World Childless Week 2018 Update

Following the announcement of the daily themes for World Childless Week 2018 this week’s “New(s) and reviews” was a no-brainer. So, what have we got in store this year?

World Childless Week – Monday

Facts and Figures: I really enjoyed writing a piece about Endometriosis for last year’s World Childless Week. It is a great opportunity to share our stories whilst adding the extra impact of some facts to back up the raw emotion.  You can read “Endometriosis is NOT simply bad period pain” here

World Childless Week – Tuesday

Letters from our hearts: this was a favourite of mine last year. I’d already written a letter as part of my “work-in-progress” book so I know from personal experience how cathartic Emotional Writing can be. There is lots of evidence to prove that people who write about their trauma, be it physical or emotional, end up being healthier and heal faster. This year’s letters will be to “The Children We Never Had” It’s a subject that I am fascinated by, so watch this space

World Childless Week Wednesday – Wednesday

Childlessness and the arts: this is a new inclusion in the World Childless Week themes and one that I think will be very popular. I know there are many people who are Canbacing or still struggling with their situation who use art as a way of expressing their emotions. Be it painting, sculpting, sewing, glass blowing, singing, playing musical instruments or something perhaps slightly more unusual, there are so many different ways of expressing our inner most thoughts that this should be an interesting and very varied day. As for me, I can paint for toffee, and with damage to both hands my piano playing days are numbered, so I will stick to writing, and more specifically poetry to feed my artistic nature.

World Childless Week Thursday – Thursday

Men Matter Too: both Andrew and I are really pleased to see this important theme in this year’s line-up. Very few men have the desire to speak out. They are used to keeping their feelings to themselves and it is hard to know how to support and encourage our male compatriots to share their stories. Andrew does his bit, as do several other brave souls, for which we are always greatly thankful. Unfortunately, the ratio between male and female contributors to the magazine is an indication of how few men are willing to talk about this very important, and under discussed, topic.

World Childless Week – Friday

Comments That Hurt: this was a day that I was very heavily involved in last year. At the last minute I stepped in and coordinated the recordings of short videos of people sharing their thoughts about the four insensitive comments that we frequently have to deal with. It was probably the most stressful time of my life as Zoom, emails and MS Updates all decided to throw several spanners in the works. However, it was also the most life changing experience too as it confirmed my belief that video is a very powerful tool that we can utilise to raise awareness and lessen the isolation. I’m looking forward to recording more videos this year about “You don’t know true love until you’ve had a child”. Details of how to be involved to follow.

World Childless Week Saturday – We Are Worthy

This is a subject so close to my heart that I eventually organised a week-long virtual event called the “We Are Worthy Summit”. Held between 23^rd to 29^th April it was crammed packed full of inspirational speakers from around the world. All had one focus: to help us realise that, despite all we have been through, WE ARE WORTHY. You can still watch the recordings of the events on www.weareworthysummit.com. I will be organising another summit for April 2019 and once I have confirmed details I will be sharing them here.

World Childless Week – Sunday

Moving Forwards: such a great subject to have on the final day of World Childless Week: a chance to share how you personally are moving forward and defining your dreams. I thought it was one of the most inspirational and uplifting days of last year and I expect this year will be the same. I know that I have a lot to write about as moving forwards is something I am proactively involved with.

For more information about World Childless Week and how to be involved please visit www.worldchildlessweek.net

If you do write anything for World Childless Week please let me know as I would love to be able to specifically support you, the readers of The Canbace Diaries, as they share their personal stories too. If you write a blog relating to World Childless Week, or articles during the week itself, please send me a link I will be happy to share it for you on all our websites.

This article was first published in The Childless Not So Magazine Issue 04. I hope you will forgive me for reproducing it here. I simply thought that the information was too important not to share again!

In CANBACE friendship!

If anything I have written resonates I’d love to hear from you in the comments. I appreciate that this can be a difficult subject to speak openly about so if you don’t want me to publish your comment on the website please let me know and I will keep your words private.