Eschewing the limelight
I am not actually a fan of attention being focused on me. I know that might seem a little odd, given that I write a blog talking about my family and do some public speaking. But the former is because it's therapeutic, a way to keep track of what my family has been doing, and (I hope) can help other people not make the same mistakes I have. This is also why I speak to groups. If I can make use of the things I've learned over the years and perhaps help other people along the way, then I'm happy to do that.
So when a friend approached me asking if she could do a documentary on our family, I was torn. We are really not ideal documentary subjects. (I think our friend would concur... I think we have been a trial to her over the past five or six years.) My children don't care for cameras, and I can be, um, crotchety and uncooperative. As she has heard me say over and over and over, we are not really anything so special. We do not have super powers. Truly, anyone could do what we do, they just haven't taken the plunge into chaos.
And there is my dilemma, I want to show people that we what we do is not anything special. It's just living life, and learning that "normal", whatever that is, isn't all that it is cracked up to be. I want people to realize that they can do so much more.
I also have the perpetual tug between advocacy and privacy. When we first started, I talked with H. She wanted to help other children find families. When she first came home, H. was amazed that there were so many mommies and daddies out there. In her previous world, parents were a rather limited commodity. She spent her first year home astounded that there were so many children who did have families. H. was willing to help others find permanent families by sharing part of her story.
The reason why I'm sharing all this is because this documentary has reached a new point in its existence... the fund raising stage. As a result, I'm starting to see a little more traffic to my blog, and felt a brief explanation was needed. It's a peculiar tension to both want to see something do well, but wishing I could pretend it was about someone else. I'd feel so much less odd about sharing this if it really were about someone else. I can think of quite a few other families I'd love to see a movie made about, and I'm quite sure they would be far better subjects than me and my crew.
This is probably not the best way to do my part in the 'helping with fundraising' category. (See? I'm a difficult documentary subject.) It just all feels so very awkward. So without further ado... or anymore vaguely squirming uncomfortableness, if you feel so inclined, take a look at the Hayden and Her Family Production Fund Kickstarter campaign. But only if you want to. And if you know me in real life, you will probably never hear a word about it coming out of my mouth.
So when a friend approached me asking if she could do a documentary on our family, I was torn. We are really not ideal documentary subjects. (I think our friend would concur... I think we have been a trial to her over the past five or six years.) My children don't care for cameras, and I can be, um, crotchety and uncooperative. As she has heard me say over and over and over, we are not really anything so special. We do not have super powers. Truly, anyone could do what we do, they just haven't taken the plunge into chaos.
And there is my dilemma, I want to show people that we what we do is not anything special. It's just living life, and learning that "normal", whatever that is, isn't all that it is cracked up to be. I want people to realize that they can do so much more.
I also have the perpetual tug between advocacy and privacy. When we first started, I talked with H. She wanted to help other children find families. When she first came home, H. was amazed that there were so many mommies and daddies out there. In her previous world, parents were a rather limited commodity. She spent her first year home astounded that there were so many children who did have families. H. was willing to help others find permanent families by sharing part of her story.
The reason why I'm sharing all this is because this documentary has reached a new point in its existence... the fund raising stage. As a result, I'm starting to see a little more traffic to my blog, and felt a brief explanation was needed. It's a peculiar tension to both want to see something do well, but wishing I could pretend it was about someone else. I'd feel so much less odd about sharing this if it really were about someone else. I can think of quite a few other families I'd love to see a movie made about, and I'm quite sure they would be far better subjects than me and my crew.
This is probably not the best way to do my part in the 'helping with fundraising' category. (See? I'm a difficult documentary subject.) It just all feels so very awkward. So without further ado... or anymore vaguely squirming uncomfortableness, if you feel so inclined, take a look at the Hayden and Her Family Production Fund Kickstarter campaign. But only if you want to. And if you know me in real life, you will probably never hear a word about it coming out of my mouth.
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