Last night I sent the email below out to my family and friends here at home. For this journal entry I’ve ommitted/changed their emails and real names. These are the people who got me to where I am today in my healing.

My real name is Joanna. I go by “Ani Star” for this blog because sometimes I need a place to write - a place thats not involved with the work I do for The Survivor Archives. I enjoy being able to reach out to other survivors online on a more personal level. A place I go can to talk about the problems I still experience day-to-day with my mental health, family, and friends. Because I’m still healing. You never really stop healing.

It means a lot that “Tiffany” and “Bethany” (my older and little sister) left comments on my archive. They used their pseudonyms that I use online of coarse. Which I think is neat. It means a lot to me that I have people here at home who understand and are happy for what I do here in the online world. I know so many don’t have that. In a way I’m so lucky that my Mom had 6 children. Otherwise I’d have no one who really knows what it was like simply because they were there.

from Joanna D. <ommitted@gmail.com>
To

Darnell W <ommitted@peoplepc.com>,
Jackie O <ommitted@yahoo.com>,
Jacob P <omitted@yahoo.com>,
Jared M <ommitted@yahoo.com>,
Jennifer H <ommitted@gmail.com>,
Jenny <ommitted@gmail.com>,
Jodie <omitted@aol.com>,
Kristin Evans <omitted@gmail.com>,
Leslie M <ommitted@sbcglobal.net>,
Mike <omitted@yahoo.com>,
Bethany D. <omitted@mac.hush.com>,
Steve Doane <omitted@gmail.com>,
Tiffany R. <omitted@hotmail.com>,
date Dec 27, 2007 3:46 PM
subject Something I wrote. Please Read!
mailed-by gmail.com
 

 
   
 
As many of you know, I run a website for survivors of abuse & trauma which features different individuals who share how they got through their hardships and made it through to being well again. For the most recent “Survivor Archive”, posted on Dec 21st, I wrote about my own stuff which most of you have been there for me through. So I thought I’d send this out to you guys to read since I owe it to you guys for having gotten where I’m at now. If it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t be where I’m at now, and this little online project wouldn’t exist in the first place. So thank you for every phone call, every time you listened or visited, and for sticking by me through the hardest period of my life.

I don’t expect you to read all of this because it’s long as fuck, LoL. I wrote it so what can you expect right? Just really I’d recommend reading through the questions. You’re each in my answers to them. And maybe the last letter I wrote in the 3-part series to “The Vick”. Just click on the ” read more…” link below.Again, thank you!Love Sent,
~ Joanna

 

 


Joanna M. Doane

” A year ago I also started on an online project with a dear friend of mine, Kristin Evans. We created The Survivor Archives project. This project has also made a huge difference in my own healing. The people I’ve come to know through the Archives have all been individually amazing and so completely inspiring, I can’t begin to put it into words. And so now here I am, writing my own Archive… ” read more…