Watch the new version of Searching for Angela Shelton for FREE!

You can now watch the new version of Searching for Angela Shelton and embed it in your own website or blog!

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/searching_for_angela_shelton/

Love Box

I just got a great email from a survivor I met at the last college I spoke at. Here's what she said:

OH and I took your advice about loving yourself more. I made a shoebox and decorated it, it is now the LOVE box. It sounds silly but every day or multiple times a day I write a little note about something I did that was fun, or something i liked about myself. Just today I wrote down something I said that was witty.

Now that is cool! I love the LOVE BOX! Make one for yourself.

Drum for Life

I just met Christine Stevens from UpBeat Drum Circles and thought you would love her. For those of you dealing with the holiday headaches and heartaches check out her healing drum kit!

We should bring a few of those to the Army of Angels Conference in March! I'll add a video of this shortly but wanted to give you her site so you could check her out. She is going to Iraq in April for the 3rd time to do a healing drum circle. Wow.

Army of Angels Conference - March 2009

Get tickets to the first annual Army of Angels Conference this coming March!

My new play will be performed as well as the amazing one-woman-show "TOTALLY Kimleigh!"
Check out Kimleigh at http://www.totallykimleigh.com/

Points with Purpose

http://www.pointswithpurpose.com/

Check that out! Another artist using art for healing and awareness and that is always inspiring!

Finding Butch

Inspired by Finding Angela Shelton, Ron Tebo is now Finding Butch!

Ron Tebo and his younger sister are survivors of sexual abuse (he was 6 and she was 4) and they have created Finding Butch so other survivors have a positive place to speak out and share their story.

Angela Shelton in Texas

Yay for Kathy and Jenn in Texas! That was a great event!

A

Stop Abusing Yourself and Dance!

Click to Play

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The 30 Day Finding Angela Shelton Journey!

Check out this amazing letter I received! It is from the 30 Day Finding Angela Shelton Journey. WOW!

Hi Angela Shelton.

What a ride! Today was my Day 30 on your Angela Shelton Journey. I can only begin to tell you how emotional the last 37 days have been for me. So many tears and emotions that some days I just couldn't click on the day's Journey email, and had to wait a day or two.

Thank you thank you thank you. Your program is truly inspired and a blessing from all that is good and loving and healing in the universe. Your messages are right-on, and your videos so intense, funny, and personal. I have learned SO much and still have work to do, but a shift in my healing has definitely taken place.

I thought I would share with you my Day 22 drawing of what joy would look like to me. This was done with markers on a file folder. I certainly wouldn't have felt this without your program, and the assignment gave me this light-hearted image of joy. I have kept it up where I see it many times each day, and it makes me smile every time, and lifts those old vibes up.

I will also share my Day 26 Mission Statement:

I am a beautiful entity, a divine spark of God who is on this planet to learn to love and to play and love and have fun. I pray to be a fountain of love to the world and to be a bright loving light to myself and therefore to others. I am joyous Jaye who exited the blame game.

Thank you for your work, from deep in my heart to you, and so much more than I can say right now.

Jaye

Dear Jane....

Jane!

You tried to communicate and it was erased so quickly. Can you try again? Send it to orders@ or filmmaker@ Can you become friends here too: http://www.myspace.com/angelasarmyofangels

I'm glad you're still alive. I spoke with another one of you on myspace awhile back. That was creepy. It is so hard to tell when they are watching and when they are not - so here we are right out in the open! Keep going girl. Save and hide your money. You should report it on or before the 29th of April too, even if you just do it online http://reportitnow.org/reportabuse.html The more you tell it, the less power they have over you.

Angela

Feeling like you Failed?

To know me is to laugh.

This fail blog is for all of you who have said you feel like you failed. During the process of healing there is that dark point where the sword is still in you and you're pulling it out but you feel like you'll never get past the pain. You know what I'm talking about. Well, here is a blog that was just sent to me to perhaps lift your spirits and show you that again, you are not alone. Here is a fail blog.

Keep moving forward. As Angela Shelton Detroit said to me, "Sometimes life hits you upside the head but you have to keep going and keep trusting."

Joyful Music for a Joyful Life!

What does the soundtrack to your life sound like? I am a big believer that life has a soundtrack. A well-known radio station where I live has a "Rock of the '90's" show each weekday during the noon hour. I have decided that listening to this radio show when I am able to is part of my new routine of Joyful Living.

Perhaps like many of us, the 1990's don't contain many memories that one would desire to recall. My abuse during this period was entrenched and regular at this point. I spent the majority of that time deeply depressed, self-destructive, and actively suicidal---I saw no other way out.

However, what I DO like to recall from that period is the "soundtrack." I am a type of person that takes comfort and finds deep meaning in analysis of song lyrics and music. In fact, I am planning future scholarly research on the effects music has on mood and conduct. What we listen to does "train our brain" and influence us more than we know!

So, as part of "The Joy Campaign" I have created an iTunes play list consisting of songs that arouse joyful feelings within me. Most of them make me want to dance around. That is a way that I express joy all the time. I dance around like a crazy woman! Definitely like nobody is watching!

I want to invite the rest of you who use iTunes and other online music services where music can be shared (and I do mean legally, people!) to do the same. Publish them on iTunes. Mention "The Joy Campaign" and Angela Shelton when you write your description so we can find each others lists. Imagine all the joyful tunes we could compile together?! It's about SPREADING THE JOY! Every person's list will look different. As a form of art, music has different meanings to each person.

Everybody has had that "one song stuck on repeat in your head". I don't think I have had a day alive where I haven't had some song looping through my brain! Make sure it's a song that is going to influence your thoughts and conduct in a positive way. Allow it to be a song that brings a smile to your face and to your heart. Angela has said before, take that love-song that's your absolute favorite and sing it with YOU as the subject!

Can't wait to see how creative you all get, and to see us all sharing the songs that contribute to our joy!

As a starter, here is my JOYFUL PLAY-LIST. You'll have to have iTunes installed to view and preview the music. It can be easily downloaded at www.itunes.com for free!

BE JOYFUL, DANCE AROUND, LOVE YOURSELF!

Family Court Crisis

The Center for Judicial Excellence has a new film!
Family Court Crisis: Our Children at Risk

It is a film about the systemic breakdown of our family courts!

Spread the word. People need to know about the truth.

PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK NEEDS PARTICIPANTS

Lorena Ros, an international award-winning photographer from Barcelona, is working on a book about survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

I know Lorena and she is awesome! Her photographs are beautiful. She is looking for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse to participate – the book will be a combination of photographs and survivors’ stories. Interested parties can visit her website to learn more: www.lorenaros.com

I have sent her a few of my survivor friends already - and if any of you are near Charleston, she is looking to be there in Feb to photograph more of you!

Fighting for Jessica

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I thought many of you may like to see this. This is a story I know well and an example of how you can move on, fight, and take back your Light. Check out her bat!

Fight for Jessica.

What is Art Therapy and Why is it important to work with an Art Therapist?

What I know about art:
art is fun
art can be messy
art surprises
art tells a story
art can keep a secret
art is curious
art is poignant
art saves lives
What is Art Therapy and why is it important to work with an Art Therapist?
Art therapy is making art with a person who is educated about how art and your psyche relate. Working with a real Art Therapist (there is a master’s degree and nationally recognized credential for this field!) makes a difference. Because art making is so powerfully transformative huge shifts can come very quickly. It is important to know how to contain big feelings as they come up.
You might not know that some materials could be triggering to those of us that are carrying scary memories. [For example, while using clay can be a grounding experience, using red or brown clay could be retraumatizing for a person that has been abused around blood or feces. White or gray clay would make a better choice if you are using clay.]

Some of us need containment, yes, but some of us are so numbed out and our feelings are so shut down that we need help to become MORE expressive.
Q. If I don’t even know what I’m feeling, how can art help me?
A. Some materials can stimulate your creative juices and bring up your energy. With art therapy you might find dreams changing. You might become more aware of your surroundings. You might find your relationship with yourself and your past changing. As you gain more control in your art you may find you gain more control in your life, too.

A good Art Therapist will know what materials and interventions are appropriate for you as you work together.

My personal philosophy about art making is this: I believe that we are all made of the same creative stuff that created the universe. Therefore, when you stimulate creativity in one area of your life (making art, dancing, writing a poem, knitting, etc.) other parts of your creativity are also stimulated. When we do something creative we begin to heal in thousands of unseen ways because we are tapping into that original creative source from which we are made.

There is much more information about Art Therapy out there. Here are some links:
www.arttherapy.org (I regret their “Art Therapist locator” page is not working at the moment)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jY4s-3UEjg

You may have guessed by now that I am an Art Therapist myself. I live and work in Ann Arbor, MI. Here is my URL: www.artistrees.com Contact me if you have questions!
-All the best,
Susan Boyes, ATR-BC, LMHC
Registered Art Therapist, Board Certified
Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Affirmations

There is a lot of talk this week about remembering to take care of yourself during the holiday season. Some survivors don't even know what it means to care for themselves. The idea that their needs and feelings are important is a foreign concept. Healing is about taking baby steps toward the light that shines inside of you and then revealing your light to the world.

One of the first and most powerful things that you can do for yourself is to make sure your self talk isn't negative. We can all be our own worst enemies. I have found that self affirmations help me through some of my toughest times.

Yesterday I spoke to a friend about what kind of affirmations we use to keep us going. Here is a few:

• lipstick on the mirror that says, "I love you....squish!"
• putting a card in the mail to yourself
• using a mantra like, "I am special" or "I am beautiful"
• combating the negative thoughts with opposite affirmations like, "I am important" or "what I say/think/feel matters"

All of those things are true about you! You just have to take hold of it and make active steps toward believing that it is true. Whichever one you pick by using affirmations you are taking the first steps toward getting rid of that inner voice that tells you that you don't matter.

I am wishing all of you a happy and safe holiday season!

Remembering Yourself During the Holidays

We spend so much time during this season thinking of the wants and needs of others. We try to balance our obligations and our desires. This year, I have decided to do two things for myself.

1. I am sending myself a Christmas card! I am reminding myself that I am a lovable and valued person! (it's above... click to enlarge)

2. I am gifting to myself! Lots of people are using the paper and plastic this week to purchase, purchase, purchase! Yet, I am going to make something for myself. I think that oftentimes we forget to take care of ourselves, especially this time of year. So... I am creating coupons for myself to put in my stocking that I can "cash-in" if I feel overwhelmed or just REALLY want to enjoy my day off (-ha!) or need to take one. I am writing coupons for little things like a hot bath, an hour of meditation, a dinner for one, ice cream, a phone call to a friend I have neglected to keep in touch with, a cup of tea, or taking the time to pre-order Angela's new book (click to order).

3. Ok! So while writing this, I thought of a third thing. I am going to take my calendar and mark one day during each month in it that is going to be MINE to do what I want despite the desires of others... I think I just picked my New Year's Resolution!

Obligations to others AND to ourselves

Everyday I receive a an email that gives me something to think about. Often it is exactly what I need to to hear. I received this one this morning and felt that it is appropriate during the crazy holiday season that has snuck up us again. It all boils down to making sure you are taking care of yourself.

"We all encounter obligations in life, from spending time with family and friends to being present at important functions in the lives of the people who form our community. Many times, the obligations are actually fun and fulfilling, and we want to be there. At the same time, we all sometimes experience resistance to meeting these obligations, especially when they pile up all at once and we begin to feel exhausted, longing for nothing so much as a quiet evening at home. At times like these, we may want to say no but feel too guilty at the idea of not being there. Still, our primary obligation is to take care of ourselves, and if saying no to someone else is what we have to do, then we do not need to feel bad about it.
There is a skill to balancing our obligations, and it starts with simply becoming aware of our schedule. We may notice that three invitations have arisen in one weekend, and we know that we will pay energetically if we attempt to fulfill all three. At this point, we can take the time to weigh the repercussions of not going to each event, considering how we will feel if we miss it and how our absence might affect other people. Most of the time, it will be clear which obligation we can most easily let go and which one we simply can’t miss. Sometimes we have to miss something really important to us, and that can be painful for everyone concerned. At times like this, reaching out with a phone call, a thoughtful card, or a gift lets people know that you are there in spirit and that your absence is by no means a result of you not caring.
Meeting our obligations to others is an important part of being human and not one to take lightly. At the same time, we cannot meet every obligation without neglecting our primary duty to take care of ourselves. We can navigate this quandary by being conscious of what we choose to do and not do and by finding concrete ways to extend our caring when we are not able to be there in person." courtesy of www.dailyom.com

The Art of cutting magazines!

This has been something that has really helped me in my healing...because I can look and touch where I was a year ago and where I am now... My therapist had me collage a year ago and I recently did another one and its as if I've come out of the darkness... and really it does feel good in the moment...your too busy to really get into deep thought because your looking for something specific... its something great to do with an idea ahead of time or just randomly flip through the magazine till something pops out at you and let it become what it becomes... need more help on ideas??? Just ask on my blog I do this all the time... so I have many many ideas!! Happy Magazine therapy!

• this art work was not completed by me