Melinda Marchiano

I had the pleasure of speaking with a group of people today who are taking a memoir writing class. It strikes me that the more opportunities that I have to connect with authors, the more I realize how important it is for us to do this. Writing is such a solitary existence– the human-ness in us needs the bonds.

Not only do we benefit from the “love bonds” between us, but there is always, always something new that we can learn from one another. There is no such thing as “smarter” or “better,’ but only our willingness to share the uniqueness of our lives and ourselves with each other. Seriously, when we learn something of value, we need to pass it on. I guess that the challenge is to look within ourselves to find exactly what that is that we have to share.

I realize, being only sixteen years old, that I do not have the wisdom and insights that others who have been on this Earth a long time have. The more I learn, the more I learn that I have bunches to learn. Maybe, because I am only sixteen, I just might have an insight to some things in life that my older counterparts would not recognize. Maybe, just maybe, I have something to share of value.

Actually, everyone has something of value to share. Our job is to find it– and give it away.