“We need storytelling from all angles. We need men, women, and trans people participating in all aspects… This is the only way we can depolarize the age-old standard of singular perspective.”
— Parvathy Indian film actress
Are you a participant or a spectator? How do you qualify your story’s perspective?
The storyline between participants and spectators in this pandemic has certainly shifted again for our family. After two frightening weeks of treatment and oxygen in a Doha, Qatar hospital 6,530 miles away, my husband is finally well enough to be released. He’s feeling extremely fortunate to be alive. Currently convalescing in a quarantine place, he hopes to board a plane back to the US soon. To each of you who reached out after my last newsletter revealing his COVID diagnosis, we send heartfelt gratitude. He swears he could sense the energies of your cares and prayers.
We all have COVID fatigue at this point. No one wants to be reminded of it yet despite the deaths of 475,000 Americans, so far, some continue to deny its’ seriousness. This is another reason why I encourage survivors of all sorts to document and share their stories for the official record as witnesses to history.
If we do not tell our truths how can we blame others for not knowing, or understanding, what we have endured? Many memoirs are about the theme of recovery, in its various forms. And COVID will continue to spawn many mental, physical, emotional, and financial crises. Books about overcoming loss, rediscovering joy and purpose after a catastrophe, will be more important than ever.
If you are a survivor of some kind, please write down your story. Besides the therapeutic value to you personally, someone not yet born may one day benefit from your participant wisdom and perspective. My grandmother lived through the 1918 pandemic but left no record of how she got through it. How I wish she had!
I dedicated my Paris memoir, ‘To each reader who needs to tell their own story.’ And my determination to help others write their stories inspired my “in-person” workshops. It has taken a while to get their contents ready for prime time on Zoom but I hope to see several of you online next month.
‘Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir?’ Monday evening classes start March 15th via my collaboration with Story Circle Network. Sign up via this link and see the other courses offered. My course is an overview of the entire process from concept to distribution. We’ll cover the information in two parts, each one four weeks long. Part 1 covers the creation/writing parts of a memoir. Part 2 covers what happens after your manuscript is ready for publication, marketing, and distribution. The emphasis is on indie & self-publishing and all the things I wish I’d known starting out!
SCN members receive discounts although you do not have to be a member. After being with them for a dozen years, I recommend joining this organization. They helped me make the journey from spectator to participant, from wannabee writer to published author.
Although we might form an on-going group at the end of this course, for those who decide to make the commitment, we won’t do a lot of writing. So bring your questions and concerns to class. The aim is to help you make a fully informed decision, about what is required to write a book about your life and get it into happy readers’ hands. Learn the unvarnished truth about how long it took me to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris. And what I’ve learned since from other memoirists.
News & Events
As we were running out of Return to Wisdom 2021 planners at our online store we created a version to offer on Amazon. The 2022 and 2023 planner journals will be available there as we cover all 36 Laws, 12 at a time in these planners.
Our virtual gatherings continue, for those using these planner journals, based upon the Laws on the Wisdom Wheel. We started with Balance in January and are now sharing our stories about Awareness, February’s theme. The participant feedback helps us to refine our future planners.
Next Zoom gathering is on Wednesday February 24th 6:30 pm EST. If you would like to join us Contact me for meeting ID.
For some comic relief, let me recommend my husband Malcolm’s musical Company Matters now available via streaming podcast.
Ceremonies
Several have asked about the 2021 four day group Bear Fast, leading up to Spring Equinox. The dates would be from night of March 17 to 21st and a lot will depend upon the pandemic situation by then. We are considering allowing those who have been vaccinated to attend. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for updated news about this and other ceremonies.
