I hide the bruises while they say hippie wannabe, dog, and freak. But I am Joy. Its my name! And I’m really trying to live it.
A Tale of Abuse and Discovery
About Laurie: The author of Forests Secrets and Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, Laurie Woodward is also a screenwriter who co-authored Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at Author Laurie Woodward — Next Chapteria.net
Dr. King said, “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact violence merely increases hate…Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
More than fifty years have passed since Dr. King spoke these years yet many still hold onto the false belief that violence can stamp out evil. But it is the violence itself that is a blight on society. Destroying a few individuals with hatred will not bring a stop to it. Isn’t it about time that we learned to walk a new path? I have seen children from gang families, abused kids, homeless students, and the impoverished act with more empathy than many adults.
We could learn a great deal from them. And by remembering these words spoken so long ago.
Elementary Students Volunteering to Create Peace at My School
About Laurie: The author of the recently released Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, and Forests Secrets. Laurie Woodward is also a screenwriter who co-authored Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at Author Laurie Woodward — Next Chapteria.net
I believe children have the power to create profound change in our world. If there is ever to be true peace, it must transcend the generations. But first they must dream of the changes they want creatively. Here are ten ideas to begin the change.
1. Make Peace Cards.
2. Make an anti-bully poster.
3. Draw cartoons dealing with a bully.
4. Paint a peace sign on a paper plate.
5. Create a Love the Earth card.
6. Make a dream board.
7. Photograph someone doing a kind act.
8. Create a dance high-fiving and smiling with your buds.
Once, when I was a fifteen year old camper at Catalina Island camp, I snuck out to party in the lodge with some of the counselors. They were all all older than me, some almost twenty, and in my eyes way cool. I felt honored to be included with a group that had shared so much hippie wisdom with me, that I probably grew an inch taller in that hour.
Well, one minute we were all laughing and chugging down Boone’s Farm sweet wine and the next there was this horrific crash as I watched the party disintegrate into a jealous punching match.
Two of our ski boat drivers, Matt and Steve were on the floor rolling over and over in a vicious brawl. I guess they pined for the same counselor, a tanned California blonde named Gail. And when she turned her attention to Steve, Matt lost it. He attacked Steve with a vengeance even my step-father didn’t have.
They rose to their feet and I watched horrified as Steve’s face swelled under Matt’s bloodying blows. He hit the door and then bounced back like a racquetball rebounding off a court wall. Even now Matt didn’t let up but hit him again and again as Steve tried like hell to block his blows.
“Stop!” I cried leaping out of the way. I shouted again but they kept at it. Now Steve bent over and head butt Matt in the gut forcing both of them against the pool table.
I retreated to the corner of the lodge and curled up into a ball. Why won’t they listen? I thought sobbing uncontrollably.
“You guys p-please, no more. No more. No more..”
I guess my tears must have finally got through to them because a moment later they were all gathered around me.
“This is horrible. You guys should f-forgive each other,” I begged between gulping sobs, hoping my innocent eyes would open their hearts.
They both shook their heads.
“But it’s wrong. There should be peace in the world.” I sniffled.
“Sorry, kid. That’s just a dream. Or a song on the radio. You understand?” Matt asked.
I shook my head. No, I didn’t. And all these years later, I still don’t.
(The above is an excerpt from a new novel I’m working on. I think this scene embodies its theme. )
The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net
When I was at San Diego State University I had countless blessings. A boyfriend I was ridiculously in love with. A major, Social Work, that I believed would help me make a difference in children’s lives. A group of playful, intellectual, stimulating friends to share thoughts with. And being accepted as one of the residents of the communal home, Intersection House.
What was Intersection House?
Hard to define. Officially Intersection House was a student residence run by Campus Christian Ministries that housed up to six students . Using a converted home next to SDSU on Fraternity Row, it was founded in the 60’s by Presbyterian minister, Dave Burnight. After working with Martin Luther King Jr. on his march to Montgomery, Dave had a vision to create a ministry of growing faith and love. With vegetarian suppers, meetings for civil rights and peace advocacy, and a community which practiced spiritual universals, they welcomed everyone’s truth.
Perfect for a Unitarian born-too-late-to-be-a-hippie like me.
I’ll never forget waiting to hear if I’d made it into I-House. Through most of my junior year I’d been hanging out at there. I’d joined a campus club called the Student Peace Education Committee to reverse nuclear proliferation which often met at Intersection to brainstorm.
This was different from other clubs I’d joined. All of the members; Ron, Richard, Chris, Margy, Gary, and others, brought vivid discourse to the group creating a rare synergy. Sitting in the living room with a tree which served as a support post, we’d look up to the branches that touched the ceiling and let them lead our conversations upwards to the canopy of our minds. Hoping that the filtered light through their leaves would shine in the decision-makers’s eyes until they saw the folly of having enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over.
The Tree as a Support Beam
Have you ever touched utopia? Feeling like you’re on the cusp of something so sublime and perfect, that God’s hand is guiding your every movement? I hope so, because that’s what this time in my life was like and it altered the way I view the world irrevocably. I’d always been an idealist believing that I had the power to effect change, but this particular period transcended my natural optimism. The Intersection hours were bathed in filtered light as if a vignetting camera were blurring every edge in soft focus..
Even today I draw upon this optimism when life’s burdens challenge me.
Later I started attending their Tuesday night vegetarian suppers and met some of the residents. I loved those nights! The evening would begin with everyone facing inward in a circle smiling at one another. Dave Burnight might start with a prayer, quote, or simple hello. Then we were asked to massage the person’s shoulder’s to our left.
And we did so.
“Now for our friends to the right,” he’d quip, a political joke. We were definitely left. Tee hee!
And after this massage we were welcomed to line up for whatever vegetarian dish the residents had spent the afternoon concocting. Shyly I introduced myself around and was surprised that everyone welcomed me with open arms.
I was blown away by their kindness.
Anyhow, between my junior and senior years I heard there was a spot at I-House opening up, and immediately applied. I was afraid that chances were slim for an insecure girl often silenced by the past but at the same time another part of me dared to dream of overcoming the fists and ridicule from childhood.
I think I bit every nail to the quick while waiting to hear. But when I learned I’d passed to the interview stage, my stomach did those crazy wow-cant-believe-it flip-flops.
I remember walking into the meeting, heart pounding and sweat beading on my upper lip. I wanted so much to be a resident but was worried I’d say something to mess it up.
I sat in the living room looking for strength in the tree that held up one wall as a group of residents and Dave asked me questions about my faith and activism. They wanted me to explain why I was worthy of such a prestigious slot. Six was the maximum they allowed in the house, and only a couple were available each semester. With a shaking voice, I answered as truthfully as I could, sure my shyness was getting in the way of my sincerity.
I wanted to say how I-House had already changed for the better. That I would work hard as a resident. That all I wanted to do was make a difference by promoting peace and fostering altruism. Instead I stuttered with every response, hemming and hawing my way through the interview.
Replaying every stupid answer, I walked away head hanging in shame. What was in my heart would forever stay hidden because the words wouldn’t come. Why wasn’t I eloquent like Ron or hippy light like Kelly?
But I knew that I could contribute to Intersection House! It was conceived for people, like me, who believe in the possibility of creating a better world. But had I convinced the panel? I had no idea.
When I finally heard, I gigglingly exhaled the breath I’d been holding for weeks. I was in! What a dream. Laurie Woodward was going to be serving Tuesday night suppers, swimming in a peace dove painted pool, and waking to Ron, Rosie, Victor, and Davida’s trilling voices.
I couldn’t wait to move in.
Intersection House, a place for dreamers and activists. For searchers and spiritualists. For Christians and Buddhists and Jews; and others just trying to figure it all out. It would be my home for my senior year.
A home I carry with me to this day.
Laurie Woodward is the author of The Pharaoh’s Cry, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. She co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net
A man, a dolphin, and a friendship that spans decades. This heart-warming story has inspired millions and Kaitlin Andrews recently discovered why. Here is her article celebrating their bond.
Laurie Woodward is the author of The Pharaoh’s Cry, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. She co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California.
And they hang mid-air over purgatorial precipices,
Bodies flailing and thrashing.
And so we come,
The weavers,
Bringing strong cordage and twine of seraphic gossamer
To silence their cries and give them hope.
For we know the secret.
We have only to pluck the hairs from atop our heads,
Begin intertwining them with peaceful future words
And thus create:
Blankets to keep them cool on hot summer days
Or safety nets for acrophobic trapeze artists
With love we
Spin arks to race arid currents,
Or create buoyant suits that deflect each incoming wave.
As we weave at our numinous looms,
Our fingers deft
To find places where weft meets warp
And make fibers of
Ethereal clouds to moisten parched radices.
Even when eyes grow weary of patterns too subtle for children to see,
Or when aching backs and cramping forearms make for troublesome twining
And our hands become bloodied by sharp sutures from the unknowing
Or the insane,
We must endure
We are the weavers,
Intertwining and intersecting,
Spinning fibrous cable that children cling to
Or wrap around waists
Before plunging into cavernous incarnations
To discover,
In the depths,
A reflection of the future
A reflection of themselves
A reflection
Of the peace weaver they can become.
A teacher, Laurie Woodward is the author of several novels including Forest Secrets, and the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles. She also co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes her novels on the Central Coast of California.
Art. What does it make you think of? Is it a canvas splashed with paint or a sculpted bust? Do you think it’s important for our society and should children pursue this ethereal discipline?
Some would say no, arguing that children need reading, writing and math to compete in today’s global economy. And as a teacher, as well as an author I agree. Some of the time. I want every single one of my students to have the skills they need to succeed in an ever-changing economy.
But not by forgetting the people they are inside.
I believe that every man, woman, and child have a wondrous inside of them that is absolutely unique. It is their creative selves. And when we foster it, magic happens. That’s why I wrote The Artania Chronicles.
As a teacher, I’ve seen many changes over the years. And one of the saddest I saw was the increased emphasis on testing with less and less of the arts. It started to feel as if we were denying a beautiful part of children. As I explored this idea, my mind began to turn art into living beings that carried out their lives in a parallel dimension.
That was the birth of Artania. There the Mona Lisa, the David, and the Thinker go about their lives. But they aren’t independent of us. For every time a human child turns away from his/her true self and denies their artistic gifts, an evil race gains power.
To me, the hunch-backed, yellow-eyed, dream-invading monsters, I call Shadow Swine, represent the destruction of that most beautiful part of humanity. That incomparable part that is our art.
Some of you might be painters whose canvases are splashed with color. Others might pursue dance or music. A few might find the art in their athleticism or acting or creating the perfect meal. Or perhaps you are a writer, like me, and love the places the words take you to. But the cool think is that no one can act, sing, dance, paint, wordsmith, arrange, or bake exactly like you.
Because you are each an artist in your own way.
A teacher, Laurie Woodward is the author of several novels including Forest Secrets, and the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles. She also cowrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes her novels on the Central Coast of California.
If I took the knife and cut into the veins Would blood or tar spew forth? If I wrapped the noose around my neck Would breath or sulfuric acid rasp? If I swallowed one, then two and a hundred Would dreams or nightmares fill eternity?
These were the sorts of thoughts I had all through my teens.
For some, the teen-aged years are a carefree time of friends, sports, and parties. Popular with clear skin and long shining hair, they throw their heads back in laughter as they revel in the wonder of youth.
I was not one of them.
Not even close. I was the shy, nervous kid watching from the shadows hoping to God I remained invisible. Because some of those popular kids reveled in more than youth. They fed on fear, living to torment me.
Every day it was the same. “Dog. You are so ugly you make me want to vomit. Freak.”
And soon I believed every word. Until times alone were just a replaying of every word. I was an ugly dog, unworthy of love or friendship. Why even keep living if all I felt was pain?
My suicidal ideations increased. By the time I was fourteen I was ready to steal my mother’s sleeping pills.
I remember holding the bottle in my hand imagining release from the torture. Soon I’d escape.
I took a handful, not caring what happened next, and went to the movies. Sitting alone in the dark theater I drifted to sleep.
When the lights came back up, I was alone, and groggy. I fumbled for my purse and began the long trudge home.
I survived this incident, eventually finding my niche in college. But all too many teens don’t. They never get to learn that beyond the cruel words and pain there is life waiting.
I’d like to invite others to share their stories. Maybe, if we share what life is like in the shadows, a few kids will step out from them.
“I’ve tried to keep my FB posts positive throughout the summer, but I can’t ignore the grim reality of young children committing suicide. Earlier this month, it was a 9-year-old Denver student named Jamel who hung himself after being bullied for being gay.” Radio talk show host, Dave Congalton, writes on his Facebook page.
“9 years old. 9.
Here’s the sad truth from the New York Times: “Jamel’s death comes amid a startling rise in youth suicides, part of a larger public health crisis that has unfolded over a generation: Even as access to mental health care has expanded, the suicide rate in the United States has risen 25 percent since 1999. Middle- schoolers are now just as likely to die from suicide as they are from traffic accidents.”
Middle-schoolers are now just as likely to die from suicide as they are from traffic accidents?????
We’re going to discuss this on the radio today (Wednesday) at 5:05 on 920 AM KVEC with local teachers Laurie Woodward and Mila Vujovich-La Barre, both of whom are heavily involved in their school’s efforts to combat bullying. I certainly don’t have the solution, but it begins with dialogue. Hope you can join us.”
And join him we did, spending two hours brainstorming with Dave and callers about how to prevent and combat this blight on our society.
For the entire interview please click below. And let’s all work together to prevent further tragedies like these from occurring.
In addition to hosting a popular radio show for the past 26 years, Dave Congalton is a screenwriter, producer, former director of the Central Coast Writer’s Conference, and award-winning author. His books include Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss, When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die, with co-author Charlotte Alexander and The Talk Radio Guest Book with co-author Deborah Bayles. His screenplay, Author’s Anonymous, starring Kaley Cuoco and directed by Ellie Kanner was released as a major film in 2014.
For more information about Dave see: http://davidcongalton.com/# or http://www.920kvec.com/
A teacher, Laurie Woodward is the author of several novels including Forest Secrets, and the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles. She also cowrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes her novels on the Central Coast of California.
Laurie Woodward 