In the beginning…

Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great. ~ Mark Twain

One of my tweeties, the Divine LaVonne Ellis, is running a 28 day challenge on her blog called Make Customers Love You .  Today is Day 2 and the challenge issued by guest blogger, David Crandall – Make Your People Heroes.

I got a couple of shout-outs today from some amazing people and even though I have another post brewing that my poor spawn had to listen to me rant and rave about all the way home, I decided to take on today’s challenge since my whole focus these days  is about returning to the love.

Way Back When

I started this blog in December 2007, about 2 years after leaving my corporate job.  The bottom had fallen out of our lives and we were still waiting to land, wondering if we would actually survive the impact.

Writing was what I could turn to in order to feel “sane.”  Most of my friends had disappeared. If not for these people encouraging me to write, I am not sure I’d be here today. Often I’d look at my life insurance policy and think suicide was the best option for me and my family.

Feeling Heard

Salon Jenae: I was in the salon when I decided to “announce” the launch of my blog.  I’d been going to the place for a couple of years but knew my visits would become few and far in between as we were preparing to move away. It was in this place I could talk about anything, including what I wanted to write about on the blog. I loved Salon Jenae and even today, miss the love that greeted me every time I walked in the door.  Thank you, Jenae, Angie & Amy.

Susan Johnson: My first virtual BFF.  I “met” Susan in 2004 and hired her to design the logo for my company, Coach4Divas.  Susan and I are about a month apart in age and worlds apart in so many other ways.  I have often told her that had we met IRL (in real life) back in ’04, my belief system would have kept me from seriously considering her a friend: she smoked, drove a pick-up truck and listened to county music. Oy.  (Yes, people, I am *that* judgmental.) But, I would have missed out on one of the funniest, generous, most-loving person you could ever know.  Hours of deep conversations around race, religion and politics.   More laughter and tears than you could shake a stick at.  But always, always, always, she was there, reading every post, encouraging me when it got hard, picking me up when I wanted to quit.  Every day she reminds me to trust myself and for me, there is nothing greater than that.  Thank you, Susan.  Lisa-Unmasked is a much yours as it is mine.

Pamela Moore Taylor: What can you say about a person who has known you for more than half your life?  A friend, a roommate, a sister, a confidante.  Someone who was once just as scared as you were and who took you by the hand and said, “through thick and thin we can get through anything.”

Pam and I met in 1983 in Tampa, FL as college freshman.  She is the one who introduced me to my husband.  She saved my life one night after I swallowed a whole bunch of pills.  She endured more boo-hoo bubble-snot crying over men who weren’t worth it, than any sane person should have to endure.  Yet there she was, almost 25 years after we met, still cheering me on as I brought my pain out in clear view.  Everyone should be so lucky to have such an amazing, forever friend.

David Beasley: I could go on and on about this man.  We met while I was still in corporate during my dream-job-turned-nightmare-and-I-hate-you-all phase.

Apparently, he couldn’t tell I despised him.  We ended up on a committee together and as my parting assignment, I was supposed to teach him all I knew about diversity/inclusion.  I decided he was too arrogant to teach and I wanted him gone.  I ranted, bitched, moaned, complained to my mentor about having him removed from the committee to which my mentor would always reply, “G.R.A.C.E.” (An acronym coined by diversity consultant, Ken Morris of the Apercu Group, which stood for: Granting Reasonable and Compassionate Empathy.)

As challenging as it was, I granted Dave “grace”.  And I learned what an extraordinary man, father, friend, human being he is.  Thoughtful, deliberate, kind, devoted, loyal, AND emotionally mature.  We could talk about anything and often have.  His support during the early days of this blog was invaluable as he essentially was the only link I had left to my old life.  He reminded me where I came from and that it was perfectly OK to head in the direction I was going.  He never once made me wrong for leaving and I can’t even convey what that meant to me then…and now.

Jenny Ward: I really don’t have the words to tell you what Jenny means to me, much less the impact of her support in the early days of the blog. The author of my favorite book of all time, “Who Said So?“, Jenny became my coach, my mentor and now my friend.  Having an NYU graduate with an M.F.A. and a published author tell you that your writing is good is a big deal, but it was way more than that.  Jenny’s book was the most real, raw, and remarkable autobiography I’ve read because her story could have been my story.  And the fact that she would publish her pain made me realize that in writing about my own, I maybe could change someone’s life as she changed mine.  Jenny is a true ROCK STAR.

Acknowledging the Unknowns

There were two other people who showed up in the early days and I honestly (and embarrassingly) have to admit I have no idea who they were.  One posted under the name of Emily Dickinson, the other under the name of Cynthia Collett.  Emily left some really deep, thought-provoking comments in the earlier days  that took a tremendous amount of courage to leave.  I loved reading about her own personal journey.  Cynthia changed the way I viewed this blog.  Instead of just seeing it as something for me, she taught me that other people were actually getting something from it as well.  I will never forget this comment I received after not blogging for several months:

“Where have you gone, Lisa? Your writing is so….I can’t express what it is but it nourishes something within me. I’d love to read more–do you, perhaps, have another blog? Looking forward to reading more of your brilliant writing.

Thank you, Emily and Cynthia, for your part in growing Lisa-Unmasked.

Who are YOUR heroes?

I hope you’ll consider publicly acknowledging those people who have lifted you up as you ventured out in the online world.  Please share them in the comments.  I would love to get to know your fans.

photo credit: Salvatore Vuono