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Michelle Phillips, The Liberation Strategist hasn't added a story.
Greetings friends,
Earlier this month a very important anniversary happened. On August 5th, the beloved author and matron saint, Toni Morrison, died. And it was the day, I declared myself then and henceforth, a writer - reborn with a mission to share my thoughts and stories. Happy Birthday to me! And when I turned two, I said to myself, I'm going to write and publish a book. Well, that day came and went. And I'm here to tell you today that I haven't published the book.
But what I can tell you I've done in the last two years is a host of other notable accomplishments.
I have completed my graduate studies at Seattle University's Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. I graduated in a pandemic, and for those who know, know, if you can graduate in a pandemic, you can do anything.
I have spoken at two national conferences in the counseling and mental health field and most recently with Clinicians of Color, opening the stage for researcher, scholar, clinician, Dr. Joy Degruy!
I'm getting my chops as a counselor seeing clients every week at my internship site and, now, in my practice.
I've also had the opportunity to meet an amazing human who I can say without hesitation, has changed my life.
The human is a queer and transwoman who received a diagnosis of infertility at 28. Being an intergenerational only child, she realized suddenly her hope for a biological family lineage was ending with them.
Working with this very special person and other life circumstances has brought me to my knees in a process I'm failing at. For those that don't know, I am going through a series of IVF treatments to become pregnant. Aren't you glad you kept reading??
Getting a body pregnant at my age, in the clinical world, is akin to pie-in-the-sky thinking, and Kenny Rogers’ song, The Gambler . I should have folded by now they say and maybe I will. This is beyond what they call advanced maternal age and onto a geriatric pregnancy which I honestly like better - I mean, they're both horrid lies about my body - but at least geriatric isn't gendered.
Either way, I'm light-weight failing at it, but usually if I'm failing at something, it's because I'm often learning something way more important - mainly about more expansive ways to hold fertility, grief, legacy and as always, liberation.
Listening to this, you might think I've enlisted your help to contribute to my IVF process, and I haven't.
This Fundrazr is to be supported in sharing this story and others you've heard from me over the years with the world.
I'm going to a thought leadership incubator, the Big Talk Academy, because I want a place to mine and harvest my thoughts and my stories to prepare them for bigger rooms and bigger stages.
Tricia Brouk, one of the producers of the original Tedx talks in Lincoln Square, has visioned a training ground in the Big Talk Academy for people who are ready to take their ideas, stories and dreams to the next level.
_______________________________
Even without physical progeny, we all have to face the grief of being our own future, our own legacy and the end of our lives. We all have to grieve and make our marks like no one is coming after us.
Having sat across from my potential fate week after week brought forward what really wants to be birthed in me and shared with the world.
I could go into debt to make this happen, and I know scarcity isn't the energy I want to bring to this opportunity, and paying for IVF out-of-pocket is a financial beast!
But more importantly, I want to give you, my beloved community, the gift of contributing to my work in a tangible way. I want to receive your gift today so I may gift the world the imperatives of grief, fertility, legacy, and liberation. Books are eventually for shelves, and I've realized, for the moment, that my words are for speaking.
The tuition and all expenses associated with bringing this opportunity to life at the Big Talk Academy are $10k, and I'm registering this week!
Making a sizable donation right now will help me attend the Big Talk Academy with joy and ease.
I don't want to do this without you.
Yours,
Michelle Phillips, The Liberation Strategist
Fundrzer Video https://youtu.be/Dlcz3ie9Q9s
Liberation Strategies liberationstrategies.com
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