Any interest in a Facebook forum?

One of the features I would really like to have on this site sooner rather than later is a forum, a way for you to connect with each other. I have looked into various ways of doing this, but for many reasons (time, money, lack of technological expertise) none of them are going to happen any time soon, with the exception of a "Closed" Facebook group, the most private of the three Facebook Group options. (You can learn more about the levels of privacy Facebook offers groups here.)

Would anyone be interested in joining such a group? If so, let me know where to find you on Facebook - I can't start one without people to invite to it.  I also would like to know what you are interested in in terms of ground rules for the group. What guidelines would make this space safe and appealing? (You can respond in the comments below if you would like to start a conversation, or contact me privately here.)

If you aren't interested in a Facebook group, but would be interested in some other type of forum, please let me know why Facebook wouldn't work for you and why the other option would.

I know that all of you have knowledge and experience that is just sitting there waiting to be shared and leveraged! If there is some other way that you would like to participate in some kind of group support, holler at me.

* * *

PS Tomorrow I am headed out of town for three weeks of much needed vacation! Woo hoo! I don't plan on writing unless the spirit moves me, but I will be watching my inbox, so if folks want a Facebook group I can probably toss that together on the road. 

Help me End V Pain with a Tweet and a Post!

We all want effective treatments for V pain, right? In order for that to happen, we of course need to build public awareness. Without public awareness, there will be no demand for treatment, and without demand, there will be no supply!

Therefore in order for hurting vaginas to become happy vaginas, we need to create an effective communication, i.e. marketing, campaign. Which is exactly what I am going to do. 

I've entered a scholarship contest for Marie Forleo's B-School program, a course about non-sleazy, totally awesome online marketing for big-hearted people who want to change the world.

It will increase my chances of winning if my 90 second video is tweeted like crazy and posted on Facebook a gajillion times. Please help me out!

Note: If you don't want to "out" yourself, you can totally get around that by framing it as "I heard about this from a friend of a friend and thought it was cool, re-tweet this!" or "I know someone who is affected by this health issue so I'd love to spread the word! Re-post this!" (and the person you "know" can be me, not you, ya know?)

The contest goes from now to February 20th, so a Tweet and a post (or five) a day would be much appreciated. Put it on your calendar!

Guidelines 

Twitter

1.) Use the hashtag #winBschool and the link http://joinbschool.com (That's what the scholarship committee is looking for.) 

2.) Use the combo of #womenshealth and #painfulsex to maximize the chance of re-tweets. Even people who have never heard of V pain will get it, and women generally care about women's health.

Sample - (It's tough getting an effective message into 140 characters, so feel free to use this verbatim):

#WomensHealth=important! Build awareness re: #painfulsex. Watch http://bit.ly/1zIdRsQ and re-tweet! #winBschool http://joinbschool.com

Facebook

1.) Use the terms @marieforleo's B-School, #winBschool, http://joinbschool.com (again, this is what the scholarship committee is looking for.)

2.) No one really "gets" terms like pelvic pain, pelvic health, or vulvodynia, so framing it in terms of women's health and painful sex makes it more likely that you will get people's attention. Include a "call to action:" an easy thing that people can do right away, like "watch the video," "like this!" or "please re-post." If you just say "Geez, this is depressing" or "Did you know about this?" the message won't get passed on.

Sample:

"Holy crap have you seen this video? I had no idea lady part pain was so common! Build awareness about #painfulsex by helping this bad-ass lady win a scholarship to @marieforleo's B-School. Re-post and tweet the video with the #winBschool and http://joinbschool.com link."

You can also re-post my posts ;) which can be found at facebook.com/yatrayoni and facebook.com/faithcornwall. (The first is public, the second private - feel free to friend me if you are not comfortable being publicly associated with the YatraYoni page.)

Facebook Announcement

This past Friday, August 22 2014, I did something that was very scary:

I came out of the pelvic pain closet - on Facebook.

Some of you may not think that is such a big deal, seeing as I write a blog about pelvic pain for the whole world to see. But I dragged my feet about writing anything about it on Facebook. Somehow, writing about pelvic pain for strangers is easier than telling the vast circle of family, friends, acquaintances, and random people I took a workshop with once. 

I started using Facebook back when it was only for college students. It was a place to share a lot of things, a club whose select few members you handpicked. Then it opened to the rest of the population, and suddenly another generation - parents - joined the fray. Facebook went from being an extension of campus life to something that you edited, whether the content, the friends list, or both. Personally, I have given up on trying to keep Facebook the tight circle of real-life friends it once was, and have shifted to accepting requests I once would have balked at: people I haven't seen since the third grade, and yes, random people I took a workshop with once.

My list of Facebook friends is therefore an amorphous field comprised of people who see me in so many different ways. Most of them only know me in one context. They have known me since birth, as their niece, someone who will forever be younger and of another generation; they know me as the hazy memory of the girl they sat next to in the third grade; or maybe they know me as my body's movement, as a fellow yogi or dancer. Choosing one way to deliver intimate information across a past with so many pathways to human connection was a daunting task.

Coming out on Facebook doesn't only affect my digital life. Many of my Facebook friends are people who I will actually have to face in real life at some point, perhaps regularly at family get-togethers, or unexpectedly, in line at the grocery store. Whether at work, in a networking group, or across the Thanksgiving table, I am now the Pelvic Pain Lady, the story of my lady bits having been officially ushered into the realm of acceptable, indeed encouraged, topics of conversation. 

In the end for my Facebook post I chose video. I was honest, and direct, and to the point, reminding myself that by showing our vulnerabilities we can help others heal. Yes, there is a slice of me that is completely mortified that my private parts are no longer private. But there is also a part of me that is proud I am instigating the change I wish to see in the world.

So. I did it.

...Now my mom is asking when I will do an email blast.