Every now and then an amazing opportunity comes along… and I nearly said no to this one!
A couple of months ago I was contacted by Cindi, one of the beautiful women organising the Dine en Blanc International Women’s Day event in Moora yesterday. She told me they were looking for inspirational speakers and asked if I was interested. My first reaction was a resounding no, I had just been made redundant, what possible inspiration could I offer?! But the event was a fundraiser for the prevention of domestic violence, a topic very close to my heart, so after some brief thought I said yes and trusted that I’d find the inspiration in the meantime.
I didn’t write a speech so I can’t share it… sorry! I just spoke from the heart and told my story, starting with my Dad’s aggressive behaviour after his stroke, the sexual abuse I experienced as a child, my PCOS diagnosis, my rape as a teenager and the violence in my marriage in my 20’s. I then spoke about my healing journey and what lies ahead for me.
As always when I speak on this, there were numerous nods of understanding in the crowd from women who could relate to my story and so many beautiful women who spoke to me afterwards and shared some of their most vulnerable feelings... everything from thanking me for giving them a voice, to helping them see there was hope that they too could get out of the dark place they were in right now. For all of us, I will continue to tell my story.
I’m so glad I decided to get out of my own way and take part in such a great event that raised over $4,000 for charity A massive shoutout to Cindi, Trish and Marnie, the wonderful team who brought it all together
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