true stories & big ideas

 

In a couple of weeks, I'll be heading to a writing retreat with Lara Love Hardin who, prior to registering to spend the weekend with her, I'd never heard of. Looking back, I think I should have known something about her because I've read several books she co-authored with none other than the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (The Book of Joy and The Book of Forgiving) Out of curiosity, I ordered a copy of her memoir, "The Many Lives of Mama Love", you know...just to see if her writing resonated with me. To see if I thought I could learn something from her...

...because, it turns out, we're nothing alike. 

Or maybe we are.

She was a typical suburban soccer mom until she got hooked on Vicodin, "as needed for pain". Long story, short...she eventually became addicted to heroin and plunged into a life of crime to support her habit. That landed her in jail. Me? I've never so much as smoked a cigarette and the last time I drank a little too much, I was in high school. The closest I've come to a run-in with the law was a speeding ticket, also in my teens.

Her story portrays the time she spent in jail and on probation. Her utter helplessness against the system. The injustices she suffered. The shame that blanketed her. And then, the redemption she earned as a writer.

"True redemption is when

guilt leads to good."

~Khaled Hosseini~

I would not generally choose to read a woman's prison memoir, but I have not been able to put this book down. It resonates deeply with me because I can identify with her story even though it is so different from mine. I understand her struggles. I can identify with her desperation, uncertainty, and despair. Her heartache. Her surrender. Turns out, we have quite a bit in common.

This is the thing: These are universal themes that we all encounter in one way or another in our very different lives. Our weaknesses and longings sometimes lead to defeat. We are betrayed, shunned, or abandoned by people we trust. Most of us will beg, borrow, or steal, metaphorically speaking, at some point in our lives in order to meet our needs. We feel shame. We bear blame. But, as this story posits, forgiveness, redemption, and reconnection are within reach for all of us.

Books like this seem to land on my nightstand out of the clear blue sky. I wasn't looking for it. I never would have pulled it off the shelf at the bookstore or library. It's as though the muses conspired to provide me with what I needed before I knew something was missing. 

"Some books find us

at just the right time in our lives

and those books change our lives forever."

~Matthew Kelly~

This is something we should all strive for in our writing. To touch on universal themes and emotions. To lead the reader into the depths of our fear, grief, and despair...and then to resurrect him. To show him the way out. To show him how we found our way back. To give him hope.

Now I'm really excited about spending the weekend with the author. I feel as though I know her already. I think I'll learn a lot from her.

jan