About this project

Welcome to the place for FREE stuff for the YOU MATTER Campaign!

The video that's being shared across the nation:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl8tU2Pduaw

I'd LOVE to send you a YOU MATTER button because you can never have enough flare! 

If you'd like to help defray the costs of these gifts, I'd be very grateful to receive your donation of $1 or more and include your name in the credits of my film.

This is, though, a 100% free gift from my heart to you while supplies last, and I will happily send you your very own button for free if you give me your address in a comment or an email. 

Please allow 6-8 weeks for shipping, since we're all volunteers here until we get funded!

If the YOU MATTER message means more to you, we'll joyously send you a hand-made glass tile necklace that says "I matter"  or a T shirt that says "YOU MATTER" in a deep green (men's) or magenta (girlie) at the $25 backer level. Plus, you'll get to be a part of spreading more love and joy in the world. (In other words, you rock!) 

What if it Were You?

What if you spent 10 years in constant pain, like the worst flu you've ever had, not knowing if it would ever stop?

What if you feared eating because you didn't know if your body could swallow it and keep it in?

What if you heard the doctor outside your exam room saying, "We need to see how fast it's moving and how long she has?"

What would you do?

What I'm Doing:

Making a documentary of my life post-diagnosis with lupus, fibromyalgia, and IBS, especially focusing on the really exciting part--when I was diagnosed with scleroderma and heard the doctor outside the exam room tell his student "We need to see how fast it's moving and how long she has." I was afraid I was dying.

In it, I'll figuratively suspend my HIPAA rights and open up my medical records to share the interesting and relevant stories about my irreversible lung condition and how it shifted from 38% of a normal person's to 56% to now 71%. (The doctors call this an anomaly; I call it a miracle.)

I'll share what has helped me to heal--hula hooping, playing with children, making friends with trees, journaling and drawing, telling my story, and living my life's mission: to tell people YOU MATTER. You are an unrepeatable miracle. We need your piece of the puzzle to heal the world. I love you.

The DVD will tell my story in my playful, irreverent style, then offer bonus features including my irreverently inspirational speech Loving it All: All the Experiences, All the Feelings, All the Life; meditations and guided imagery exercises that helped me heal in case you ever experience stress and want to bliss out and go someplace else for awhile; and also some of the activities I did to help me heal like My Big Rocks, the DESIRE Graph, and the Loving it All Equation.

How I'm Doing It:

Bravely and boldly and in my nightgown! Oh woops, that's how I do my blog (JulianaJoie.com)  and everything I did before I became healthy enough to go out into the world and wear bras like a real grownup person. (This is NOT your typical Hallmark Hall of Fame story.  It has an edgy, irreverent twist to it because if I'm going to tell my sad stories, they'd better be funny!)

We thought we'd hire Samuel L. Jackson to play me, because we needed someone really BA to play a woman who spent 10 years in constant full-body pain without knowing it would ever stop and 5 more dancing with it, unsure what would happen, but that would drive our fundraising goal through the roof, so I'm going to tell my story myself.

I DO have extensive front-of-the-camera experience as a TV math tutor on The Math Works, and I played a brilliant featured chorus member in Peter Pan and Bye-Bye Birdie. Plus, it's my story, and I believe I tell it best. 

As far as the really important people are concerned; luckily, I live in a college town with an awesome theater community who will support this project with videography, lighting, music, editing, extras, and one amazing tree to play the role of tree.

Call me hubristic, but having survived so many years of pain, I feel like I can do anything.

What your investment means:

You will help spread more joy, love, and inspiration in the world. 

Your name (or a memorial or a tribute) will be featured in the credits.

You will be a hero to the many people this DVD helps as they cope with adversity.

You get to tell people they matter and to contribute to the healing of the world.

You'll get to laugh and cry along with my journey and be inspired, too!

Why only $20,000?

Supersize Me cost $65,000 to make in 2004.Clerks cost $27,000 in 1994. Roger & Me cost $189,000 in 1989. Obviously, we're working on a shoestring, but we've budgeted every job out. I respect and appreciate your investment, and we're going to do this efficiently and economically with no extraneous costs.

We can accomplish the project at such a low number because we're in Bloomington, IN, home to lots of talented students who are willing to work for the experience and to support a dream.

Plus, our team has great creativity and efficiency that will allow us to create a beautiful film without the greater expense of other projects.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONSIDERING MY PROJECT!

Please know always:

YOU MATTER. You are an unrepeatable miracle. 

We need your piece of the puzzle to heal the world.

And I love you.