From a very young age, I’ve always been drawn to story telling, especially those about the underdog, probably because I’ve always been labeled that way growing up. On the weekends when I would travel to NYC to see my mom, while I would wait for her to come meet me, I would sit in Port Authority and write down everything I saw in my black and white composition book. And if I didn’t have that I was writing on napkins or coffee cup tops. Even now my spirit sometimes leads me to write poems and give them to people without barely knowing them or having any deep conversations with them. I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s just a gift.
Soul Survivor Sunday is about stepping outside of a comfort zone. It’s about getting comfortable with uncomfortability and finding home in a community that might not necessarily be your own and telling various stories of the people and what they have overcome. Think about how many times we’ve heard the statement, “Their story inspired me.” Think about how many people we say hello and talk to on a daily basis. We’ve all had a mountain to climb.
The one thing I’ve known to be proven true is people’s stories inspire and motivate others. I’ve had so many conversations that I wished I was able to capture and share with someone else. We all have different ways of sharing our story; painting, athleticism, song, dance, cooking, etc. but I think about the thousands of stories that go untold every day. The one thing I’ve known to be proven true is people’s stories inspire and motivate others. I’ve had so many conversations that I wished I was able to capture and share with someone else. We all have different ways of sharing our story; painting, athleticism, song, dance, cooking, etc. but I think about the thousands of stories that go untold every day. Perhaps they never shared because they were afraid of being judged. Perhaps they left the earth and never left anything behind. If thousands of stories are going untold then imagine how many people are going uninspired?
Sometimes people don’t feel like their life could influence someone else. And I believe at the end of the day we all want to leave something behind to someone. As much as I would love to tell everyone’s life story from beginning to end I am unable to but what I can do is take a small piece of their life. Whether it be a sit down interview, a conversation, or just a blink. If you give it to me I’m going to write about it. I would say this section is like the book of the bible Chronicles. Chronicles only focuses on the good things rather than the sins or the bad things. I am only interested in the person’s successes, not their failures. This section is about reminding all of us where we came from. Sometimes people don’t feel like their life could influence someone else. And I believe at the end of the day we all want to leave something behind to someone.
“I’m like a photographer that stands on top of a building and takes a photo of the neighborhood in order to capture the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. If you were out and about in the neighborhood at the time the photo was captured, chances are you are in the picture.”
–Excerpt from my Facebook post January 13, 2017.
Message: Your Story is My Story