Andrea’s question, “What user-group do I understand well enough to adequately meet the needs of?” leads me back to my first thought. I have been involved with a grief support group for women who have lost their mothers. It is the type of project that I do on my own time and enjoy the contribution I can make. I own all 4 books in the God Winks Series, but I like “When God Winks at You” the best. It was the first book I read because I saw SQuire on Good Morning America promoting the book. Here is the website: http://www.whengodwinks.com/ If you scroll down the page you can see an example “Wink of the Week”.
Maybe I can expand the topic further with other coincidence topics: other authors, famous events as well as personal events from people I know.
My own reading preference is in inspiration and motivational materials. When I was unhappy in my first job out of college I looked at a book list that the Dale Carnegie organization put out and read, “The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino. It is a simple story with a positive message. After that, any time I was having a tough time I would turn to a motivational book to boost my spirits. So maybe this combination of interests can work together for a solid topic.
Yay grief support! Trying to start on a high note :)
ReplyDeleteI worked one summer in a ritzy funeral home as a graphic designer, and can tell you with 100% certainty that industry is in dire need of an overhaul. While my title was 'concierge' (marketing and design), I wound up having to "pitch in" in just about every area of the operation. The first time I was asked to meet with a family it was because the family in question was outside the normal socio-economic range of the funeral home's clientele (true!) and the Family Service Representative (read: Salesperson) wasn't able to "really reach them" - I didn't have any time to prepare, or any guidance other than a name of another funeral home more in their league and their neighborhood to refer them to.(gross, right?)
I winged the whole thing by introducing the idea that they could honor "Mom-Mom" in any way they would like, that it could be as personal as a wedding, and everyone who would like to talk about Mom-Mom could call me and we could come up with ideas together.
It ended up being a graveside service that involved helium balloons, with messages to Mom-Mom written in sharpie. Two family members read pieces they'd written themselves, and they got a 6 foot long hoagie and a big tub of Rita's for the reception. I knew it was the beginning of the end of that job, but I couldn't resist the opportunity both to defy convention and encourage a collaborative, creative approach to their grief.
Our culture is so closed off to the topic of death that it's often not addressed until it's going down. This leaves lots of people completely confused about what they can "do", either for themselves or someone close to them who has lost someone.
I applaud your work in grief support, and if you decide (I'm trying not to 'hover') to use grief as a topic I would be happy to share contact information for some people (good ones) I know who work in after-death-care and palliative/ hospice care as well.
Thanks for encouragement. I actually did a grief support website for my Resources for Young Adults class if you want to check it out http://teengriefsupport.pbwiki.com/
ReplyDeleteGodwinks and/or coincidences are encouraging to everyone, I have just personally had experience with it in grief. I think it is an amazing comfort. It is something I feel strongly about and would enjoy spending time doing further research if I can just get the right focus.
Wow, I think you are right to want to combine interests in this project. It is an interesting idea designing something for those in grief. This particular audience is unique, I can't imagine trying to think about how they might interpret a website differently
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