They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am going to be brief.
I often emphasize how energizing and humanizing sharing our stories is in a community of writers. Sometimes, it sounds like so many pretty words strung together. But when it happens - and it does over and over again in the Circle - you experience the magic. You feel it.
When a very personal, honest and courageous piece is read, everyone is moved. We are moved by the universality of our human condition - the pain, the suffering, the individual triumph over seemingly impossible odds. Sometimes, we just have to jump up, hug each other and say "thank you"!
After I wrote my memoir, I felt healed. This gave me the ability to share with other women in a way I never could have if I had not done the soul-searching work that is the lot of every good writer. The joy of the Circle is that the women are finding this to be true for themselves; they, in turn, are connecting and empowering each other with the confidence of their voice. The Circle remains unbroken. And that deserves a whole lot of hugs.
