To
Participate
Introduction to Phase II
As I reflect back on 2007, I find myself a bit overwhelmed with all that transpired. It was a year filled with many of life’s realities, both the known and the unknown. It started out in February, with me having gallbladder surgery, then, onto the United Nations to attend the Commission on the Status of Women. In March, my life partner of 17 years, Marlen, went into the hospital for what we thought was going to be a simple angioplasty, only to find out that he had three blocked arteries and a defective valve. At the same time, a publisher who wanted to convert my Wisdom Box project into a book approached me. In April, my four-year-old granddaughter and her mother both had surgery. In September, it became clear that Margaret, the 92-year-old matriarch of the family, would need to be moved to an assisted living facility.
In October, I attended the “California Governor and First Lady’s Women’s Conference,” an extremely rewarding experience, where I had the opportunity to meet and speak to Elizabeth Edwards. In November, our 23-year-old grandson was found dead, with no explanation. In December, Marlen retired after a 37-year career. As I sit here writing this, we are experience the circle of life…the birth of a new grandson two weeks ago and Margaret's passing away at the end of February.
As you can see, my life mirrors the day-to-day challenges that women all over the world experience, in one way or another. It’s another connection that we share. We make plans, set goals, take action, all the while life continues. What is that John Lennon line?
While I had planned to spend more time on The Notebook Project, it didn’t unfold that way. But this past year reminds me of what’s going on in the lives of most women who receive this notebook or encounter it online. So it deepened my appreciation of what it can be like to stop and make an entry in the notebook while life is hurtling past full speed. But your entry in the notebook doesn’t have to be grand or appear brilliant. It can be as simple and short as the above three paragraphs that I wrote. Those “aha” moments have a way of sneaking up on us. And mine snuck up on me when I realized that I could sum up the theme of an entire year in four words – you plan, God laughs.
Please lend your voice to this project. My passion and commitment is renewed every time I read a new entry in a notebook. There is such wisdom waiting to be expressed and shared with other women. Whenever I receive contributions to The Notebook Project, whether these are brief, hastily scribbled notes, poems, essays, photos, artwork, or emails; I feel honored. And I look forward to receiving more.
So, if anonymity helps you express yourself, you do not have to sign your name or include any indication of who you are. Because we do not know what will manifest from this effort, we encourage you to identify yourself in some way in the event we need to contact you again for interviews or another aspect of the project.
If you’ve visited the home page or read other pages of this website, looked at the poems and sample entries, you may be ready to plunge in and participate. If so, go for it. I want to hear from you. As you get started, please see the Instructions for the Traveling Notebook, or Online Notebook. Please see the instruction sheet and let your imagination, heart and soul fly from there! We are the women of the world and we are letting our hearts and souls express themselves for the benefit of humankind.
Anything that is attached to or included in this book (writing, artwork, personal items, and photographs) becomes the sole property of Judy Ranieri for the purpose of The Notebook Project and/or any effort that follows. Anything that you enclose within this notebook will not be returned. Should any income producing activities follow from this project, 10% of the net proceeds will be donated to one or more charities that benefit women.
Click here to contact me online with any questions or comments.
Judy Ranieri
Project Director