Stories

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

If an elephant has it’s foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Writing comes naturally for me. What i mean by that is that I write when I get the call to write. It isn’t forced and since i’m not paid to do it, I am not subject to creativity-inhibiting enforced deadlines which constrict the flow of oxygen my the brain.

I know it is natural when the thoughts transcend my plodding hunt-and- peck style of typing and get the words on the screen in a continuous, flowing manner despite my attempts to constrict it with my limited typing skills.

I’m typing with one hand right now because I am donating platelets at the Stanford Blood Center and I have a rather large needle in my left arm. But that isn’t slowing my thought process. The thoughts just get in line behind the thoughts that came first and patiently wait their turns as I search for keys on the laptop keyboard.

This post is titled ‘Stories” because of the role that my writing plays in giving me access to the life stories of others when I share the blog on Facebook.

I don’t routinely look at Facebook unless I have my own story to share. In so doing, I have sort of conditioned myself to only listen to other stories when I have one to share myself. Since I like reading the stories of my friends and family, I tend to write more regularly because I want to hear their stories.

It is a cycle amplified during COVID by the imposed limitations on face-to-face contact due to safety measures designed to slow the spread of the virus. Although I am getting out more now and seeing my local neighbors, friends and church family more often these days, I find that I crave the stories of my more distant loved ones even more now than I did earlier in the Pandemic.

That craving has unconsciously increased the volume of my writing. Because the writing only happens when I feel the call to write, the call to write is happening more often, I’m reading more of your stories. Does that make sense? I share because you share.

My most recent example of this synergy is Maurine’s story about the scattering of a dear friend’s ashes in her yard. Since Maurine is in Arizona, I wouldn’t have heard this story had it not been for social media and the coded bits and bytes that make the transport of her story possible.

So, the cycle continues. And as it continues, I am better equipped to deal with the slings and arrows of the outrageous behaviors around me (and us) because i can hear you, listen to you and respond to you in a timely way. Literary nature is calling more often these days and that makes me happy!

Keep your stories coming. I look forward to hearing them. If you enjoy my posts then pat yourself on the back because you are the inspiration and joy behind stories.

Thanks so much for being a part of my life.