Effie (“The Elephant Manifesto”) woke me up bright an early this morning with the idea that we need to send a huge, elephant-sized THANK YOU to those who have joined the Effie the Elephant fan club on Facebook. As of this morning we have 18 wonderful, amazing members. That’s awesome.

Effie’s getting ready to write again…

Partly because it seems time to add to the manifesto, and partly because summer is almost over and Effie will no longer be required to play with our kids during the day once they go back to school, we’re starting to get set for the next phase.

Now we just have to figure out what that is.

So this is really important:  We need your input.

We want to start by to collecting your stories about elephant embracing.

I’m going to read all of these to Effie, and then we’ll decide how to proceed.

Perhaps we will find an underlying need that several stories have in common. Maybe the stories can be used to help others (with permission, of course). Maybe they’ll lead to something we haven’t even thought of yet… which would be really, really cool.

So, if you’d like to send a story about your own elephants or elephant embracing or anything relating to Effie’s inspiration, send your email to liz@lizmcgowen.com and I’ll make sure it is shared with Effie. We will, of course, never ever breathe a word about it to anyone else without your permission and we will, of course, write you back as soon as we’ve had a chance to read it.

Got it? We can hardly wait to hear from you!

… and Effie is gonna be super-bored after the kids go back to school on 8/31, and a bored elephant is not something I want to deal with around here.

Oh, yeah, and the elephant-sized giveaway…

I almost forgot to mention, over the next 45 days I’ve set aside time to offer 100 different people a free consultation. If I don’t meet the goal of 100, that’s totally cool with me, but I want to let you and people you care about know it’s out there and available.

If you’d like a free consultation, go to the “Elephant Sized Givaway” spot on the right-hand side of the screen and sign up. There are no strings or expectations on my part, and I’m not gonna try to sell you on anything.

It’s just an opportunity to connect with my right people in a very meaningful way and help each and every one of my readers, friends, colleagues, and everybody. It would be my pleasure to have a chat with you and get to know you better.

All my best…

-liz

PS:  It’s really important to me that Effie’s words get out there to as many people as possible. So, if you know anyone who’s been struggling, I’d love it if you’d take a moment to send that person the link to the manifesto: http://www.lizmcgowen.com/the-elephant-manifesto/

Or, if it’s easier for you and those you care about,  join the “Effie the Elephant Fan Club on Facebook” and come hang out with fellow elephant embracers there!

OK, so as you know, Effie came up with “The Elephant Manifesto”, and I typed it. It has traveled around the world and back again, bringing us beautiful words and love from many people. People have written to share their delight at Effie’s words, and these notes have brought me amazing joy.

So often these days, when I get together with a friend who has read the manifesto, our conversation will include something like, “I heard from my friend who is now a big Effie fan, and…”

For this I am grateful.

Effie has been able to help so many begin to embrace parts of themselves and their lives that are really, really scary — maybe, she’s even helped you. She’s been able to help people start caring for parts of themselves and begin to move forward toward happier places.

I think her words are super helpful. It’s really important to me that her words get out there to as many people as possible, to help as many people as possible.

So, if you know anyone who’s been struggling, I’d love it if you’d take a moment to send them the link to the manifesto:

http://www.lizmcgowen.com/the-elephant-manifesto/

Or, if it’s easier for you and those you care about, you can join the “Effie the Elephant Fan Club on Facebook” and invite people you care about to come hang out with us there.

All my best…

-liz

PS:  I want to thank the wonderful @havi of The Fluent Self for her input and ideas in this “send a friend Sundays” idea… you’re the best, Havi.