Tag Archives: Dr. Seuss

Mahalo Nui Loa for Support

Gratitude, Inspiring People, Social Change • Tags: , ,

Picture taken while on vacation July, 2012. ©dswalkerauthor.com

I need to focus on gratitude today. I am grateful for any and all who interact on Twitter, who one plus my Google posts, who like and share my posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  I’ll always be grateful to those of you who have reached out over the past two years, especially to those who still do, and to those who reached out to M. too. I’m grateful for new followers. And, I am grateful so many are now speaking out about the need for more kindness, understanding, and acceptance of differences in this world. I am glad leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. lead the way for change.

There are still times when I feel like one small voice in the universe. Ironically, it is the people trying to get me to promote my book for their profit that make me feel small. It does little to convince me to pay them for promotion since neither source has given me evidence that doing so will yield results. Of course, I want to sell more books. What author wouldn’t, but book sales are secondary for me these days.  I cannot afford to put my money down a black hole with two kids fast approaching college age. Nor, am I young enough anymore to forgo sleep to spend hours doing self-promotion.

Frankly, at this point I am focusing on the second novel and continuing to promote more understanding and kindness in this world.  I do this by speaking out about why it is important and through my writing here and at Special-Ism.com.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. —-Martin Luther King, Jr. Alabama 1963

Amalia Starr and I will also be co-hosting a Twitter chat on October 16, 2012 from 3:00 PM til 4:00 PM EDT about ways we can all support each other to help overcome the bullying epidemic. I hope some of you will join us. I will be posting more details about it later this week.

Fellow bloggers, I hope you understand that while I do not always comment, I still skim posts. I will always respond if I see you or your family are having trouble with bullying or anything else where I might be able to help or to at least offer support. I interact more on Twitter these days because it is faster, so if you are on Twitter please send me an @dswalkerauthor sometime. I try to RT and support my friends as much as I can.

Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) for your support and understanding.

Small Voice in the Universe 8

Autism Spectrum, Gratitude • Tags: , ,

Yes, the title is a knock off of Jojo’s “One small voice in the universe.” I just attended two performances of Seussical Jr. this past weekend to watch my son perform in his first musical, and Jojo’s song keeps running through my head probably because it is catchy. Then too, there are times when I feel like I am only one small voice in the universe, dreaming my dreams and trying hard to be heard just like Jojo.

And like the Whos, I sometimes feel like I need to shout, “I am here! I am here!” Like Gertrude McFuzz, the bird with her one feathered tail, I feel I have to get the Hortons of the world to notice me and to realize that I want to help too. Like Horton, I still try to protect those whom others fail to hear, and I endure Sour Kangaroos and others who do not understand. Yes, I too still believe “a person’s a person no matter how small” and no matter how different a person’s a person after all.

Many of my friends in the autism community see autism everywhere and at times I do too, but more often, I see kids who need to learn how to be kind and accepting of others’ differences or at the very least tolerant and respectful.

I see it on Facebook, I see it on Twitter, I see it on T.V., I see it in movies, I see it in real life, and I see it wherever I go, here, there and everywhere. I even see it in adults acting badly. And no, I do not like it, not here, not there, not anywhere!

I continue to dream of a world where kindness is the norm and some of you helped restore my faith in humanity this week by helping Laura Nagle fund her upcoming documentary, Vectors of Autism, which I wrote about on December 2, 2011. Mahalo for helping her to reach her goal!

Many of my loyal supporters also reached out this week via comments on various posts, via Facebook, via Twitter, and even via e-mail to let me know that they still believe in me. A couple of people even called me this week reminding me that although I sometimes feel ineffective, I do have supporters and there are still a few of you listening and even helping to fight bullying and to teach kindness instead. Leigh at Flappiness is… even stopped by and commented. Mahalo to all of you for lifting me up when I was feeling down!