The wise and wonderful Jen Lee said something this morning that shot through my brain like a lightening bolt.
She said "telling stories is the cure for any interpersonal woe."
I also believe this to be true. Which is why I left a job in Afghanistan supporting women and children to hold their government and international donors accountable for protecting their human rights to come home and write a book. It is also why I then gave up my day job with Oxfam, a great job for a good cause, to write full time.
It is also why it made my heart melt when people responded to my recent post on '10 things you probably shouldn't say to a friend who doesn't have children' with snippets of their own story. Even more powerful were some of the emails we exchanged, so thank you so much to those who shared their stories with me. You have given me much. If we hear each other's stories then we might understand both ourselves and others a little more and we might find a little bit more kindness for us all.
Today is the beginning of the first week since I finished my day job when I have no other big commitments. No yoga teacher training, no school tours, no visitors from out of town. This week I have five days to write. I'm very excited and ready to get started. So in honour of my first week as a full-time writer, later today I will post an extract from the work in progress.
Enjoy the space Marianne!
I thought you might like these words on storytelling too: http://www.globalonenessproject.org/videos/cliffcurtisclip5
Posted by: Potts | September 28, 2009 at 10:11 AM
looking forward to peeking inside the manuscript :)
Posted by: cath | September 28, 2009 at 06:38 PM
Good luck! And thanks for the comment on my blog. Very sweet.
Posted by: Stefanie | September 28, 2009 at 08:18 PM
Happy writing, Marianne. Thanks for dropping by my blog. It was great to chat with you last night (Well, India time).
Posted by: Lubna | September 28, 2009 at 09:09 PM
On sharing stories...these past couple of months I was thinking to myself...everyone around us has a story...not everyone share their's...but whenever anyone react or act upon what someone else said...i was wondering what their story is? I was wondering what is going on in his/her life that we don't know about...my conclusion was that we don't have an idea what is going on in other peoples lives/hearts/minds...and if we were so lucky to hear their stories, we will most probably understand them/their reaction a million times better xx
Posted by: linni | September 29, 2009 at 10:03 AM
I am so excited for you, and the world is going to benefit from hearing your story.
Posted by: Swirly | October 02, 2009 at 06:43 AM