Word

Hello June! 

And hello to being halfway through this year. Crazy, right? Seems like I was just writing posts about my missing snow shovel, and here it is, almost officially summer.

This blog, while being a nice step-away from the other creative and academic writing that I do daily, has been something of a vessel for me to tell my tales … to wax poetic about my interests, worries, fears, and dreams. It’s also been an opportunity to tell my story.

So what is a story, exactly?

Is it the truth that we tell ourselves? The truth as it happened? As we remember it? Or is it a combination of all of these?

Coming out of my generative workshop at Residency, where I translated a real-life moment into a moment of fiction, I’ve started to keenly consider what it is about stories that compels me to write them, and hopefully, my reader to keep on reading.

Inasmuch as I think I have something poignant to say, I think that telling stories offers a sort of immovable permanence, something that can be tapped or scratched out … something that never goes away, and something to which I can return after however long and reexamine it with fresh eyes.

This month, I’m going to be writing stories. Not just my own – though I have plenty still to share, but also the stories of folks who have trusted me with their personal truths. I’ll fictionalize most, if not all, of the events, but keep the important details the same. It is my hope that in writing these truths, I come closer not just to understanding myself, but to understanding the world at large.

I’ll end this first post with perhaps the most famous six word story ever. Though I’m not his biggest fan (or his fan in general, really) Hemingway got it right with this one.

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”