iPadWriMo took a back seat recently to some other important matters, and while I’m still going to compose all of my blog posts on the iPad through November, posting daily doesn’t seem so important. This is in part because I’ve become comfortable composing on an iPad much faster than I expected (Apple’s wireless keyboard is my new best friend—I love the way it responds to my touch) and, more to the point, because some things are just more important than others.
Today, as I give thanks for my family and friends, I also am thankful for writing and writers, especially writers who use their writing to make a difference in their world. Earlier this year I wrote a guest post for Write It Sideways on how to give back through our writing, in part to remind myself of my priorities, so that I don’t begin to think of a passion for the written word as yet another can on a shelf to be bought, sold, and remaindered. It is so much more. How many other vocations allow us to touch lives in such enduring and powerful ways and, in this connected world we live in, almost instantly?
I am fortunate to be able to work with other wordsmiths who feel this way in my role as Editorial Liaison on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization, SENG. SENG—Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted—is a one-of-a-kind borderless organization that helps children, parents, teachers, medical and counseling professionals, and others to understand and meet the social and emotional needs inherent in giftedness. Anyone familiar with giftedness knows that it’s not just about being smart or good at school. Giftedness involves being different, especially an unusual intensity brought to one’s daily experience that can result in questions of belonging, struggles with perfectionism, and feelings of always being a stranger in a strange land.
It’s an experience most writers “get” instinctively.
The SENG program with which I work most closely is our free online library database of print resources, which include original, peer-reviewed articles, first-person essays, monthly columns from our amazing Directors, and interviews with experts on giftedness. And here’s where it all comes back to thanks and giving: the board members, the editorial board members who review the articles, our Editor in Chief, and our authors, many of whom also write for pay, are all volunteers, donating their time and talents for a cause bigger than themselves.
Their passion and generosity make possible a dynamic and ever-growing collection of high-quality resources that change the lives and futures of children and adults around the world. For examples of last year’s additions to the library, click here.
Today, then, I give thanks for them and ask you to consider giving whatever amount you can to SENG’s Annual Appeal campaign so that the library database and our other important programs can continue to thrive, and to help us to introduce important new programs in 2012. I was and am the kind of girl who would rather purchase all of the fundraising candy bars myself than have to ask people to buy them, but, for SENG, I gladly step out of my comfort zone and ask for your much needed help. And I will write about this only once on this blog. Now. Today. When we are most aware of the importance of both thanks and giving.
I’m happy to discuss SENG in more detail with anyone who is interested (just use the Contact form listed at the top of the blog). Meanwhile, please consider a donation or sharing this post or SENG’s Team Editorial donation page with anyone you know who might be able to help.
Now it’s time to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving lasagna (followed by pumpkin pie)!