That's the key to telling to a good story, I think
October 30, 2021
I gather with a group of new friends for a book club on the last Monday of each month. We discuss our latest reading, share updates about our lives, and on occasion, we’ll pull new selections from a worn, plastic Caribou Coffee cup, scribbled on small slips of paper.
The latest gathering took place last Monday, on the final Monday of October. We gathered once the sun had set, in a backyard lit by firelight, strung lights, and a glowing outdoor heater. The host (we rotate whose house we gather at) had prepared a table full of snacks, including an impressive spread of cheese, sliced meats, crackers, and nuts. We joked that a good charcuterie platter would bring even the most worn down 30-something out to socialize on a weekday night.
As the night went on, our friend Kay began to share details about a trip she’d recently taken with her family. to an old port town just outside of Salem, Massachusetts, where her brother-in-law had experienced a ghost encounter that knocked them all to their knees.
“That’s when he told me someone had just pulled him out of bed,” Kay said. “It was four a.m., and he’d stirred awake, and someone, someTHING, had grabbed him by the shoulders yanked him out!”
I drove home with goosebumps up my arms, replaying the story in my head and pondering the details. And I thought of my sister, and of moments when we’d huddle together in the darkest corners of our childhood home telling ghost stories, our faces lit from underneath by our parent’s old flashlights.
What is it about our fascination with ghost stories? About the popularity of murder mysteries? I suppose it is human nature to try and fill in the missing pieces. The more there is to solve, the more we’re drawn in. Left with an unfinished story, we feel compelled to fill in the missing details ourselves.
The start of the holiday season is, to me, the start of the best kind of storytelling. It’s the kind that takes place around warm meals, or around a fire. It’s my uncle, telling the same story about my mother and her claim to fame in high school, year after year at Thanksgiving. It was my grandmother telling stories about her childhood as we baked holiday cookies and treats.
This is my first October with my son. I searched discount stores for his Halloween costume, and when I found one, I rushed home to try it on him. I know he won’t have a memory of this: of his parents, pulling the costume over his head, giggling over the cuteness. But I know we’re making imprints, telling him stories through our actions and mannerisms.
I wonder what stories my son will hear as he grows up. I wonder what stories, from my childhood, of my family, I will choose to tell him. Did I witness them unbiasedly, and can I retell them accurately? Does that matter, or can the story take on a new life in the way that I share it?
Kay thought she’d heard the whole story on that trip, relayed by her brother-in-law in a frantic, panicky state. But it wasn’t until she’d gathered with her family again, a few days following their arrival back home, that another part of the story was revealed, weaving all its truths together, and revealing the deeper mystery.
That’s the key to telling a good story. You reveal just enough to ignite the imagination.
Things I’ve loved this past week
The long-awaited next album by Adele is nearly here! She answered 73 (and more) questions with Vogue recently. Check it out.
The Stuff You Should Know podcast, particularly the seasonally-inspired episodes, like the one on Jack O’Lanterns and Sleepy Hallow and the one about the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
The awesome new(ish) podcast, Renegades: Born in the USA, particularly the episodes, Relationships with our Fathers & Masculinity and Fatherhood.
The Motherscope website and podcast. It’s filled with beautiful writings and I love the inspiration behind the site and the monthly print zines.
This article about Target’s fall collection, which embraces the “cottagecore asthetic”. My reaction to Target’s summer collection will apparently carry through the fall season (and beyond?).
What I’m listening to
I’ve been listening to podcasts over music these days, like Stuff You Should Know, Dear Sugars, Women at Work, The Happiness Lab, and more.
What I’m reading
“The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben
“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett
My “Last Week Look-Back” posts are me at my most honest: an unpolished spewing of reflections and ramblings on - well, whatever comes to mind, really.
I intend to post these at least bi-monthly, but hey - life gets busy. So I hope you’ll check back often, and follow me on Instagram at @wordsby_jennamarie for updates.
I’m so glad you’re here. Thanks for reading!