she liked the way he occupied space
“She liked the way he occupied space. He filled the room entirely and always knew how to make her laugh. She saw herself in him, as if they’d rose from the same crack in the earth.”
I sat down to write the first lines of a new short story I’m working on and this is what came out. It’s weird sitting down to write something new, something other than my memoir. I felt like I was going to have a meltdown yesterday because I started to wonder, “What if I only had one story in me?”
That question still plagued me when I was hunched over my keyboard in the blue dawn this morning. It plagues me now as I write this. It’s probably true, but I’m going to press on anyway. The thing is, I only want to write about what I’m passionate about and what I’m passionate about is my family, and the themes and struggles and magic that has ran through all of us. But a new question arises, “What if people are sick of reading about my family?”
My hope is that there is a little (or big) piece of you, or someone you love, in my story—in the story of my family. My passion lies in pulling out the truths that lie in the deepest depths of all of us. We are all human, after all. Chances are if I’ve felt it or my Dad has struggled with it or my Mom has overcome it, maybe you have to. That’s the hope, anyway.
This writing journey that I’m on is not meant to be self-serving. It’s meant to be a way for me to connect with others on a deep, internal level. And when I do, when I receive a message that something has given you a new perspective or made you feel less alone or simply made you feel something at all, it is everything. Because if we aren’t connecting here then what are we even doing?
I know I always say this, but that’s because I don’t want you to forget. I appreciate you taking the time to read my words and to step into the world I’ve lived. I hope to have more for you to read soon. Until then, if you haven’t already, you can pre-order my work of creative nonfiction, From the Dust. Think of it as the trailer to my memoir. I hope you find yourself in it, even if it’s only a tiny sliver.