In my previous post, I suggested that writers’ blogs are shallow and uninteresting. By writing that, I have been introduced to some very different blogs, and especially mapelba, who poses some thought-provoking questions. The question in her latest post is: “Where do you come from? Does your answer explain your writing?” Some people come from some very dark places. I come from a place of love, protection and loneliness….
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I come from a place so deep in suburbia that the bus came only once every half hour – if you were lucky.
I come from a world of secrets and pretence. Of feeling guilty every time I forgot.
I come from a father who I now know was a people pleaser, who needed everyone to think well of him, and who took out his frustrations on his wife. And a mother who never understood that. I come from a mother who never understood many things. I come from parents who had had enough excitement in their lives by the time I was born.
I come from a place where religion is a noose, a chore, a secret, an embarrassment, a reason for keeping quiet. But also a fine tradition, an offloading of worries and hopes, an expression of sadness and joy.
I come from a place where teachers just taught and children were free to torment as much as they wanted. Where no one explained to them that their actions could be a life sentence.
I come from a place where loneliness is the norm and thoughts have no human outlet.
I write to tell the world that whole lives can be spoilt because of where they come from, if no one notices or acts in time.
Miriam Drori, Author 
5 replies on “I have been proved wrong”
i came from a place of love and a place where we had to be kind to one another and could never really be angry…where my parents gave us everything even if it meant they had to go without and where the bank manager was the big bad wolf
Thanks for finding me and for writing your own take on where you come from. Wherever you’re from, we’re glad you’re here. Keep writing the stories you need to tell.
Where you come from is critical to who you are…but at some point, you can…you CAN…say that you will not let it be THE critical decision on who you are. It will always be a factor; to lift you higher or yes, to pull you down. But the decision, the critical decision on whether you ALLOW it to – must always be yours.
I know that sounds simple and easy to write – and to some extent it is. The key, then, is to believe it. To say it to yourself and to practice it until all around you believe that you are correct. Where you came from may always try to cripple you but it is you and you alone that has the power to stand up and refuse to allow it to happen. The scar will always be there – you can let it mar you…or make you. You can take the scar as a mark of triumph. THIS is what I have overcome…or you can use it as an excuse to say this is why I am not what I could be.
It is interesting to read what you write about writing and writers. I am one of those people who cannot live without writing. It is my comfort in so many ways and if I could, I would leave the world to all others and just sit and write (and I don’t mean technical writing).
I hope you find joy in writing – it is something that can bring so much comfort.
Thank you for this powerful message. I know you’re right. Putting it into practice is a difficult process, but I will get there. You write amazingly well, but you also speak amazingly well. I’m sure you don’t really want to forgo that experience. I know I don’t.
I enjoy speaking and teaching in public…but I’m also happy not doing it. I don’t crave the limelight – it just doesn’t bother me anymore and so I can stand up in front of a few hundred people and talk without nerves (for the most part). But it doesn’t define who I am…where my writing does.
As I wrote – writing it easy, implementing it so much harder.