CEO & founder Michele Fried challenges you to take a 7-day Blog Challenge.
Take this 7-Day Blog Challenge. Whether you have made an adoption plan for your child or you are waiting to adopt or you are currently parenting, blogging (or journaling) is a great way to organize your thoughts and feelings and to learn more about yourself. You don’t have to limit yourself to writing in your journal or keyboarding on your blog. The 7-Day topics are to get you to visit your innermost feelings and experiences, some specific to adoption and some general. You don’t have to just write. You can post photos or quotes if they have meaning to you. Be creative and use your blog journal to express yourself. Just be careful if you don’t want the world to know your personal thoughts to take precaution and be sure your blog’s settings are private and secure!
1. MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
What did you accomplish today? An accomplishment can be as simple as picking up the house or as complex as finishing a big project!
2. RISKS
Risks are things that might make us feel fearful, but we go ahead and do them anyway. You become stronger when you realize you can handle fearful or risky situations without becoming overwhelmed. A risk may include telling someone how you feel about them or calling the adoptive family you have an open adoption with. Did you take any risks today? How did you feel when you took them? How did things turn out?
3. ARTICLES, ADS, CARTOONS
The media has a lot to do with the way we feel about our society and ourselves in general. Did you see an article, a cartoon or an advertisement that had either a positive or negative impact on you today? Describe this impact!
4. WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR CHILD
Write a letter to your child whether or not you have adopted/given birth. Explain in this letter how you feel about your current situation-both the positives and the negatives- and what changes you would like to see occur – short time and long term. Remember to read this letter sometime in the future as it will be a nice reference for you and you can measure how much you have changed and grown. You may be able to one day share this letter with your child as well.
5. WRITE A LETTER TO THE BIRTH PARENT(S)/ADOPTIVE PARENT(S)
Write a letter to your child’s birth/adoptive parents. Either keep this letter private because this is a personal activity or after the activity if you feel it is appropriate, consider sharing it with who it was intended for.
6. LIFE CHANGES
In what way do you feel you have changed as a result of your experiences with birth and adoption? In what way do you feel like your life has changed? In what way do you feel like your relationships have changed? Do you feel these changes have affected you positively or negatively or both? Do you feel comfortable in your role?
7. OPEN ADOPTION
Are you content with the amount of open adoption contact you have? If not, what do you think you can do to change things? Does adoption come up comfortably in conversations? Do you feel like family and friends accept your open relations? If not, how have you handled this? If you are parenting other children, do you feel like you’ve been able to explain open adoption to them?
Read More by the Adoption STAR Staff:
- Truths about Loss in Adoption by Megan Montgomery
- Making Promises You Can’t Keep by Sue Shaw
- How to Become an Adoption Expert by Alecia Zimmerman
- Rachael Metz, LCSW joins the Adoption STAR Adoptive Parent Department by Rachael Metz
- Basic Principles of Counseling: Focusing on Grief by Wendy Lane
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