A New Dawn - discover the life that awaits you after loss
Learn the secrets to not only surviving, but thriving after loss
The reluctant star of this film is our founder, Dawn Jiosi, a successful business
woman and mother of two beautiful children who was living a fairytale life. She met Andries, her husband at work where they provided concert equipment for bands like The Rolling Stones, Madonna and others. Soon after, they got married on a beach and thought they'd live happily ever after. But her fairytale came crumbling down when Andries was killed in a tragic accident.
Dawn and Andries were good friends of mine, so when I heard the news, I was horrified. I didn't know what to say or do to comfort her. Dawn assures me - no one really does. I'd recently lost my dad and later my cousin Stephen took his own life, so I had many questions of my own: Why is it we're so reluctant to talk about death during life, and how do our thoughts and beliefs play in to how we get through loss? Is there more after life? Does our soul live on? Can we communicate with them? You get the picture...
When we finally reconnected 5 years later, I noticed a remarkable transformation in Dawn, and as we talked, she shared her experiences; the people, places and practices that helped her forge her incredible healing journey. I was convinced we had to make a movie - an inspirational documentary to help others to heal!
What this film will address
As we told people about our plans for A New Dawn, and discussed their experiences with loss, we discovered incredible similarities in the negative emotions and thought-patterns that people suffer from; whether it's due to the loss of a loved one through death, the loss of your marriage through divorce or the loss of your health or mobility through an illness or accident!
When you meet Dawn - whether in person or in this movie - you'll find it hard to grasp the trauma she has been through. She has undergone such an amazing transformation, and she did it without self-medicating! Instead, Dawn was able to truly heal with a combination of her positive experiences in a renegade widow's group, by finding inspiration from other's stories of overcoming loss, by diving deeper into her spiritual quest and by giving herself permission to live and have fun again!
We are also planning to help people start their own support groups in all 50 states, a website full of rich resources to help people any time of the day, 24/7 with the opportunity to contribute to our blogs, join in our interactive online seminars or attend inspirational live events.
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP US FUND THIS MOVIE, OUTREACH AND BUILD SUPPORT GROUPS.
Author, Becky Aikman, transformed her renegade widows group experiment into a best selling book called, "Saturday Night Widows" which was featured in the press and on the CBS morning show, landing them an interview with Katie Couric (CBS "Evening News" host and former "Today" show co-anchor) who could relate to the women as she also experienced the loss of her husband.
Dawn is now living a life of purpose helping others to heal and create their own new dawn.
Dawn is now on a mission to share her POSITIVE experiences, her WISDOM and HOPE with others going through loss, but also to explain that while it's perfectly normal to experience these waves of grief and a myriad of confusing emotions, you don't have to go through it alone. In fact, finding a compassionate community - or as we say your TRIBE - is key to your healing.
What can you expect?
We will show real people who overcame enormous challenges and found ways to re-boot their lives! We'll travel the country talking to metaphysical teachers, authors, scientists and other experts who will share their wisdom, experiences and open-up new avenues of exploration. We will go inside intimate support groups, where you can sense the love and compassion in the room. We will create our own support groups and witness people changing.
We'll investigate the root of the old adage, "A problem shared is a problem halved," with researchers from California, and conduct interviews with experts such as, Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow and New York Times bestselling author of "The Blue Zones," a book that explores where people live the longest, the keys to happiness and longevity, and shows empirical evidence that community helps us to thrive. Dawn will interview guests such as Dr. Kelly Brogan who has proven that Isolation causes inflammation, which is at the root of all chronic disease, and explains her radical new approach to mental health in her NYT best seller, "A Mind of Your Own."
Dawn will introduce us to her teachers such as Nigel Taylor, Caroline Myss and Deepak Chopra as we explore their teachings, and capture the biological and psychological changes experienced when people engage in their spiritual practices, and witness how we can open up new pathways in the brain. everyone at some point in their life will go through loss, by supporting A New Dawn, yo hope us to help them deal with the PAIN and ISOLATION while giving them HOPE to recreate a new BEGINNING!
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP US MAKE THIS MOVIE, FUND OUR OUTREACH AND A NETWORK OF SUPPORT GROUPS.
THANK YOU!
As a young mother, she was traumatized and literally brought to her knees. Just the night before she had received a voice mail from Andries, telling her how much he loved her, missed the kids and looked forward to seeing them the next day. But he never made it home. His vehicle went off a cliff and he died instantly.
