Story time

It astounds me every time I ask someone for an interview and they say yes. It astounds me even more when people ask me to tell their story. That's the thing I hope I never stop feeling humbled by and excited for.

Because someone will end up showing me their bare bones, the things that bent their souls, broke their hearts and changed their minds. The things that made them so happy they cried and the things that made them question life.

While I'm my-own-story-miser. I can't imagine sharing some of the things people tell me. As it is I'm barely sharing with my friends. I can't help but wonder why they do it.

Maybe they want to see themselves through somebody else's eyes, so they choose to be painted with words.

Maybe they want someone out there to read their story and learn from them and their mistakes. Or find hope in knowing they're not alone, and it's not the end of things. Not until the fat lady sings.(which she can't. She's currently getting a root canal done because of eating sweets that spoiled her voice.)

Or maybe they want someone to talk to. Sometimes people just want to talk. To someone who'll listen and not judge. And since we're Africans and we don't believe in shrinks, they settle for us writers, who'll sit, listen and be with them as they relive moments they'd rather not have gone through. Maybe they also want us to tell them with as much conviction as a luminous colour has, that they're not bad people.

I don't think we do that last part though. We leave that for them to find in themselves.

Someone will show you their hurts and send you forth into the world of words and language and creativity and they tell you to make them proud. Weave them a basket for their stories and tell them to whomever you come across in your travels. No pressure. It should be easy to tell a warrior's tale.

August is a month of stories. And a month where all the teenagers who had been stored away in schools, come back to the land of the free. But more importantly, a month of stories.

If you'd like to share your story with us, or would like to recommend someone, email us at manamanamusings@gmail.com.

I'll get back to you faster than if you texted me... Stop laughing back there. I know I'm not a good texter(or WhatsApp-ist). But I have no track record for email writing, so it's safe to say I'm a ninja at it. A fast, deft, funny ninja.





Photo by Mugoya Mokua.