MEMOIR | PERSONAL ESSAY | TELL YOUR STORY
You Don’t Need Permission to Tell Your Story
You own everything that happened to you
I write memoir. I never intentionally set out to be a memoirist, but I’ve found I have an affinity for it. Something about writing such intensely personal essays appeals deeply to my insightful, reflective nature. I like to ruminate. I believe by thinking about things, we find answers and, if we’re lucky, peace.
I’m ever mindful, however, that my memories don’t include only me.
Others were involved, some who might shine much more favorably in someone else’s story than in mine. There are some who lived my story alongside me who remember things much differently.
Sometimes I wonder if the sky is blue in their world, but I leave them to it.
There are those who may be hurt or offended by my story, which of course, is never my intention, but I can’t control their feelings. Illusions often die a very painful death. I have heard objections that what I wrote isn’t what happened at all.
They don’t remember it that way.
We all have filters that affect our experience of any event. We have internal, emotional defense mechanisms to protect our fragile inner beings. If…
