The Webs We Weave

[Photo Credit]

Front Porch: A New Series at Jane Be Nimble

Fond memories occupy a large compartment of my mind. When I was a kid, I sometimes had the fortune to chill on the front porch of our farmhouse. If I spotted an uncle or neighbor—I’d invite him or her to pull up a wicker chair and I’d fetch iced sun tea while he or she would tell me about his or her day as we both relaxed and took a break away from work under the hot Midwestern sun.

More recently, my memories include time with my 94-yr old next-door neighbor in his front foyer in San Diego—listening to his stories of running a swimsuit shop in Pacific Beach, California, his eight-mile walks to work every day on a path that hugged the Pacific Ocean, and how he mentally unwound during the same eight mile walk back home. Or, in other walks of life, how I chatted with fellow scientists in a break room about how they inserted a gene into bacteria to make it turn blue.

I can’t deny it; I love to hear people’s stories. I love radio shows about people. I love movies about people. That goes for the written word, too—I love the art of the memoir. I love blogs about people’s lives. Stories hold the same level of interest whether they mirror my own or they are polar-opposite from my experience. I love being steeped in the human experience.

And, of course, I love to write about experiences.

Stories come to life on porches, in foyers, in break rooms, or in backyards when life slows down to foster thoughts—to synch to the rhythm of the storyteller’s tempo. Savored like a fine wine with perfectly aged cheese and a crisp salty cracker, these stories flavored much of my life. I still crave them.

I’ve read that a blog should be about solving a problem for someone else for it to be successful. But, honestly, I don’t particularly want other people to solve my problems, to me, that’s part of life’s journey and we each approach our problems in our own way. However, I savor (and learn from) other people’s stories, and maybe you’re like me? If yes, join me and let’s sit on the Front Porch, kick back, and have a glass of sun tea, wine, or whatever it is that makes you feel relaxed to move to the rhythm of your thoughts. Any ‘problem solving’ will come from deep within you and the lessons won’t always be spelled out for you. That part will be up to you, or you can just read and relax.

During the week, I will be posting at least one story for this new Front Porch series.

These stories will mainly include tales about people I’ve met, occasional interviews, and stories from others’ perspectives—they will range from comedic to tragic. Want to tell me a story? Email me (lori [at symbol] janebenimble [dot] com), Skype me (email me and I’ll give my you my Skype ID), or send an airplane overhead to alert me via skywriting that you have a story to tell me. If you’d like, I’ll link your story back to your blog if you have one, or you can guest post. Of course, you can be anonymous, too.

Click image for photo credit

I’d like your feedback!

After writing this post last night, I happened across John’s guest post describing his interest in other people’s stories (shaka that!). To quote John, “You, too, have a story people want to hear. You’re not just another book on a rack—you are a bestseller.” Thumbs up, genius John! While his post addresses books, in particular, connecting people and their stories, I believe even short stories masquerading as blog posts can connect us to others’ experiences.

What do you think? Are you interested in other people’s stories with no obvious “life lesson”? Or do you visit blogs to learn how to solve a problem? Even more general, what do you expect (or hope) to find when you visit Jane Be Nimble? Thanks in advance for your input! Feel free to send me an email if you’d rather not comment here. I appreciate what you have to say!

P.S. My NaNoWriMo Writing Experiment is going well and on schedule. I’m learning there’s a much deeper reason to join NaNoWriMo than to attempt to produce a novel in 30 days. I’ll write more about that soon!
_____________________________________________________________________
More Front Porch Posts:
Front Porch: The Series
Front Porch: Not A Typical Day In The Park (With Tim Piotrowski)
Front Porch: Pearl’s Wisdom (A conversation with Lori’s first pet)
Front Porch: An F22 Jet and a Costa Rican Chica (With Lisis Blackston)
Front Porch: George and the Power of the Human Spirit (With George Angus)
Front Porch: Of Bands, Explosions, and Cattle Auctions—Laughter (With Jay Schryer)
Front Porch: Brave, Bold Tess (With Tess Marshall)
Front Porch: Cardboard Sleds, Machu Picchu, and Sami May
Front Porch: Only in Lance World (with Lance Ekum)
Front Porch: Life Though Mia’s Eyes with (Mia Platt)
Front Porch: My Sensory Deprivation Experiment
Front Porch: It Should Have Been Fine with Lori’s Pen Pal
Front Porch: Bhangra, a Dingo, and a Beach with John Anyasor

Like this post at Jane Be Nimble? More are on the way! Get them emailed to your inbox or via RSS. I promise not to spam you or to sell your information. Ever.