Giving Back

There are a few things I’ve learned over time:

  • As much as you want to control life, you can plan what you plan, but roll with what comes along the way
  • Everything happens for a reason (the good, the bad and the ugly)
  • No matter how bad you think things are, there’s always someone out there that is probably having it worse than you.

With these things in mind, I’ve discovered how much life has given me even with all the bad things in between….life has truly been a blessing for me. So, I’m very big on giving back and doing social good whenever I can. While I work with a lot of different organizations and write about different efforts here on the site in my “social good” area, here is an organization I like to either fundraise for and serve as a the Communication Director along with the reasons why I do.

Independent Awakening (IA)

When I first graduated college, I wanted to start a non-profit organization that benefited violence against women (VAW) in a different way. Having been involved with the cause in college, I realized there was a need to educate a younger generation of women and men about this taboo topic. I never moved forward with developing this organization for fear of taking away resources from the local New Jersey DV organizations. Over a decade later, this dream has come back full circle when a good friend of mine told me about a non-profit organization her cousin started – Independent Awakening. The Founder Neeta Bhushan, a survivor herself, saw the need to Educate, Empower and Enlighten (E3) a younger generation and the career women about this cause. Call it fate, but she and I share the same vision and thus, I’ve decided to get involved with IA as their Communication Manager. It’s a role I’m honored to take on and I’m very excited to help launch such a wonderful organization. Join our cause and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or the Blog.

My life was touched by domestic violence because someone I hold dear to me was a victim of domestic violence. It was devastating to experience & witness. Domestic violence is prejudice toward no age, no race and no gender. It can be verbal, emotional or physical. It can happen to anyone. One of the worst things about domestic violence is how victims believe they deserve to be abused. Some stay in the situation because they don’t think they have any place to go or they think they deserve to be abused. Others leave, but go back because it’s all they know and fear the world outside more.

Domestic violence affects everyone and while you may think it’ll never happen to you or those you love – keep in mind that it’s such a taboo topic that even if it was happening to someone you know, chances are, you’d likely never know until it was too late.

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

I encourage you to take the step and find an organization near you where you can better understand this cause and hopefully volunteer your time. If not this cause, find a cause that you are passionate about and volunteer your time. It’s a bit of a thankless job, but know that you will be helping many others and it will make you feel great about yourself along the way.

 

Here’s a little something I wrote in support of those that are affected by domestic violence in their lives

Dear John

You are the world to me
Ever since the first day I laid eyes on you
Your eyes saw through me like x-ray vision

 

When you said “hello”
Your voice melted me like butter
You brought me flowers
Wooing me like a love sick child

 

Every move slick like ice
Amazing me with your silky skin and shiny hair
You came and swept me off my feet like I’ve dreamt for years
Of my knight in shining armor coming to rescue me
And bringing me the life of happily ever after

 

That was the olden days
Now years have passed
And I’m now “your woman”
Like I’m some prize you won at the carnival
Throwing coins at the glass plates

 

Living life like your little robot
Only doing what you tell me to do
Cooking, cleaning and drying your dishes
Like I’m seven years old
A little child that can’t go out
But rather stay home like a trapped butterfly

 

You wine and dine your friends
Bragging about how you can tame
Any woman that comes down your lane
As if we’re just wild horses
Just waiting on the hills
For someone to come ride us

 

You treat me like dirt
Kicking me to the curb
Just some sand you picked up from the beach
And bottled me away

 

Now sitting in some dark corner
Collecting dust
Sitting here, dreaming of yesterdays

 

And how my friends
Warned me about you
About your playing ways
They told me about all those stories
Of other women
But I didn’t want to hear
Because I was memorized by your charm
And strong arms
And I just told them they were jealous
That I found my boo
The one that will give me everything

 

Now you yell at me like I’m some
Child waiting to me scolded
As if I’ve done something wrong

 

Every second of my life
I wait in the dark
Afraid that once again your wrath will come
When you come home
And I realized, this is the life I chose
To be with you
Thinking all my good fortunes have come
Like I was Cinderella
And you were the one that
Would give me the world

 

Only I was wrong and your words have become like
Venom in my blood
Killing me softly
Your strong touch now bruises on my skin
From when I pull away and you
Take me into your arms and give me what I deserve
For being ungrateful
And undeserving of the life you’ve given me

 

These bruises
Testament to the life I chosen
Like I entered some horror flick
Where I’m the helpless girl that dies at the end

 

I woke up this morning
Again, yelling with tears
And sweat dripping down my face
Like I was sick with fever

 

And I realized,
It’s time
For me to take my life back
It’s time to end this horror flick
Where I’m the independent woman
That saves myself in the end
Not waiting for another knight
To sweep me off my feet

 

So, this is goodbye
You see my Dear John
I’ve come to my senses
And I’m leaving you behind
While giving myself a new life

 

I don’t need you John
Now it’s time to heal myself
And begin living life the way I should have lived
Before I ever met you

 

Free
From the pain and chains
No more fears
No more tears
No more bruises on my skin