The Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms is two moms, Ellen and
Erin, who are friends taking time out of their busy lives—with 7 children
between them—to share their stories, give us advice and book reviews, and to
ultimately remind us that even though this parenting business is very serious,
it does not have to be humorless. They
are funny, intelligent, insightful and real.
They have been a steady resource of support, inspiration, and joy for me
and are sure to be the same for you.
For today’s Wednesday’s Woman, Erin and Ellen have chosen to
honor someone who is an inspiration in the true sense of the word. Erin and Ellen describe her as someone ". . . you would want your daughter to grow up to be. . . ." and I agree. She has been a victim and a survivor. She now thrives. She claims to be "Inspiring Joyful Lives" and she actually is. Her name is Angela Shelton.
Wednesday's Woman: Angela Shelton
"I share ways for survivors of trauma to move on from fear, anger, rage, and resentment and find peace, healing and happiness. I don’t believe in staying on the trauma and recovery train. I fully support Moving On from trauma, but we all go at our own pace, so there are many steps in the process – living happily ever after is the most fun!" ~Angela Shelton
We have “met” many amazing women online through our short time
blogging, but one of them takes our collective breath away with the scope of
her work and her indefatigable spirit: Angela Shelton. Strong, powerful,
beautiful, charismatic and tireless, Angela is the woman you want your daughter
to grow up to be, the chick you want to hang out with over coffee, and, quite
frankly, the answer to the world’s energy crisis. A whirlwind of activity with
boundless enthusiasm and limitless heart, Angela is the very definition of a
role model.
Angela
describes herself as an author, screenwriter,
performer, public speaker, and filmmaker, but her list of attributes,
jobs, and accomplishments goes on and on and on. She even has authored a new book series for
kids, The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton, which we were happy to read and review. She is practically a superhero (We really wish we
had been bitten by the same radioactive spider! She seems to have about 10 more
hours in her day!), but she is also pretty darn funny and we like that here in
The Sisterhood. We like women who get things done, but don’t take themselves
too seriously, and Angela Shelton is just that kind of woman.
At the very
heart of all her accomplishments, her tireless energy (seriously, the girl
could power a small nation all by herself), and her passion is the thread that
brings it all together: her work as an advocate for victims of abuse. She has traveled the country, spoken to
Congress, written books, guest-starred on television, authored screenplays,
acted, modeled and edited and produced her own movie, but in the end, it all
comes back to this simple but important mission. We could go on and on
(Angela’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious), but Angela has a great voice
and spirit and we will let her speak for herself. We couldn't help asking her
our burning questions and she couldn't help but answering them with sincerity
and kindness. That’s probably why she makes such a great Wednesday’s Woman.
1. You are a multimedia
whirlwind. What is the driving theme to your body of work?
My mission is to work on projects that inspire people to
live happily ever after - no matter what they've been through. That includes
healing from past traumas and moving on with our lives.
That drive shows up in everything I do (hopefully) from
my projects to inspire trauma survivors to heal to the books I'm writing to
help teachers teach larger vocabulary and concepts.
By writing the Tilda series, I get to practice what I
preach--- living happily ever after. I've had a dream to write books in a barn
house for ages. Now, the series has begun and the space for the house has
been selected! I'm doing what I love to do, which is what I try to inspire
others to do.
Plus, Tilda is full of inspiring life lessons. The thing
she is most insecure about happens to be what saves the planet and all her
friends. There are many people out there sitting on a creative idea out of fear
that it's not good enough when in fact it may just be their most beautiful
contribution to the world.
A publisher told me that Tilda is like a modern Mary
Poppins, and I think that fits beautifully. Pinkerton, like Poppins, arrives in
all her fabulousness and teaches children to be as great as they possibly can
be, despite any adversary - even if the opponents are their own
fears, worries, and insecurities. She leaves the places she visits better off
than when she arrived.
Like the work I've done in the recovery community, it's
not about me - it's about the person who hears the message. It's up to them to
move from victim to survivor and then to thriver. I can only point out the
pathways I took along the way. Tilda gives you a magical hat. It's up to you to
wear it.
I would love my children to have a teacher like Tilda -
so I wrote her for them!
Wednesday's Woman is a weekly feature dedicated to spotlighting women who are role models for our daughters. . . and the world.
