based on the title, it’s a good outlet for all things related to this money pit I’ve called home for more than two decades.
You may have noticed the new graphic in the right-hand margin. If you haven’t , please do. It’s for a new blog that went live today. It’s called ViolenceUnSilenced and it’s dedicated to stamping out domestic violence. Unfortunately, it’s a subject I know a little bit about.
Fortunately, there are sites like this that give me a chance to put that experience to what I hope will be good use. I truly believe that being safe in your own home should be a right, not a privilege.
I stumbled upon Maggie quite by accident a few months ago. She has a blog called Okay.Fine. Dammit. (How can you not love that blog name?!) And she happens to be a terrific writer. So, I visit regularly.
But back to the site … at some point, Maggie will be running a post I wrote. I hope you will read it.
More than that, I hope you will go to the site now and read the first post. It’s quite compelling. It puts a very normal face on an extremely dangerous and dysfunctional issue. Take her pledge and put the ViolenceUnSilenced badge on your site. Post on your blog and Tweet about it, too. Get people there.
I think it’s a remarkable thing that Maggie has done. The least we can do is help get the word out. You may help save the life of someone you know ... and not even know it.
So, I'll happily be a blockhead if it encourages just one person to get out of an abusive relationship. Will you?
A non-professional,faux home improvement blog dedicated to the insane yet diligent do-it-yourselfer,thoroughly peppered with random views and thoughts from me
9 comments:
When I was in college, we were required to take one course for the month of January. These were not your standard run of the mill college courses and I took one on battered women. It was enlightening and scary at the same time. The next time I visited home, a battered woman actually appeared on our doorstep. I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember that I talked to her for quite awhile and we got her a safe place. I never knew what happened to her, but I hope that she is safe and found the happiness that we all deserve.
I'm jumping over there to read now...
Thank you SO much for this. You are doing such an important thing, both in sharing and in spreading the word. Thank you, babe.
xo
MG -- Man, I hope so, too! It's a hard subject to talk about, but if we don't, the consequences can be even worse.
RT -- Thanks for the support. :-)
Maggie -- no, THANK YOU for doing something this great.
Glad that you're taking up this cause. It is a very real problem, even in upper middle class communities... and it is so frequently coupled with child abuse, which I abhor.
I think I've heard one statistic that one in four women is touched by abuse. I've often looked at my friends when we're together and thought that statistically one or more of them would be suffering. Once again it's being brought to the forefront of pop culture with that rapper beating his girlfriend.
Visiting from BPOTW..
Thank you for writing about this and creating a separate blog for it. This is an issue that too few people speak out on and yet it touches so many of us.
Thank you
Fred -- Thanks for the support. Hope you'll grab a badge for OPCat Maggie's site.
BPOTW -- That's exactly right, 1 in 4. It's worse than any disease ever dare be.
Cairo -- Thank you! I can't take credit for the Violence UnSilenced blog. That's all Maggie. All I can do is spread the word.
That is one powerful blog! Great writing, amazing story. I hope the word gets out.
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