RubyShuze...You deserve the life you want!

I met Layne Schmidt nearly two months ago, now, and she's been a powerful ray of sunshine! I welcome her, warmly, as we all could use more rays these days ;) But, as I tell my daughter...the rain is helping Mother Earth get watered and clean. She's good with that. You know what else she's good with? Some simple tools on how to create a happy life for herself! Layne's site www.rubyshuze.com is a friendly must-read, as is her recent newsletter on the latest conversation she and I had about choices and a fabulous chain of events...enjoy!

Elita

The Face of Depression

Our team wanted to share a recent post on Sharon Piller's website as it eloquently depicts another face of Postpartum Depression. Please read on and pass along...

"Well I have to tell you this is not going to be an ordinary post for me because this wasn't an ordinary shoot. I was very fortunate to meet some extremely amazing people this past weekend. We had this baby shoot planned for a little bit now. Baby Parker is the most adorable, smiley, happy baby and he is now 5 months old. However, a few things happened when Parker was born to make his first few months on this earth less than ideal. He had very bad colic and to top it off, his wonderful first time mom Danielle fell into a very deep Postpartum Depression. Just in case you are wondering, I have Danielle's full approval to publish her story. In fact, she insisted." Read more here...

Danielle and Sharon...you don't know just how many lives you are saving!! Thanks SO much for sharing ~ http://valleyportraits.ca

Two articles you will want to read...

Make sure you also check out the videos at the end of this article, Getting help for postpartum depression written by Valerie Whiffen of the Globe and Mail. And, bravo to Julie Cugalj for bringing to light her experience When motherhood isn't a joy written by André Picard of the Globe and Mail.

Two marvelous women we would like to draw your attention to...

Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is a poet, writer, educator, New Yorker and world-wanderer ~ http://www.ekeretallie.com/bio.htm. And...Dana Leggett, a radical feminist mama of three from Winnipeg, Manitoba whose hope is to show vulnerabilty through art ~ http://yoniart-dana.blogspot.com. Carla, Tania and I met these women, among 83 others in NYC, who truly touched our hearts. You must check out their sites as they will also affect you in ways where you're so thankful to have met them, too! Thank you Mariahadessa and Dana for following your truths and igniting such beauty and generosity. Gratefully...!

Much more awareness for Postpartum Mood Disorders and Mental Health all around!!

As Pamela Cowan, a writer for the LeaderPost in Regina, SK, put it to me, The more people we can get going to our website and picking up the paper, the stronger a message we are sending to the powers that be that mental health is an important issue worth following. Thanks for your help. We would like to draw your attention to a 7-part series on Mental Health awareness, our stories being one of those articles...The Nightmare of Postpartum Psychosis, and New Dads not exempt from Depression.

Our world is most definitely moving forward!! Now...keep it going by sharing these links on your facebook page, on your twitter account, on digg.com, on your blog and the other social networks I haven't mentioned!! This is how positive change happens!