The writer’s workshop i went to last night was fascinating. It was full of surprises. The instructor was my kindergarten teacher. She was impressed that i came to the workshop. She was very interesting to listen to. She is an inspiration; she is well groomed,intelligent, and a do-er. She taught for over 29 years in one way or another. From early education to college level to community instruction. I find that fascinating.
She encouraged everyone to write their memories; to get them written down for their family members and friends. These pieces of history, thoughts, and dreams should not go into the ether should they not get documented.
I think even she was moved as she had us all do snippets of memories from key moments in our lives in little exercises. She said that she was made to feel like family as she heard them read aloud and said that if they were that interesting to her how much more important the stories would be to those who knew us and loved us.
I really believe that we all have things that are common to life experiences that can help us connect to other human beings. It is amazing to me that the power of words to emotionally connect us to each other can also help us to understand what each other is going through in life.
If done well…it can encourage, inspire, deter someone from making the same mistakes, or just give an understanding that was not there before reading the written word.
I am glad i went. At my table alone, it was awesome. I found myself sitting next to a cousin that i had not seen in years. There was another lady who was no longer from our area…but she had known many of the others sitting at our table or family members of some of us. Randomly, as others read their pieces you could not only see people experience a range of emotion but in general, they were compassionate with the stories that were read.
We all have something to offer of value just by living our lives. I came away with a sense of urgency to encourage others to write things down..whether you feel you have the gift of writing or not. Each generation has “the story teller” in their family or their circle of friends. Think about what happens when that person passes if their gift is not written down or if they dont somehow pass along the inspiration to write it down. We loose the human story part of our histories. We might be able to do genealogy of dates, names and places…but the stories behind those things are what brings them to life. Remember and write!
Write where you are 