Chicks On Lit discussion

wow thats awesome. Thank you for sharing. what a great project.

I would love to go and see that when its done. I am on two PTA boards here (elementary and middle school) I am going to share this with them and the blind parent support group I work with.

What an awesome idea. Thanx for sharing this with us.

I'm so glad you posted the butterly project here, Teri. You've inspired me. I've decided to start going to local schools, prisons and detention centers to start doing butterflies. It looks like the rules are pretty loose on how to make them on the website. If you know any differently, please let me know.

I have a personal interest in butterflies. They're incredibly meaningful to me. Thanks for the post.

Teri, thank you for sharing this with us~ I don't know if I'd have heard of this otherwise! I'm going to post this pn my blog as well, if you don't mind!

Tera, my God is there anything you don't do?! You are such an amazing inspiration!

oh the list is long and vast for the things I don't do. And even longer for the things I do do but don't do well! ;)

Teri - my family had some strange experiences with butterflies soon after my dad passed away. To this day, if I'm having a bad day and a butterfly randomly crosses my path, I think it's a visit from my dad :)

Aww, that's sweet Laura.

Alright girls, thanks to Teri I spent the whole weekend thinking about this. I got chills when I read her post.

I have some really specific ideas and thoughts. Is anyone interested? We could have so much fun with this!

I love your enthusiasm and your touching story about butterflies. I'm not quite sure what you need permission for but I would love to hear your ideas.

(take charge women totally inspire me and give me chills!)

I'll get back to you Tera, I'm working on creating a blog so you can see what I've got going on!

I am going to Houston for Thanxgiving and am going to try to go to the Houston Holocaust Museum. If I do, I will get more information to share with everyone.

Hey Teri - I saw two on my birthday, so I know it was him waving with his wings :)

Meg, I live just north of Houston and try to find out information if you are unable to do so.

My husband and I were cleaning out the garage today. Gulp. And I came across some scrapbooks I had put together over 10 years ago, where I pasted magazine pictures of my hopes and dreams.

I thought of all of you when I came across a page with a butterfly on it, which represented freedom, change and transformation for me in my life. So, I had to smile.

Thanx Brigitte. I really want to go to the museum. I tried when I was in DC but it was too hard to get in. I am hoping Thanxgiving week will be a good week in Houston/ How are you doing with the clean up? My boys are back to normal at this point.

We were only 5 days without power and that is when then cool front ended!! I know many people who had to go 15 days. School was out for 9 days, and the kids were actually very ready to go back. Life is pretty much back to normal here north of Houston (except the kids sports season has been pushed into Dec), but on the south side there are still people struggling, and still many missing people. Alligators have taken over parts of Galveston and areas to the south of Houston, so the recovery effort has been hampered some.

Thanks for asking. Where do your boys live?

Meg, please let me know if you make it to the museum. I'd love to know what you think.

And Brigitte, I'm glad the hurricane challenges are behind you. I'm sorry to say I haven't realized how bad it's been for some people. Boy oh boy.

Thanks Karey, It has been bad for many. Parts of Galveston are totaled (one area has only one house left standing) there are many homeless people and they will be closing most of the shelters by the end of the month. In my opinion FEMA got a poor rating in their recovery help... it took them over 3 days to even get ice and food to the area and they were less then five hours away in San Antonio and Austin. People here could still definately use prayer. Last I heard there were over 300 missing.

Thanks for your concern.
Brigitte

That is really sad. I love Galveston, I wanted to buy a house there, good thing I didn't. I will definitely let you know if I get to the museum. I am hoping so but I am only there for a few days. My boys live right in Houston itself. My youngest lives on the street where all the windows exploded, he was lucky his building was the only one that wasn't hit.

Meg,

WOW, he was lucky. It seems like there were many mini-tornados that popped up and down all around the area. I am glad your boys made it through okay... us Texas are used to hunkerin' down, eh?

Fer sure!

Well, I've been giving thought to my version of the Butterfly Project. Reading your updates, Brigitte, and knowing you're going to the museum Meg is helping me feel brave about sharing. Here goes:

O.K. So with Secret Speakers having two important scenes with butterflies, and since the story has to do with how Fair O'Nelli triumphs over past fears and trauma after living in a cellar for nine years, I've been looking for ways to help others learn to heal through giving. I wouldn't be alive today without this very thing: Creating and giving heals us.

So, I'm doing a parallel, sister project called One Million Butterflies. The motto is, "Give a Butterfly, Make a Promise, Get a Smile."

If anyone wants to know more about how it's going to play out, let me know. I'm figuring this out as I go along. But I do know where I want to end up with this...so at least I'm aiming instead of wandering willy nilly!

I love this idea, plan to participate and I'm going to pass it on to our ABC group(kinda like the PTA) at my son's school.

The butterfly is the symbol for Fibromyagia sufferers also.

I loved reading the stories about butterflies. After my MIL died I had an experience with one myself. I was outside taking photos and there was a beautiful butterfly on the groud just sitting there, I got really close to take a photo thinking it was going to fly away and it just stayed. I sat down on the ground and it let me come even closer to it and snap away. It even turned around and around and posed for me. I've never experienced anything like that before in my life. It was wonderful. I got so many shots it was unreal. I finally had to get up, when I stood up, it flew away. :D

Karey - that sounds really interesting, I'd like to know more about it.

Sandy - Wow, how neat! I wonder if anyone else has had a butterfly experience after someone passed.

You know what's weird? My mom & my sister Cheryl had the strange exp. (together) right after my dad passed. Then months and months later, my sister looked out her back window and a whole swarm of butterflies was there. She called my mom, who lives about 5 miles away, and she had butterflies all over too.

The weird thing was - they were just in their two yards, not all over the area.

Cool huh?

Laura,
When my daughter died, at the grave site there was a swarm of dragonflies (well over 50) Whenever I see a dragonfly (the turquoise ones) it rests on me. I feel very connected, so I really understand what your saying about the butterflies.

Karey I would love the hear more about your project.

Sandy, thanx for sharing that piece about fibromyagia.

Wow, maybe there's a thing with this then!

And Meg - was your son looking at the road when the ghost walked in front of your car? Or was he looking elsewhere?

My son was looking in the same direction (the road) as me. I think that is why he freaked out like that. It is something that will stay with me forever.

That is so cool, what a great story. I so wish we knew more about the afterlife. I used to be so hooked on John Edward's show Crossing Over after my dad passed away. I wanted to get tickets, but was never able to get through. I've read his books, though, and I find that whole thing completely fascinating.

I find it funny how some people can write that kind of experience completely off and disbelieve. Like my husband when I told him your story, Meg (the ghost one). How can you just write it off? Would he have written it off if he had been there?

Or maybe like your son, he wouldn't have seen it either - I think you have to believe things like that to experience or see them.

These butterfly stories are leaving me speechless. Since you've each asked to know more about the project, I'll spend start a blog today on One Million Butterlies and that way you can stay posted on what's happening. (It will be really basic, though for now...)

Meg: I'm so glad your son was OK. I couldn't find the story about the ghost anywhere on this thread. :(

Sandy: That's an incredible story. Moments like that are truly gifts. I'm so glad you told your story. Is there a way you could send me the pictures? Thanks for your mention of Fibromyalgia and butterflies, too. I've had it for a year and a half, and hope every day that the pain will go away.

Laura That's an amazing story as well. Wow. Like you, I'm so intrigued by the afterlife. What was John Edward's show? I've never heard of him or the show Crossing Over. It sounds fascinating.

Hi Karey - Meg's story was on the Chicks on Writ group - I think under one of the kicker threads. Sorry for the OT post.

John Edward has written several books. And the show crossing over was on the SCI FI network for awhile after Fox dropped it. He would do readings of audience members. When spirits would make themselves known to him, he would describe the story they told and ask if it made sense to anyone in the audience. It was fascinating. The website was www.crossingover.tv, not sure if it's still active.

Yes my story is on chicks on Writing, Meg's Writing is the thread.

Afterlife is something I have always been interested in. That is a whole nother thread tho!

I am really looking forward to the butterfly blog.

You can start that Afterlife thread anytime Meg cause i have a TON of those kind of stories!!! I have seen and heard and felt quite a bit in my lifetime that's been otherwordly and it's always fascinated me. My family has never made that a "weird " thing so it was always easy for us all to discuss anything that ever happened. My boyfriend now was the first person to look at me strangely when i talked about it around him for the first time and that was odd to me. Hasn't experienced a disbeliever yet until him!

When I get the time I am going to write the one that freaked my exhusband to tears.............

It sounds like we all have some interesting stories to share in the future. I'll keep mine for a private thread. :)

Whew. I finally got the blog started! Let me know what you think...http://www.OneMillionButterflies.com

You are a beautiful woman both inside and out. I am blown away.

Karey, it's a really beautiful place & idea, your blog & project. I've been thinking for quite some time about creating a new group here on GR designed to encourage volunteerism - of any kind. Tera's idea of leaving the book really inspired me - leave a book, then report back. That may have been what sparked it for me.

I think sometimes people shy away from volunteering because they think it will be very time-consuming, or require skills they don't have. But I agree with your idea that sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference in people's lives.

Especially when someone is feeling down, scared, or needs encouragement. When you feel alone, it's the tiniest gesture that means the most. And what a great way to get outside yourself and promote your own healing in the process too. Good karma just keeps recirculating! So I really like your idea, and applaud your efforts.

So your goal is to collect butterflies, and distribute them to people in need? Do you have certain people and/or groups in mind?

I have been wanting to volunteer for some time now and have applied at different places here in Columbus. I'm still waiting on programs to start and for people to tell me when I'm needed if you can believe that!!!

I just sent a message to Holli, then found all these responses here. Wow! I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed and wanting help.

If I start a group here, would any of you want to moderate with me so that it's a group effort? I feel way too overwhelmed doing it alone.

...I've got another friend on another group who wants to help to named Tanya http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... (...you'd love her.)

Let me know. I've got tons of questions...Do you like the blog layout? What would be better? How could we put a "members forum" on it?...Would our goodreads group have a butterfly or maybe the smiley face from the blog (with the bandaged eye) as the image? Would we call the group School of Second Chances or One Million Butterflies?

Do we want to do a google group or a conference call so we can brainstorm?