Giving Tuesday, Self Care, and the Story We Choose to Live
We all know trauma. So I was particularly struck by Bruce Feiler’s TED Talk on life transitions. In it, he talks about “lifequakes” — those moments that shake us loose from the life we thought we were living. He says that while we don’t get to choose the disruptions, we do get to choose the story we tell afterward. And the way we move forward is not by isolating ourselves, but by leaning into community action and collective purpose.
That message was particularly meaningful for me both personally and professionally.
Because the Momentum Center was born out of exactly that — a recognition that hurt, isolation, trauma, and stigma don’t get healed by going it alone. Healing happens when we sit together. When we show up for each other. When we create a community where people aren’t reduced to their diagnosis, their struggle, or their circumstances, but are welcomed as whole human beings.
Lifequakes don't need to be setbacks. They offer us opportunities for reinvention. By reframing transitions as healing times, we can turn chaos into growth and become the hero of our own story.
Reframing is a skill we can develop. I am honing my skill as I reframe life's traumas and this Giving Tuesday, I am also using this skill to rewrite my own story about money.
I have often used the phrase that I am always "begging people for money," but that's not true. In fact, the story that I am asking to take something away from people is deeply flawed. So this year I want to reflect on how deeply wrong that narrative is.
When I share the work of the Momentum Center, I don't ask people for their money. I offer them an opportunity to make a difference. To stand with people who are too often unseen. To help build belonging in a world that is increasingly disconnected.
And that reframing — that tiny little shift — feels like self-care. Not the fluffy kind, but the kind that rewrites your narrative from scarcity to purpose, from fear to authenticity.
Because when we give — of our time, our resources, our presence — we’re not just supporting programs. We’re supporting people. People who are navigating their own lifequakes. People who need connection more than correction. People who walk through our doors feeling alone and walk out knowing they belong.
That’s what Giving Tuesday has become for me. Not a one-day fundraising push. Not a guilt trip. But a moment to pause and ask, What story am I trying to write in my own life? And how does my story interact with the story of my community?
If the Momentum Center has a place in that story for you — if our mission resonates with the story you want to live — then I invite you to join us this Giving Tuesday. Not because you “should,” but because you might actually feel more grounded, more connected, more like yourself when you do.
And if this isn’t your year or your capacity, that’s okay too. I’m grateful you’re here — part of this community, part of this unfolding narrative.
Together, we’re rewriting what comes next.
Namaste,
Barbara Lee
Experi-Mentor
Barbara@MomentumCenterGH.org
