The importance of belonging

I was reminded of Alice's post in our gallery last night. 

I often take part in networking events and use Twitter to catch up on different 'hour' chats. If you're unfamiliar with this then a quick explanation. Twitter has user accounts set up by chat hosts and they hold weekly 'hours' on themes often by location (such as Devon Hour) or interest. They can be found by searching on a hashtag and the name. Likeminded souls meet at regular time and place to chat, guided by the host.

In the midst of the chat last week, several mums came online to talk about setting up their own business group.This week we talked about motivation and what motivates you. Naturally parents said their children and I paused for a moment. Now, I keep my two identifies very separate on Twitter for the reason that if I started tweeting in a chat that wasn't specifically about infertility or loss from the Walk In Our Shoes Twitter account. I can't easily protect myself from motivated parents. That's tricky for you and me. It's also good to have the space to be a 'designer' and not the face behind this site too as I think we have to work hard to find our identity beyond the journey that brings us to Walk In Our Shoes. 

In the end, I did reply about my status, explaining that I felt self motivation was a good example to set.  This is because I felt that anyone (regardless of if they find themselves without a family or making choices of their own not to have children) needs inner strength to motivate and inspire.