It was Sunday, September 22nd, 2002.
My husband was lying in bed next to me, fast asleep, while Oprah took to the stage to accept the first ever Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. It was fitting that she was receiving this award due to the work and contributions she had made through her television show and philanthropic work.
As she approached the stage and addressed the crowd, I had no idea how profoundly impacted I would be by her words.
As she stood looking beautiful and ever so graceful, she began to share her acceptance speech. (Watch her speech.)
She shared the story of how open her father was, and how he invited and welcomed strangers, transients, into their home for holiday dinners. She once asked him if they could have “normal” people at their holiday table. This is what he answered:
“We all are just regular people seeking the same thing. The guy on the street, the woman in the classroom, the Israeli, the Afghani, the Zuni, the Apache, the Irish, the Protestant, the Catholic, the gay, the straight, you, me—we all just want to know that we matter. We want validation.”
Oprah continued by sharing what she had come to learn:
“The greatest pain in life is to be invisible. What I’ve learned is that we all just want to be heard. And I thank all the people who continue to let me hear your stories, and by sharing your stories, you let other people see themselves and for a moment, glimpse the power to change and the power to triumph.”
It was in hearing those words, especially “…by hearing your stories, by sharing your stories, you let other people see themselves, and for a moment, glimpse the power to change and the power to triumph”, that something lit up inside of me, something that I felt was striving to come out. I knew that the stories we had, the stories we kept silent, were the ones that needed to be shared.
I had journaled just a few weeks before, “I know there’s something more that I need to be living, something that is bigger than myself.”
It became apparent that it was time to listen to my inner voice and take action.
I first started by hosting a weekly meeting for women in a local recreation centre. Like many women, I had given so much of my life to my kids and my business that I felt I was losing a part of who I was. I wanted to connect with others on a personal basis, to get to know them, and work through some of my goals and dreams too, as they worked through their own. We shared our stories and together we found hope, inspiration and motivation too.
“Women on the Move” was the first name of the group. It soon changed to “Women Moving Forward” a short time later.
For six years (October 2002 – August 2008), Women Moving Forward served as a local community in multiple cities as a place to connect and collaborate with other women. The main focus was our stories. What we learned. What we overcame. What we wanted others to know to be happy, fulfilled, and successful.
We shared our goals, our struggles, our challenges, and our triumphs too. It was a community where friendships were born and making a difference in the lives of others did not come at the cost of caring for ourselves and our loved ones. It was a community built on compassion, learning and contribution.
The vision and mission was always “One Million Women. Ten Million Lives.”
I just knew then, and still believe in this with everything that I am, that when you help one woman, when you share your story, you help an entire community around her. And that we did. For six wonderful years.
After closing down the organization, I felt a deep sadness that it was over. I always felt like it was going to be an international organization that would empower women from around the world to live ordinary to extraordinary lives, all while staying true to who they were and making a difference in their communities. I felt I had to accept that it was done, and the time we had did the work it was meant to do.
Seven years passed, as I went back to my studies and immersed myself in the field of bereavement, end of life care and life transitions.
In February 2015, the women with whom I was working and connecting with were very much feeling the effects of being caregivers; caregivers to aging partners, ill friends or partners, children struggling with difficult challenges. Not only were they being pulled in many directions professionally, they were being pulled in many more personally.
Again, it was time to share our stories. It was time to talk openly about the challenges we faced and celebrate the triumph we were experiencing too.
I offered to start a Facebook group to help them manage their lives through their life challenges and transitions. I called it Women Living Fully.
For the past two years, it’s been a group that has grown to encompass women from different cultures, backgrounds, ages and life experiences. We’re all doing our best to live our lives fully, through the challenges we face and the triumphs we experience. We share our stories, and by doing so, we inspire, we encourage, we support and we let each one know that they are not alone. We are women living fully.
Recently, I started inviting my guests on the Living Fully Show to join me in highlighting and honouring causes, charities and organizations who are making a big difference in the lives of others. I invited my guests to choose a cause that was dear to her heart, make a donation to the cause and share with me, with us, the reason for supporting the work that they do. This was the start of the #1M10MProject.
The #1M10MProject is a big vision – to positively impact the lives of 10 million people through the stories of 1 million women.
It’s also about taking $1 Million and turning it into $10 Million, one person, one cause, one story at a time.
I know that I can’t do it alone. This is a collaborative and world wide community Project.
I look back on that moment, that Sunday night on September 22nd, 2002, as my husband lay asleep next to me and I “woke up” to a vision that is far greater than I could have created myself.
If you’d like to join me in sharing your story in the #1M10MProject, contact me and let’s get started.
Your story matters. Their story matters. Together, we can positively impact the lives of millions together. I thank you for joining me.
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AT WOMEN LIVING FULLY.
