The Leader Ship

I am totally excited you are reading this. How are you?

I have been having a blast sharing my life with my colleagues who have differences.

I am delighted to let you know I am now the vice president of my advocacy group and that I work with the leadership team to create the agendas and when necessary I run the meetings. I am also taking part in the Leadership Series that Green Mountain Self Advocates, Vermont Family Network and the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council run every year.

I am so happy that my friend Thomas is a part of this.

Here are my answers to 2 of the application questions for the Leadership Series that you might enjoy.

Q- Why are you interested in participating in this leadership training?

M- I want to be a leader and I need peers and mentors to support this process.  I also need to get out of the house on weekends and like staying in nice hotels.  So, this opportunity sounds like a merging of wonderful things.

Q- Tell us about a challenge you faced in your life and how you dealt with it.

M- I wanted people to know I was intelligent so I made a movie to prove it. 

During the long process and chapters of making it with an exciting crew of people I fell in love with the human condition. This quite surprised me but since we all struggle with that I feel more included than ever before.

I keep being amazed with life and all of us in it.

I hope the really great work we do together changes some lives.

On the first weekend which was last weekend in the Hilton Garden Hotel in Burlington I became friends with Chester Finn.

You can read more about him here. I am hopeful we will work together more.

I also want to look at how I can give you a beautiful hope for this holiday season.

I want all of you to think of 3 reasons you are thankful for what I write to you in this blog. If you write and report in on your findings I will send you a message.

Fondly,

Mark                                                                                Your Faithful Leader 

The Best of times and the Worst of Times

Dear Beloved Blog Readers

Joy needs to gather round us and support our efforts to find grace in these foul moments the President Elect has presented and as he makes decisions that do not honor the best wishes of many of us.

I urge you to find time during this Thanksgiving season to count your blessings.

I will share mine. Three, to be exact.

First, I am so thankful I was invited to present at the ICI Summer Institute which took place in Maryland. Many of you helped me raise the money to go. And, best of all, I met my new work friend and comrade. I just talked to her and she told me of all the people being transformed by my movie.

Secondly, the color for my t-shirts joyfully became a delightful pink. Here's one of my favorite men showing one off.

(Want a shirt?  Click here to order one.)

Lastly, I thank all of you for reading my blog.

Fondly

Mark
The Smiling Wonder
 

Rest Your Eyes On My Words

Dear Beloved Blog Readers,

We are in a place of alarm these days because Trump has been elected president and no one thought that would really happen.

I am feeling a lot of confusion and sadness all around.

Oh, dear friends, it is important to maintain positivity and hopefulness. I am going to suggest anyone who wants to spread these messages can do two immediate things.

One is to buy a t-shirt from me by logging into my web site store. (Though GoFundMe supporters if you were expecting one, yours is on its way)

I will be printing hopeful messages for us to wear for the next four years.

The other thing you can do is support Emily Anderson’s Bluebird Fairies by supporting her goal to get her fairies out there.

Good work that employs love and light.

Oh, we are so beloved and so worthy of easy answers but the hard realities are here. Together let us forge ahead and mightily move mountains.

I am thankful we are alive in this time together.

I am hopeful.

Fondly,

Mark                                                                              The Good Energy Sharer