This resonates with how I've been feeling lately, Aimee, and I've written a piece that speaks to this less directly. Your referencing storytelling as a tool for coping with the devastation of the Palisades fires reminds me of the work that Barbara Myerhoff did with the elderly Jewish population in Venice, California, and the Hasidic population in Fairfax. She noted that “a kind of fundamental healing takes place when a story is told and heard . . . The healing does not take place in the same way if the story is not heard, if there are not witnesses.”
Her work really further instilled in me the importance of listening as part of storytelling.
Thanks for this beautifully told call for storytelling.
Somehow, I missed this newsletter when it first came out. I'm relieved to hear you are safe. I didn't know you actually live in the LA area. The devastation caused by the fires is heartbreaking, and for those of us who know someone (by any degree of separation) who has lost their homes, we have all heard stories of loss and suffering.
Your essay ingeniously weaves together the current event with the theme of NOT erasing the stories that people wish they didn't have to live through. I particularly resonate with this observation: "most efforts to erase grief and sorrow only produce different and worse kinds of pain."
I have personally experienced this in my family's and my own life (internalized trauma), as well as observed it in others' tragedies (most recently, the story of how Keith Raniere tried to erase his own past business failures and pain over and over through abusing new groups of people, ending up with indescribable pain among his victims and eventually, his own downfall).
P.S. I want to share some mental health resources for those affected by the LA fires. Please pass this newsletter from Asian Mental Health Collective to anyone you know who might need help:
That sounds really exciting... I remember you have mentioned how your father was tight-mouthed about his past. I imagine you would have to be a sort of P.I. of your family history to prepare for your memoir! Re: getting back to it... How I feel you! I'm derailed with my own writing due to the heavy work load at my day job 😩.
This is stunning, beautiful and wise, Aimee. Your reflections on the lunch conversation with your friend, the importance of story to us humans and how every experience feeds us as writers, even the experiences we wish we never had. I am glad your home is safe, I have been thinking of you during these catastrophic fires. You are so right in that they affect us all. The whole world is burning. We may not feel the heat now, but we will. It is hard to cling to anything reassuring in such times, but for me and for you, story does have some power for solace and meaning.
It's so heartbreaking, all of it. My Buckeyes are winning football games which makes me happy, but meanwhile, the world (literally) burns. Sending lots of love to you and everyone in the path of destruction.
This resonates with how I've been feeling lately, Aimee, and I've written a piece that speaks to this less directly. Your referencing storytelling as a tool for coping with the devastation of the Palisades fires reminds me of the work that Barbara Myerhoff did with the elderly Jewish population in Venice, California, and the Hasidic population in Fairfax. She noted that “a kind of fundamental healing takes place when a story is told and heard . . . The healing does not take place in the same way if the story is not heard, if there are not witnesses.”
Her work really further instilled in me the importance of listening as part of storytelling.
Thanks for this beautifully told call for storytelling.
Thank you Sheri. And yes, we all need listeners and genuine readers. ♥️
Somehow, I missed this newsletter when it first came out. I'm relieved to hear you are safe. I didn't know you actually live in the LA area. The devastation caused by the fires is heartbreaking, and for those of us who know someone (by any degree of separation) who has lost their homes, we have all heard stories of loss and suffering.
Your essay ingeniously weaves together the current event with the theme of NOT erasing the stories that people wish they didn't have to live through. I particularly resonate with this observation: "most efforts to erase grief and sorrow only produce different and worse kinds of pain."
I have personally experienced this in my family's and my own life (internalized trauma), as well as observed it in others' tragedies (most recently, the story of how Keith Raniere tried to erase his own past business failures and pain over and over through abusing new groups of people, ending up with indescribable pain among his victims and eventually, his own downfall).
P.S. I want to share some mental health resources for those affected by the LA fires. Please pass this newsletter from Asian Mental Health Collective to anyone you know who might need help:
https://mailchi.mp/asianmhc/the-lotus-january-2025?e=d17c53d22d
Thank you Louisa! My memoir turns out to revolve around such attempts to evade history and all the warping that resulted. If I ever get back to it!
I will share your resource 🙏🏼♥️
That sounds really exciting... I remember you have mentioned how your father was tight-mouthed about his past. I imagine you would have to be a sort of P.I. of your family history to prepare for your memoir! Re: getting back to it... How I feel you! I'm derailed with my own writing due to the heavy work load at my day job 😩.
This is stunning, beautiful and wise, Aimee. Your reflections on the lunch conversation with your friend, the importance of story to us humans and how every experience feeds us as writers, even the experiences we wish we never had. I am glad your home is safe, I have been thinking of you during these catastrophic fires. You are so right in that they affect us all. The whole world is burning. We may not feel the heat now, but we will. It is hard to cling to anything reassuring in such times, but for me and for you, story does have some power for solace and meaning.
Always a sage perspective, Aimee - sending love and safe journeys to you and your family.
Aimee, sending love and hugs to you and your family. Stay safe. ❤️
It's so heartbreaking, all of it. My Buckeyes are winning football games which makes me happy, but meanwhile, the world (literally) burns. Sending lots of love to you and everyone in the path of destruction.