During the hot, hot months of summer on the east coast of the USA, I connected by Zoom and email with an amazing woman, Liana Vioa, living in Orléans, France. Liana is the mind, body, and spirit behind Multiple Arts, a provocative and compelling space on Vimeo devoted to people doing fascinating stuff and telling their life story. Their true story.
Liana had twice interviewed my husband, artist Don Perley, about his work as an abstract expressionist and assemblage maker. Don mentioned that I am a blogger, special educator, dreamer, and mental illness survivor. Much to my surprise, Liana asked to interview me. Ever eager for fame and fortune, I said, “yes!!! But what should I talk about?”
And Liana said, “why not tell your life story?” “You mean tell the true story?” “Why, yes! You’re a fascinating person.” Well, upon hearing that I was fascinating, I agreed to spill the beans. But then I asked my Self, “Self, should I spill all the beans or just a few?” And Self replied, wisely as usual, “spill as many as you can without grossing people out.”
In thinking about my life, including living with a mentally ill parent, the pursuit of personal validation through work, the drive to fulfill my dreams, and love found at age 60, it occurred to me I had something to say.
That my life story, a dialectical push-and-pull between happiness and despair, professional success and deep personal disappointment, could be meaningful to others, perhaps inspiring. In telling my life story, I would be living the credo of my blog: “Laffter is the best medicine. Storytelling is the next best medicine.”
An Invitation to You
So, ladies and gentlegerms, I present to you “A True Story. A Life Story,” about an hour of me talking, talking, and talking. But there are some laffs and quite a few surprising images to ease the way. Listen in bits and pieces, over coffee or a vodka cocktail, while doing the dishes (if you don’t have a dishwasher), driving, of course, and while commuting in a vehicle you don’t operate.
Featured image from Creative Commons
I just finished listening to your touching, loving, and passionate story of the events that made you who you are today. A compassionate and loving woman, perfectly imperfect. It took so much pain to peel away the layers of your history to achieve freedom and peace. Thank you for sharing your insights and memories.
I hope that others will find a way to tell their stories, even if just to one person. There’s so much validation in speaking one’s story out loud. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this deeply personal story with sensitivity and, of course, humor. You are a survivor who has always found your path (and the love of your life). Also, thanks for reminding people to get help when they cannot cope with the pressures of life. So important!
Thank you for your beautiful comments. There is so much pain in this world and we’ve got to reach out and help one another. So that no one is alone.