I had a bit of an A-Ha moment yesterday, a very little one.
I attended the poetry/fiction reading yesterday afternoon. One of the participants read a fictional story about suffering through cancer while dealing with an alcoholic mother. I do not have a terminal illness, nor do I have (or have I ever had) an alcoholic mother. But some of the things that this young lady was talking about (through her character) I could relate to. I had cancer at one time, so I know what it's like to come home from the doctor's office in a daze, not quite sure what to do with yourself. Because of her story, I reflect on my own relationship with my mother before, during, and after my treatment. This is actually helpful, because a large part of what is going into my personal essay is my struggles and my mother's struggles with the medical field.
I suppose the A-Ha moment was the realization that we really do learn through stories.
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Did she say her story was fiction? I wasn't sure and I kept thinking that I had missed something. It was unbelievably sad and so well written. I kept thinking about this class the whole time that she was reading and thinking that if it was a personal essay she did a damn good job!
That's a great point...we really do learn through stories. If we can't relate personally to the stories, then it becomes a different experience altogether, forcing us to step outside our own individual experience and look at life from a different perspective. I can't relate in any way to being a black man in Harlem in the 1940's, but one of my favorite poets is Claude McKay. "The White City" nearly makes me cry every time I read it (though I have it memorized by now) as I relive his pain on some level filtered through my own perspective. It's amazing how powerful language and texts can be.
I'm sorry that I missed the poetry readings, but my cat was in the vet hospital. He's fine now. I would love to see the essay, so maybe someone can e-mail me and let me know. It's nice to see how powerful words can be in reaching others.
Aha moments are always fun. They usually feel like you have some sort of answer to a question you didn't even know you were asking.
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