Every job has its positives and negatives. Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are more well-paid than others. It is good to appreciate all of it, even if, sometimes, we want something different. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is to enjoy the moment, even if things aren’t perfect, because we just don’t know how things will be tomorrow.
Something I enjoy about my job is getting to meet various people from all walks of life. Older folks, younger folks. People who lived locally their whole lives, and people who are from halfway across the world. Everyday, I visit a different home or homes and get to know a different person or family and hear their unique story (although we often don’t have too much time for actual storytelling). Today, I heard about a family whose family member had a car accident, in which a car sped down a road, nearly killing a mother and child in a crosswalk, even though this speeding car gave no warning of its approach. Fortunately, everyone survived, but I feel lucky to be able to share in these stories with people and support them as much as I can.
Another story that I will not forget involves someone who has been on my caseload for a while. They were always very humble and kind, and appreciative of all the benefits they received. On one occasion, they casually mentioned their child works as an attorney in Europe, far away, and they only get to visit from time to time. I didn’t think much of this, but then they showed me the business card of the person, and, believe it or not, this person’s child works for a famous criminal court in Europe. It is so funny how, even in little old Modesto (and Stanislaus County), we have connections to great things outside of our immediate environment.
Perhaps in my posts I will share some of what I come across in my daily home visits, although I respect privacy and confidentiality and will not share any specific details.
Still, I think there is something special to each story we have to tell. As I am writing this, I am reminded of Walter Benjamin, my favorite art theorist/critic, who was part of the Frankfurt School, and who died trying to escape Nazi Germany in the 1930s, a Jew and a victim of suicide, as he thought his escape route was cutoff.
He wrote an essay on storytelling as an art that goes back further than the Greeks, to our very beginnings as a species, and the decline of storytelling in our advanced industrial society. That the very art of storytelling, of telling our story, of something unique and special to us, has declined for various reasons. Here is the link for the short essay (don’t feel the need to read it: I am including it as a citation). One of the reasons storytelling declined is that we don’t value personal experience anymore: instead we value numbers and that which is calculable. But also that ‘information’ now has an overstated significance that overwhelms experience and so much more value is placed on knowing information over sharing experience. Here’s one really good quote from the essay: “No one” Pascal once said, “dies so poor that he does not leave something behind.” And, in this sense, we each have something special and unique we bring to this world, our story, our experience, and learning what that is, developing that story and how to tell it, is so so valuable.
In any event, that is perhaps that is why I like to blog: it allows me to tell my story a bit more. And to read about the stories of others, even if we are orating publicing in front of one another currently.
And I would love to hear about your stories, too!
“The Story Teller,” Amrita Sher-gil
Bearer of Pity 