Once our stories leave us, they have a life of their own. Your story will touch many lives: give voice to some who may have felt voiceless, and remind others that they are not alone. The best part is when the storyteller herself is given the gift of hearing from others and discovering the community that has always existed around her.
Recently, I had the privilege of seeing one example of how my own memoir has journeyed: from 2001 Hiroshima to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On her blog, Michelle Embree writes about reading Hiroshima in the Morning:
I could feel [Reiko’s book] taking shape inside of myself, it was taking me to a place of greater strength and understanding for writing my own memoir (which is currently half complete and in a perpetual state of change and discovery). I was reading and writing and taking deep breaths and starting over again and again with the belief that I can, in fact, write this book, tell my story, find words for it all, find a reason to be who I have become.
I invite you to read her story here.