Quote of the Month
"But that day is in the future. So is the day this calamity will be in our past. Until then, we wait and hope and distract ourselves by wondering: What will it be like when this is over."
Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune
Mary's quote sums up what we've been thinking about these last few weeks. Mainly: We want this all to be over. To write about the Coronavirus as something in our collective past.
But we're still in the thick of it and can only hope for that brighter future to come sooner.
During hard times, we've always found writing and storytelling to serve as a great distraction. A useful outlet to take our minds off of things. It can also be a helpful way to get through difficult moments.
It's with this in mind that we want to announce two different storytelling initiatives. One is meant to be a distraction. The other meant to help us get through the upcoming weeks and months.
Living through History. Recording for Future Generations
There's no one Coronavirus story. There are billions and each perspective is important to record. When future generations have questions like:
What was it like working as a nurse? A doctor? What was it like being married to one?
What was it like to be 9-years-old, taking classes from home? To be 18 and miss your senior track season? Not to walk at graduation?
What was it like working from home with your kids? Going to the grocery store. Wiping down bags and wearing masks. Did anyone you know get sick? Who were you with? Did you get lonely?
How meaningful would it be for people 10, 20, 50+ years from now to be able to access these stories right from the source?
We wrote about this project in more detail here, but to summarize, here's how we can assist:
Creating your Family Library - We can set up your family library as a place to share these stories with each other. These would be private to your family, not online.
Publishing Stories - We'll also be publishing stories here on the Long Overdue Stories site. You can send yours in or your kids' stories in via library@longoverduestories.com
Maybe a Book - Depending on how many stories come in, we're thinking about publishing a book of the shared experiences once this is safely in our rearview mirror. On an individual level, we can help you or your family create your own book of stories too.
Writing your Childhood
We hope the above project can be a helpful experience but we also understand the feeling of, "Hey, going through this is enough. The last thing I want to do is write about it. Maybe years from now, but not right now."
That feeling is totally understandable and our second project is meant to be a distraction. An adventure away from the present moment. It's also a way to connect with family who you might not be able to see in-person right now.
How it works: We've created a set of story prompts to help people write about or talk about different childhood memories.
Our belief is everyone's stories are worth recording (be it written, audio, or video form). But the process of doing so can feel daunting or like a big homework assignment.
So our approach can take a couple of different forms:
For the Writer - We'll send over three prompts at a time. When you complete the first "batch" we'll send over some more. This way you're gradually tackling the process of writing an entire book of stories.
For the Storyteller - We'll send over 10-20 prompts so you can call a parent/grandparent, do an interview. You can record this interview, we'll show you how to transcribe the audio or add it to your Long Overdue family library.
The stories you acquire over time deserve to be told. You’re entitled to have them written and recorded, to be passed down to future generations. We couldn't be more excited to help families start compiling these stories together.
For more information, please email us - library@longoverduestories.com
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"I've been working hard ALL day. 😉"
-Crash, Chief Marketing Officer/Team Dog at Long Overdue
Our next newsletter we're targetting a release of either Tuesday, May 12th or Wednesday, May 13th. We'd love to hear from you in between. Gonna throw in that email one more time - library@longoverduestories.com