Are You a Freedom Writer?
Do you keep a diary or journal?
One of the most famous ones I know of is the “Diary of Ann Frank.” If you’ve ever read that book, you know the power of the written word.
My son, Pierce, said to me several years ago that I should write down the stories I told him. He said he simply could not remember them all. I think he knew he would forget some of them and didn’t really want to, but just knew he probably would. So, several years ago, I started writing the stories down with a goal to give them to him in a three ring binder for Christmas one year.
The stories I was writing were all true.
One day I realized I had to include a story that I had told Pierce earlier, but had not told some other family members that needed to hear it, particularly my mother. I had kept that secret – one of the darker places in my childhood for six years – from her. If I were to write the story I knew I needed to tell her. After all, life is not full of rosy moments all the time. We all know there are challenges and pain in our lives we must deal with from time to time. This secret was kept for over 43 years.
I had good reason for not mentioning it to her before. After all, he had died and was no longer a threat to me or my family. I actually I had been caught laughing at his funeral but it was so long ago my mother didn’t even remember the incident.
It was all too clear to me in my memory.
Yesterday I went to see a movie call “Freedom Writers.” It stared Hillary Swank teaching a diverse group of inner city youth who were in constant battles, saw shootings of friends on a weekly basis, and who represented the tough “gang like” groups. Without giving the plot away, let’s just say that some of the class work she had the students doing represented the title of the movie – “Freedom Writers” – well.
As I sat there watching the process they went through on the screen, it reminded me of the process I went through to write those stories for my son.
After two years, I completed the stories and my goal was to get those in that binder for Christmas this year. I had friends read the stories for corrections and was told quickly that I needed to publish them…that the stories I told needed to be read by more than just my son and relatives.
One thing led to another and I can say that I’ve been a published book author for over two months now. The book is a collection of 62 true short stories. It has been an amazing journey for me….and yes, has lead me to “freedom” I did not expect to occur along the process.
Maybe you have some things worth writing about. If for nothing else, just the experience of writing is satisfying. To be able to bear your soul this way is an amazing journey in itself.
For me, not only does my son get the benefit of always having those stories to refer back to and share with his children and grandchildren long after I’m gone, but I had a chance to share those thoughts with the world in a book – Sardines, Cheese and Soda Crackers: Reflections From a Country Girl. For someone who never considered herself a writer at all, that is a miracle. In many ways, writing has freed my spirit and made me a freedom writer of sorts.
My wish for you today is that you rediscover writing and the amazing journey it can take you on in your life. You may think you have nothing to offer until you see the path you’ve come from in writing. Maybe you, too, will become a “Freedom Writer.”
~ Joellen