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UID:meetup-c295196daa@palaner.app
DTSTAMP:20260802T151628Z
DTSTART:20260821T020000Z
DTEND:20260821T040000Z
SUMMARY:FGS: Who do you think you are?
LOCATION:Swedish Cultural Center
DESCRIPTION:Saved in Palaner as: saved\n\nPalaner match: 33% · why: lots of
  people going\n\nIn the summer of 2018\, I went to NYC to go to The Bronx\
 , where my mom grew up\, and put some things to rest. She spent a lot of y
 ears trying to turn me into something I wasn't and I wanted to let her kno
 w how that turned out. She'd been dead 35 years but I wanted to finally cl
 ose the book on her in the place it all started.\n\nThere was a moment dur
 ing that trip when I found myself in the food court of a grocery store wit
 h a handful of people I'd met through the friend I was staying with.\n\nI 
 was just about to start eating when Doris\, a woman I'd known three days\,
  started yelling at Sharice\, a woman I'd known two days. Doris was berati
 ng Sharice for not going to enough Overeaters Anonymous meetings. Sharice 
 was a single mom with a couple kids and a full-time job. She could only ma
 ke it to one meeting a week. But that wasn't enough for Doris.\n\nI listen
 ed to her lay into Sharice for about a minute and half until I couldn't ta
 ke it anymore. I know what it's like to have to go to a 12-step meeting. I
  know what it's like to be a single parent who doesn't have the time or en
 ergy to take care of himself. Most of all\, I know what it's like to be hu
 miliated in public and too scared to fight back because that might make it
  worse.\n\nI shot out of my chair and stepped up to Doris. I said everythi
 ng I wish I'd said to every bully\, jock\, and meathead who knocked me dow
 n or made me the butt of a joke. I laid into her until she turned away and
  mumbled an apology.\n\nThen I went back to my clam chowder and forgot abo
 ut it. Almost. Every now and then\, over the years\, I'd remember that tim
 e and wonder who it was that made such a scene in public because he couldn
 't watch someone being humiliated.\n\nA couple years ago\, the friend I wa
 s staying with that week said her friends still talked about "that time in
  Whole Foods when that guy stood up to Doris." Hearing that was one of the
  proudest moments of my life.\n\nOne of the reasons I went back to New Yor
 k was to show my mom that I finally had the courage to stand up to her. Sh
 e was an actress and hated that I was an introvert. She was always trying 
 to push me onstage and make me perform. "You're going to die with your sec
 ret!" she would yell. She hated that all I wanted to do was read books and
  write stories. She couldn't stand that I wasn't a loud\, brash New Yorker
  like her.\n\nI wish she could have been there that day in the grocery sto
 re. I wish she could have seen me just for a moment turn into her\, the pe
 rson I never wanted to be. I wish she could have seen me at my best.\n\nI 
 hope some of you bring your own story about discovering who you are to our
  show next month. I would love to hear it. We would all love to hear it.\n
 \nOf course\, our themes are just suggestions\, so you can tell a story ab
 out almost anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.\
 n\nhttps://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidel
 ines/\n\nThe easiest way to come up with a story is to start with a moment
  that meant something to you. Once you have that\, write down all the memo
 ries that have something to do with that moment\, both before and after it
 . Then choose 2-3 of those memories to be the story.\n\nRemember that a st
 ory isn't just a series of things that happened. There needs to be somethi
 ng at stake that you overcome by the end.\n\nPractice the story out loud t
 o as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Pleas
 e don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is g
 iving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up th
 ere and try to wing it.\n\nAll stories have to be under eight minutes. Sto
 ries can be as short as you want\, but no longer than eight minutes. Stori
 es also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if
  you have any questions about that.\n\nOur free monthly online workshop is
  a great place to get feedback on your story.\n\nhttps://www.meetup.com/Fr
 esh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/\n\nI’m also happy to help anyone
  with a story they’re working on. Email me\, and we can set up a phone cal
 l.\n\nSee you Thursday\, August 20 at 7 pm\, on the top floor of the Seatt
 le Swedish Club\, 1920 Dexter Ave N\, Seattle\, WA 98109\n\nPaul\n\nFreshg
 roundstories@gmail.com
URL:https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/315811891/
CATEGORIES:palaner,saved
STATUS:TENTATIVE
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