About one month ago, I crept downstairs from my bed around 1:00am.  I was tossing and turning, consumed by an on-going discussion that my husband Adam and I had been having.  The Freedom Festival 2010 was on our minds.  We are founders and co-chairs of this event that benefits The Emancipation Network.  And almost every e-mail and text we sent each other, almost every after dinner clean-up conversation, and almost every late night chat involved the Freedom Festival.  As the weeks crept closer to our mid-August event date, we were ironing out and coordinati

So I'll gladly take this opportunity as a chance to proudly promote a very special upcoming event.  Saturday, August 14th will be the 2nd annual Freedom Festival to benefit The Emancipation Network.  If you are anywhere in the area stop by Heritage Museums and Gardens, at 62 Grove Street in Sandwich, Massachusetts.  We have a full lineup of artists planned to start at 3:00 and end at 10:30.  Tickets are $25 and children under fourteen are free!  All proceeds will go to TEN in an effort to reach more survivors, more women and children at risk of trafficking, and assi

 After a laptop crash, repair and ultimately a replacement, I'm back in action as a regular blogger for TEN. Please forgive my absence. And know for certain that the “India girls” (as my children call them), the cause, the inspiration were always on my mind, even when I couldn't get the words to you. It's good to be back.

This week I was invited to speak at a local private school about modern day slavery. They have been studying Indian philosophy and religion in their Humanities program for seventh graders. The teacher, so very wise and open minded, thought that I should do a presentation on my trip, discussing the social issues I had encountered while volunteering with The Emancipation Network. Considering India and Africa host most of the world's 27 million slaves, I thought this to be a wonderful opportunity.

I often write letters to my children, not so much for them to read now, but as a living memory of their childhood.  Last week I felt a sudden and intense urge to write to my growing daughter, Ella.  I really wanted to share it here, because while I did write it specifically for her, I think the message is universal.

There are some weeks that just pass. They slip away without the awareness of their passing - just going, going, gone. We don't stop to check in, absent of self-reflection, we survive by crossing things off our list of things to do. Hours blend into days. Days into weeks. The pages of calendars turning at a pace we don't prefer, but cannot control. And sometimes, even with these weeks jammed with appointments and activities, our lives are taken to a new level of busy.

I spent some time this week visiting local elementary schools and talking about global oneness and human courage. I used my trip with The Emancipation Network to India as a starting point in an effort to raise awareness, prompt questions, and stir up a little interconnectedness.

Women. International Women's Day. Women's History Month. It's all about the women in March. Have you noticed? I get all excited at the prospect of women gathering to honor their lineage, their history, families, mentors, neighbors, co-workers, leaders, friends, global sisters, and themselves. On March 4th, I honored International Women's Day, by enjoying dinner with my mother followed by Half the Sky Live. This film highlighted stories from the book Half the Sky, which is all about global women's oppression turned to opportunity, written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn.

So, I don't really want to brag. But these days, my calendar is pretty full with speaking engagements for The Emancipation Network. I mean, I'd go as far as to say that I'm in – gasp – high demand. And so what if that demand is based almost entirely in elementary schools? As in, preschool, kindergarten, first grade, and fourth grade at the Henry T Wing School in Sandwich, Massachusetts – that's right - my children's elementary school. But seriously, that's not all.

I'll give it to you straight: the past few weeks have been pretty tricky. Less than a month ago, I managed to leave my family for seventeen days, travel across the world, and volunteer with The Emancipation Network right in the thick of it all – the epicenter for human trafficking and a hub of lively, beautiful sex slavery survivors and the heroes that care for them - Kolkata, India. My eyes saw it. My hands touched it. My soul felt it.