A community newsletter feels like the right thing right now. And since I’m not (yet!) set up to send a newsletter by email, I’m writing it as a post to anyone who happens upon Gray Colored Glasses. If this is your first time here, welcome, and please stay. If you’re a “regular,” hello friend.

A few short months ago, I invited you to join me on this new adventure, Gray Colored Glasses, a parenting blog and then some, written for parents, special needs parents, and non parents alike. Truly, Gray Colored Glasses is for anyone seeking to live with deeper understanding, more awareness, and more compassion. I am grateful beyond words to all of you who are reading my blog and engaging in this growing community.

If you skipped a post or two over the Thanksgiving break, here’s what you missed:

• “When Worry’s Feeling Big,” published November 27. My precious girl singing the worry song for grown-ups. Definitely worth viewing (and taking the advice!).
• My First Parent Support Group Meeting, published November 22. A very personal post, and in my view, one of the better ones I’ve written. If you haven’t already, please read. And share.

Updates

Last week’s guest post from Downunder Dad on Parenting and Asperger’s received a lot of love. I’m very appreciative, to Mark for his bravery and insight, and to you for your thoughtful responses and shares. My guest post exchange with Downunder Dad has been rewarding for us both and well-received by our communities. With permission, I will be re-posting my original article here, on Gray Colored Glasses, later this week. Please stay tuned!

That’s the good news. In the not-so-good news category, my beloved laptop didn’t make it. You may remember from my post, How Sick Days Can Make a Mom Unravel, that I spilled a tall glass of water on said laptop a few weeks ago, and that $125 later it was back in business. That was true. Until last Wednesday, when it wouldn’t start. At all. I took it in for further evaluation, and my poor laptop was deemed “unsalvageable.” That was one expensive glass of water.

My lack of laptop for the past week has curbed my ability to “work anywhere.” But it has also made me appreciate the flexibility I typically have. I’ll try not to take that for granted when my replacement is up and running, hopefully by tomorrow. “Gray colored glasses” is an apt metaphor here.

Community newsletter invitations

Which leads me to a few invitations:

Do you have any “gray colored glasses” -type stories that you’d like to share? Something that was challenging or unexpected that required a change in the way you see? It could be as simple as a computer catastrophe or as complicated as a personal story of loss and reframing. I would love to hear from you and may even compile a list of stories for a future post.

You can share your story in the comments, on my Facebook author page, or if you’d prefer, send me an email: ann [at symbol] gray colored glasses .blog. (Formatted to avoid spam, so you’ll have to type it in. My apologies.) For a more in-depth explanation of what I mean by “gray colored glasses,” see my post, What Is Gray Colored Glasses?

A second invitation: I’m considering starting a series of interviews, a brief Q&A format, to give insight into the struggles and triumphs of parenting, whether parenting a child with special needs, parenting through an especially difficult season or episode, or both. If you would like to be considered for an interview or know someone who should be, please send me an email (at the cryptic address above).

And a third invitation: in response to this community newsletter, is there something you’d like to see on Gray Colored Glasses in the coming months? Part of the fun of being a “community insider” (which is EVERYONE who follows www.graycoloredglasses.blog) is that you can participate in the shape this blog takes over time. Again, I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Please subscribe to Gray Colored Glasses

To everyone who is already a subscriber, a deep and sincere thank you! You are the “early adopters” of Gray Colored Glasses and everything I’m aiming to do, building community around the hard-earned reframing of life and beauty. You have my utmost appreciation.

If you are new here or you’ve been reading the blog but haven’t subscribed yet, please do so now! All it takes is entering and confirming your email address, so that you will receive an alert when I publish new posts. For my non-tech friends, some instructions:

• If you’re on a computer reading right now, you can find “Subscribe via email” in the left-hand sidebar. If on your phone, you will find it toward the bottom of the page. Enter your email address in the field and click “subscribe.” That is the first step.
• Next, check your email and click through the link provided to confirm your subscription. Subscribing is a two-step process and is not complete until you have done both.

I believe in what we’re doing here with Gray Colored Glasses, so I’m asking for your help to build this community. Every new subscriber, every comment, every like, and every share counts. There are people out there who need these stories, this community, this perspective. And with your help, we can reach them all.

Gray Matters

I’ll end with a personal anecdote specific to the holiday season.

After a year or two of not getting Christmas cards out, I successfully placed my order with Shutterfly on Saturday. (Last year, I “simplified” and ordered just enough for family. Thank goodness, because I found them still on my desk in February. Insert faceplant emoji here.) But not this year! I am bound and determined to stamp and send my Christmas cards to family and friends alike as soon as they arrive next week. A small triumph.

That said, in truth, last year’s showing (or non-showing) was good enough, too. Whatever you are doing to prepare for and celebrate this season, I’m quite certain it is enough. We all do well to remember what matters most, and that is the love. It’s always the love.

That’s a wrap for the first Gray Colored Glasses Community Newsletter. I’m thinking of calling it “Gray Matters” for future volumes (if it continues to be a thing). What do you think?