Dear Parents,

Kahlil Gibran said it beautifully:

“Your children are not your children….
they are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself
They come through you but not from you
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you”

“You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,….”

Except sometimes their souls DON’T dwell in the house of tomorrow, sometimes they are taken from us, swiftly, cruelly and without good reason.

As my son sits here mourning the loss of his friend, taken just a few short days ago, I don’t have the answer to the, “But why mommy?” I’ve gone through all the platitudes there are on offer, including explaining that God DOES answer his prayers, but not always in the way he wants but there is little solace for him right now other than being able to return to his mother’s embrace whenever his emotions overcome him. It is a tragic start to summer.

But we are grateful. He is safe, he is alive, he has his whole life ahead of him, and yet, like all children, he thought he was immortal…..they all do. I don’t mean they really think they are some kind of God from a Percy Jackson movie but all our kids, not just those on the autism spectrum, they run around, jump off buildings, do tricks on their bikes and skateboards and they rarely show fear of ANYTHING.…

I received an email a few nights ago asking if I would like to come on Sunrise and discuss whether or not Australia has a Tall Poppy Syndrome and what it may stem from. Tall Poppy Syndrome is the idea that “poppies” (read people) generally grow at a uniform height but occasionally one will grow taller than the others and the farmer (read media/society) will come along and chop them down so that none stand out from the others, bringing them “back down to earth”, as the case may be. This whole debate stemmed from Seal’s Twitter outburst defending his mate Joel Madden’s ridiculous “drug bust” and his tirade at the Australian media for making a mountain out of molehill, however using the term “molehill” would even be a gross exaggeration of the facts of the “case”.

Three vice squad detectives burst into Joel Madden’s PRIVATE domicile, brandishing, what? Teaspoons to scoop up the paltry 5 grams of organic substance (that should probably be legalized and is a whole other debate for another time) that he may or may not have imbibed on his own time, behind closed doors, hurting no one but himself.

And yet, probably a mere three streets away, a recently released repeat rapist was allowed to wander the streets and hunt down his next victim, given a mere year of incarceration per rape he had committed and a few lousy inches in the paper over one day.…

omg…

…

Want to help stamp out bullying? Want to be a small but important part of making a change? Want to be part of the most innovative way to raise money for great causes? Crowd funding is where it is at so come and be a part of my next exciting project.

I am writing an amazing anti bullying themed super hero novel and am working with incredible artist CJ Franks to bring the characters to life. Then I will be taking my drama experience (I have a diploma in Dramatic Arts and have worked with kids all my life) and running a super hero anti bullying themed fun workshop for kids where they create their very own anti bullying hero that they then pledge to take into their own lives so they can be their own hero and use their power for good.

It’s an awesome project but it needs backers. Kickstarter just raised 4 million dollars in a few days to make the new Veronica Mars movie. I want to write a book and teach kids how to love one another. I don’t need anywhere near the money they raised for the movie but i do need help. Comic con have expressed interest in the workshop and I would love to launch it there (as a FREE workshop for kids).…