I was honoured to be asked by the Bitter Infertiles to chat with them this past weekend (via the magic of Skype) about childless/free living. Even better, I got to share the discussion with the premiere spokeswoman for our little (but growing!) corner of the ALI blogosphere, the thoughtful and articulate Pamela of Silent Sorority. Mo & Cristy asked us some excellent questions and had some great observations, and the hour flew by. The podcast of our conversation is now available for your listening pleasure here. (The podcast & other resources are also on the Bitter Infertiles blog.) Please let us know what you think!
The sound quality at the beginning isn't that great... but it does improve somewhat after the introductions -- so hang in there ; ) (although for whatever reason, it's continues to be less than perfect on my end -- my apologies).
(And please excuse the coughing in the background -- ummmmm, that was me and my cold. :p I had a big mug of tea, a roll of lozenges and a box of tissues sitting beside my laptop ; ) but it still wasn't quite enough to maintain total background silence.)
Appropriately, the show was taped (yes, I'm old-fashioned, but you know what I mean...) on Pamela's six-year blogoversary. Pop on over to offer your congratulations!
And if, after you've listened to us, you're still craving more food for thought about the childless/free life, you can watch this hour-long videotaped session from the recent Fertility Planit show in California -- which dares to address the unpopular subject of "Letting Go of Having Genetic Offspring." The panel includes bloggers Lisa Manterfield of Life Without Baby and Tracey Cleantis of La Belette Rouge, and is moderated by Melanie Notkin of Savvy Auntie. Check it out!
And finally, Tracey wrote a great post after participating on the panel, expanding on her remarks & laying out her personal five-step recipe for moving on and letting go. Your own mileage may vary, but I agree with every one of her steps, which mostly reflect my own journey too.
Thanks for the shout out Loribeth. Kudos right back to you. Such a pleasure to be a part of this thoughtful discussion with you, Mo and Cristy.
ReplyDeleteI'll write more about my takeways later this week and wrap in some of the additional ideas that Tracey and Lisa referenced on their panel in January.
2013 marks quite the sea change, doesn't it, Loribeth? Two months into the year and we've had two groundbreaking, open discussions about a topic typically given short shrift (at best) or worse, ignored or whispered about...
I have been reading your blog and have been very moved by it. I am one of the writers at The Not Mom and we have been profiling bloggers each month. I would love to talk with you in more detail. I can keep your privacy in mind. Please feel free to contact me directly at lmlavoie (at) gmail (dot) com.
ReplyDeleteThanks
dear Loribeth,
ReplyDeleteit is lovely to hear you voice.
Compliments for great discussion.
lots of love,
That was a great discussion - thank you, Loribeth!
ReplyDeleteThank you again, Loribeth!!! It was truly a pleasure talking with both you and Pamela. Sounds like there a lot happening and I wish you, Pamela and every other woman that shares their story all the best as you charge forward. I most certainly will be reading and cheering you all on!
ReplyDeleteAny chance there is a transcript? I'm keen on learning what was discussed! :)
ReplyDeleteSadly not, Wolfers, I'm sorry. :( Are there any sort of transcription programs available through the Internet?
ReplyDeleteHmmm, let me check into that. I'm not sure. :) I know yes for closed captioning for Youtube and television- but not sure about radio (this is radio, right?)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's an audio podcast.
ReplyDeleteLoribeth I am really excited about this. Excited? Is that the right word?! Well, you know what I mean. I'm going to listen to the podcast tonight. Great to know you are all out there. It starts to feel lonely sometimes.
ReplyDeletepeace
shlomit
Bravo to you both for participating in this. It took me a while to get time to listen to it, and then think about what I heard. I've just posted on it (hopefully Wolfers will get an idea of the discussion too), as you provided a lot of food for thought. And I'm still thinking on some issues raised. Here's the link to my post: http://nokiddinginnz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/our-kinda-people.html
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to listen to this podcast. I am so excited to hear MORE conversation on this important topic. I only wish we all could be in a room together and talking about this. I feel sure that such a quorum would be an incredible and healing experience. Thank you, lovely you, for the shout outs. I so appreciate you sharing my post and the video of our panel at Fertility Planit. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteTracey( aka La Belette Rouge)
Thank you so much for taking part of the podcast as a guest, sharing your own story so openly. I admit, it is a scary topic to explore but at the same time it's helpful to be able to listen to such a conversation.
ReplyDeletelistening to this podcast as I type. SO. AWESOME. Congrats!! Is really great to hear you and Pamela talking on this topic...also, I've been needing some validation on the grieving process and my choices right now... so this really has helped :)
ReplyDelete