Introducing... Guest Posts! Start the Dialog...

Dear Friends and Readers, 

Knowing the response of the few people who were reading and commenting on our story while I was writing it, I realized that our story was far bigger than the two of us.  Every person who read it was entranced with the story and wanted to know more.  Whether they knew Heather or not. Whether they had suffered themselves, or were in relationship with someone else who was suffering.  Each person felt connected to the universal story of suffering and truth.

Just three weeks ago, I created this blog as a place to share our story. Yesterday’s post from Heather confirmed her strong desire to help others.  I decided that I was personally willing to expose my good, bad and ugly to be real.  And I have changed the names of all others to protect their privacy. 

I imagined this blog as a place for people to dialog and share their own struggles and their wisdom. I have even thought about facilitating a support/study group with a group of mom’s and their teens so that we can have a forum for an open dialog about life’s struggles. (If that interests anyone in the Birmingham area, email me.)

I’m new to blogging and I thought people would naturally share their thoughts in comments on the blog where everyone could see them. But most people don’t.  Instead, I have received many private messages and comments on Facebook and texts from people that know us personally. 

Then it occurred to me that perhaps people needed to be able to share anonymously. (A Duh! moment.)

Posting Comments Anonymously


Because I want this to be a safe place to raise tough issues, I have some possible solutions. Posting COMMENTS is the easiest way to share to everyone.

Because you must have an email/fb/twitter/address or some other form of identification to post a comment, any person desiring to comment anonymously can create a new private email address and Post your comments using that private email.
OR
send your comment to me in a FB message and and tell me to post them for you anonymously.  I will assign you an anonymous number ID.

Introducing Guest Posting


This part really excites me... Starting tomorrow, I will have an occasional opportunity for our readers to submit a Guest Post.  It can be a letter describing your own struggles.  Something that you have learned or how you have been impacted.  It can be a story of your personal journey to date. Or a response to one of our posts. Try writinga letter to me or Heather.  Ask a question (no promises I know the answer though).  Or request  advice.  I'm really pretty open to ideas.

Some Thoughts To Keep In Mind for Comments and Guest Posts

1. FOCUS ON ISSUES RELATABLE TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND/OR THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENTS & ADULTS.  Although many of the issues are universal struggles - even for adults, I created this forum as a place for teens, young adults, and parents to engage in dialog about issues we face.  As adults, we could take it over with all of our adult problems.  I don't want that to happen UNLESS your adult problems arise from issues you faced as a teen/young adult.  Nonetheless, feel free to describe how you felt when you were younger.
2. Be real and honest with yourself and what you write.  Don’t sugar coat it to make yourself look good.  But don’t overstate it to make yourself look really bad! 
3. Remember this blog reaches a broad audience.  Don’t use harsh curse words or coarse words casually; rather, when it is absolutely necessary to express the depth of your precise emotion. (I could do a whole blog entry on that subject!)  I will substitute #$%) if necessary.
4. I have no idea how many people might be interested, so I will gauge how often I will use a Guest Post based on the response. If I get a 100 posts (which would be great), I may not be able to publish them all!  I will determine which ones best fit the tone and environment Heather initiate. Some might be better suited for a comment instead of a guest post.
5. There is no limit on the length because I want to encourage you to write whatever you need to write.  But know that I may only post certain sections of your letter to keep the post readable in under 10 minutes and/or to limit the topics to something manageable for the readers.

Tomorrow, we will have our first Guest Post from someone who knew Heather for years through her sibling, but not very well. She has been following Heather’s letters and my responses and has been impacted. She wrote her own letter to Heather and I thought this was a great way to introduce the thoughts of others and to begin a dialog.

If you are interested in submitting a Guest Post, please email Anna at EveryKidAHome@gmail.com.  Add “GUEST POST SUBMISSION” to the Subject line.

Thanks. I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

Anna Giattina Lee