World Childless Week and my No Kidding story

World Childless Week starts today. This is something we should celebrate, all of us. A week for thinking and writing about the road less travelled, the childless of our societies, for whatever reason. Our voices are so often forgotten, ignored, or dismissed, how fabulous is it that we have a week heralding our stories, talking about our lives? It is there to help us all feel less alone, and more understood.

There are so many interesting topics and discussions, webinars and workshops, that I for one won’t be able to keep up! Check the all out at the link above. These are the topics being covered by submissions this year:

• Monday 16 September - Our Stories
• Tuesday 17 September - Childless Person of Colour
• Wednesday 18 September- The Importance of Pets
• Thursday 19 September - Childless Friend or Foe
• Friday 20 September - No Kids? Do you want Mine.
• Saturday 21 September - We are Worthy
• Sunday 22 September - Moving Forwards

Head over to WCW’s Our Stories page and check out all the other stories there.

As I said last year, this entire blog is my story – in much detail! It shows my origins, and the development of my thoughts. I even have a separate page titled My Story that includes a piece written in 2011 for the Huffington Post, and an update a decade or so later. I’ve repeated aspects of my story in many guises over the last two decades and more, most recently in the book Otherhood. So once again, I have decided not to write a submission this year. It's all here for you already. There’s only so much repetition that people can cope with, after all!

What is most important is the knowledge that my story didn’t end on the day when I knew I would never have children. Far from it! That’s when My No Kidding Story truly began. When I had to truly find out who I was, and how to enjoy life. How to truly live it, regardless of the hand I was dealt, with growth, with compassion, with love and joy.

And so I live my life. I accept what is, and what is not. I embrace the good things – and there are plenty – and remember the losses that got me where I am today. I think about the future – with determination and resolve, rather than with fear and trepidation. I relish the friendships and wisdom that have resulted. As I’ve said before, and will say again, I am someone who is, simply, enough. That knowledge is such a gift.