It isn't often that kossacks from all corners of the GOS come together to agree on something given the political narratives and policies of our time. But kossacks did just that after TiaRachel reluctantly posted the diary,
So. Um. I need some help. Ten diarists, including Kitchen Table Kibitzing Community members,
linked hands to form a community within a community for TiaRachel, because, that's what community does when one of their own is in need of some help. TiaRachel's electric service was cut off, she has no reliable Internet connection, and she is unable to pursue her work of writing. Underlying all of this are serious health issues that impact every aspect of her life.
From TiaRachel:
I've got an assortment of health problems (fibromyalgia, chronic migraine, autism-related anxiety, depression, etc...). I was getting worker's comp (long story), but they started requiring me to look for 'appropriate' work, but define 'appropriate' as related to that one specific problem, not all the others. I just don't have the spoons to do customer service/retail, especially for what it pays.
Having worked customer service, no,
it's just not worth the spoons!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
Because of the generous support of Kossacks and JekyllnHyde's tireless efforts fundraising, we are very close to our goal of $7000.00. At this writing, we have a total of $6511.00, just $489.00 left to raise. |
TiaRachel also writes that she is looking for work:
I need leads to work I can mostly or entirely do from home, probably writing/science related (but not journalism), which pays in more than $5 or even $20 per assignment. And something that doesn't require me to hustle for each micro-job. I can also code a little, & could probably pick up some programming given the breathing space & a carrot at the end. (I could probably also do some sort of social media work, or something activism-related that isn't predominantly interactive.
If your eyes on this diary, please recommend it, share it on Facebook or Twitter, let other kossacks know about it. We appreciate it.
Below the fold in the lower red box, you will find ways that you can help TiaRachel as well as a listing of the excellent diaries contributed in this series. If you have read but one of these diaries, you have witnessed a powerful community effort. There truly is nothing I can add to these eloquent diaries. In the upper red box, I've included a short story about a young patient with autism related anxiety and depression; a syndrome mix of Autism Spectrum, Anxiety, Major Depression and Attention Deficit. As always, the characteristics of the patient and her story are changed to protect her privacy, but the clinical nature is very real.
Within These Walls Lie the Gifts of Few
She presents with blunted affect, stutters, then speaks with no intonation, but the content of her words are pure delight. She notices my curly hair and begins to tell me, in her radio announcer voice, a number of hair tips for naturally curly hair. She wants to know if I have colored it recently, if I have split ends, how dry it is and if I have breakage. I tell her I have been losing hair in the shower. She gives me a special tip to prevent this from happening and suggests I get it cut so I won't have split ends. I thank her and look for an opportunity to ask her why she is here. She answers my questions and looks into my eyes rather deeply. She says she has never liked any of her previous therapists. I nod and ask her why this is. She tells me they always make her upset and then she cries on the way home. "Why would anyone look forward to that?" she asks. I agree with her. I wouldn't either.
Over the weeks she shares with me a vast array of beauty tips. Interspersed in these announcements are the unfolding of mythical superhero characters she has invented, each with character strengths, flaws, and the kind of challenges only ordinary seeming mythical superheroes could endure. They live by the rules of other superhero characters already in existence. There are no breaking of these rules, because to do so would mean the end of their prime directive and their special powers.
Her physical and emotional sensitivity is misunderstood and squelched by those environments that demand conformity or are over stimulating. The depth of her creativity, is beyond what one would expect of a child her age. But today, she cannot access it. She cannot concentrate. Her discipline to learn, to soak up every word from the page has run out, leaving her paralyzed when confronted with doing what she loves to do and is asked to do day in and day out. She can no longer live with the pressure of being asked to try again, of disappointing, of failing.
At the very heart of autism is the struggle to communicate one's perception and experience of being, feeling, doing... She cannot understand the grey, the abstract. She only communicates her emotional pain by showing me the scars of her physical pain, the same scars her family, her teachers and peers cannot tolerate and which preclude her from going on with her life as it used to be, that time when she was carefree, before anxiety and depression grasped a choke hold on her.
It is raining outside. She sees that I have been shivering. She stands over me, tells me she knows how to warm my hands. She gathers my hands between hers and warms them.
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Please Help TiaRachel
If you've never used PayPal to send money to anyone, it is really simple.
- Go to PayPal.com. You do not have to have an account to send money.
- Click Send Money to Family and Friends.
- Enter TiaRachel's email address (which is tiarachelgordon@gmail.com) and amount you are sending. The sender's name is visible to the recipient
- If you'd rather send a check in the mail, you can Kosmail TiaRachel to get her mailing address.
Diary Schedule - All Times Are Eastern
Friday, Nov 14th: So. Um. I need some help. by TiaRachel. This was the plea for help posted by Tia. We are trying to raise $7,000.00 to allow Tia a stable financial future. Please help her as much as possible.
Saturday, Nov 15th: There, but for the Grace.... An Appeal for Help, with a Match by Dallasdoc.
Sunday, Nov 16th: Aji for TiaRachel: When There Aren't Enough Spoons In the World: Helping a Friend Dig Out by Aji (posted on her behalf by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse).
Monday, Nov 17th: We Are Family...We Take Care of Our Own by JoanMar.
Tuesday, Nov 18th: Kossack Caring: Empathy for TiaRachel by side pocket.
Wednesday, Nov 19th: So, Um, TiaRachel Still Needs Our Help by ericlewis0.
Thursday, Nov 20th: Do You Get By With A Little Help From Your Friends? by bobswern.
Saturday, Nov 22nd: Appealing to our Better Angels: Fundraising for TiaRachel by tmservo433.
Sunday, Nov 23rd: I Don't Ask This, But I Need Your Help by slinkerwink.
Tuesday, Nov 25th: Giving Thanks and Paying it Forward: Helping TiaRachel by Avilyn.
Sunday, Nov 30th: Joining Hands and Coming Together to Ensure a Brighter Future for a Community Member by JekyllnHyde.
Sunday, Nov 30th: Not too late to give thanks, is it? by TiaRachel.
Tuesday, Dec 2nd: So, how do I add 'blog' to a resume/cv? by TiaRachel.
Friday, Dec 5th: 8:00 pm by remembrance.
Please tip/rec these diaries and republish to your Daily Kos Groups. Link to your Facebook pages. Tweet to your friends. Many thanks on behalf of the entire fundraising team.
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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