The Short Story: The Defining Moments Edition

Welcome to the first issue of The Short Story!

Every week I’ll be sending out a collection of things to read, watch, or think about relating to a central theme. Like a good short story, I’m aiming for thoughtful brevity, with just enough material to give us something to ponder or make us laugh before we jump back into our day. Thanks for joining me!

This week I’m exploring defining moments – those seemingly ordinary moments that taught us something, changed us, broke us, built us up, or revealed a glimpse of something bigger than ourselves. These are the stories we pull out at parties, scribble silently into our journals, or turn to time and again to re-read the definition of ourselves when our edges seem to blur. These moments are the shimmering extraordinary plucked out of the sea of the ordinary.

The Atlantic discusses the importance of writing down the seemingly banal parts of life in The Value of Remembering Ordinary Moments.

"With Big Mac breath
Tide scented clothes
And a Wal-Mart fanny pack
We can still raise our arms
To the heavens and scream
“I’ve lived, I’ve lived” —
Carving epic lives
From ordinary moments."

One of my favorite poems, "Before I Read This Poem" by George David Miller is a thoughtful reminder that a life isn't built only in our grandest achievements, but in showing up for little things.

Former Poet Laureate (and my all time favorite poet), Billy Collins, shares a project that combines his poems with animation in his TED Talk: Everyday Moments Caught in Time.

I can spend hours listening to the random stories of ordinary people on StoryCorps. If you've never been to their website, check it out -- it's an ever-growing collection of normal people sharing their voices and stories.

I'm working on a collection of essays about defining moments in my life and I've discovered that the most significant (and humiliating/entertaining) ones were those that came in the course of my daily routine -- like this one where I came pretty close to getting my face pecked off by a pigeon faking a wing injury in Houston.

Thanks for joining me this week! If you like The Short Story and want to support it, feel free to forward it to a friend or come visit me at avalovehanna.com.

Have something you've written, made, or read and would love to see it featured in a future edition of The Short Story? Email submissions to: theshortstory@avalovehanna.com