That Place You Love: Real People. Real Stories.
Round-Up on Forgiveness; Next-Up Tribute. If it's emotional, it will resonate.
The saga of Kermit & Gilda was a hit…
Writers never know which story will pluck on heartstrings. Sometimes when writing, I feel an emotional engine driving the story.
It doesn’t happen every time.
Pressure in my solar plexus let me know my Forgiveness story might resonate.
I could have written it using thousands of words… that’s how much I remember every detail. But I had to cut human characters, other dogs, philosophy, and time.
So for me, the few hundred words I shared on Monday felt anemic compared to…
The epic tale I wrote in my head.
Then I got emails and messages about how heartbreaking and beautiful the story was. I had to trust that even when distilled down to its bare essence…
The emotional spirit of a story will push through.
March saw a high of 2,335 TPYL post reads!
If you’re reading this for the first time…
And want to know more about the ZINE’s mission, go to ABOUT or FORUM on the Substack platform or read the introductory post I WAS AN EASY LIAR.
Round Up on Forgiveness + New Posts on Language below!
In week 14 of That Place You Love…
Our theme was FORGIVENESS through the lens of truth.
I wrote about my guilt for neglecting a childhood pet and how forgiving myself saved a dog in need.
(in order of appearance)
Carole D remembered her insensitive words to a schoolyard crush who later died without an apology and warns that lack of forgiveness can lead to years of regret.
Intact Animal wrote about trusting a sleeping addict who, in a moment of panic, destroyed his car, but quick access to forgiveness made compassion possible.
Tabitha B forgave her 13-year-old self for carrying the imposed guilt of an innocent error, especially once she realized who the nobhead really was.
Amelia revisited the harrowing experience of her mother’s final hours, unable to forgive herself for yielding to authority, and a recurring dream of begging for forgiveness.
Pascale bridged a decades-long divide with her father once they forgave the past and could share the excitement of two sports teams battling for a real win.
Wynn Tu shared a “deathbed” admission of love with her father, forgiving his past wrongs, for which he offered her a gift: reconciliation with herself.
Contributors Shirlé and Flávia went back to LANGUAGE from the point of view of “foreigners in a foreign land”.
As a brand new American expat in Portugal, Shirlé took responsibility for learning the language unlike some other folks. Even her dog knows 7 words!
As a Brazilian expat in Miami, Flávia shared her newcomer’s quest for fresh produce and smiles, learning neither would be easy regardless of pronunciation.
READ & HEART these writers & SHARE your own story in the comments.
Next Up: Tribute
On Monday, I’ll write about TRIBUTE through the lens of truth and see what I come up with as a prompt. I was also thinking about DEDICATION as a theme, but there are too many letters for a clean headline!
Both words have ties to giving praise, gratitude, commemoration, and even land or gold to something or someone.
Consider where TRIBUTE takes you and share on Monday!
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More to come on Monday….
Have a great weekend.
Sincerely, for real.
Michelle