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One of my favorite all-time quotes comes from Native American poet Simon Ortiz, who writes: "There are no truths, only stories."  I placed these words on the back cover of my brand new book, ZOEY'S TALES.  We all have what we consider to be rock-solid truths, but in many cases what passes as truth actually is simply a matter of opinion. My story is my truth.  It may not be a truth you agree with.

Stories are the lifeblood of families, of ourselves, of America.  There is no acid-test as to the "truthiness" of many of our tales.  Caution should be exercised when we engage in "truth-telling."  Sometimes our stories can inflict harm if told in the wrong context or at the wrong time or to the wrong people or for the wrong reason.  But, on the whole, we value stories about our families and ourselves and our country because story-telling draws us closer to each other, helping to lessen the inherent loneliness we carry inside.  We connect when a good story is told.  We experience laughter, pleasure, understanding.  Why does Mark Twain delight us so much?  Because his story of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn isn't just about two youngsters on a rafting adventure on the mighty Mississippi.  Twain tells the story of mid-nineteenth century America, both good and bad, conveying moral lessons in a witty way.  Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer's many truths are as relevant today as they were in pre-Civil War America. 

Why did Jack Kerouac connect with the youth of America (this in spite of his view of his adoring fans being misguided and downright annoying)?  Even though he died a broken alcoholic at young age, Kerouac was, in many ways, a conventional Roman Catholic who was living with his mother at the end of his life. It is said his political views were, if anything, conservative.  And yet On the Road captured the imagination of youth and much of the literary world at a time (the 1950s) when life, writes George Clooney, "was lived in black and white."  Kerouac told terrific stories, with significant exaggeration, to make good stories really entertaining, if not entirely truthful. On the Road was rebellious, anti-culture, the antithesis of the prevailing McCarthyite atmosphere of 1950s America. But Kerouac connects with us now, just as it did fifty years ago. 

I want to encourage especially our elders to share their stories in writing, or by recording them, or by telling their sons and daughters about their experiences in life.  Elders are precious libraries, bursting with all sorts of valuable information and perspective.  It is a shame that mainstream American culture doesn't better value our elders.  We're really missing something there.

Tell your story.  Get writing.  You may be surprised what you find in yourself along the way.

Rod H.