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“Document the days,” Ann Kroeker said on her March 17, 2020 podcast.
I was behind on listening to my favorite podcasts. One of the things I love to do everyday is drive for 15 minutes through the Spanish countryside at 4 p.m. to pick up my kids from school.
During those rides, I enjoy listening to the podcasts of my two favorite, virtual writing coaches, Jeff Goins and Ann Kroeker.
Those days of driving back-and-forth to school are over for now. “School Bus Driver” is a hat that I won’t wear again until next September.
No school, no drives in the countryside . . .
No time to listen to podcasts.
Until . . . last Saturday. Housecleaning was long overdue. I hate cleaning, but sometimes, it’s so needed . . . you just can’t close your eyes to it any longer.
That’s what I woke up to on Saturday. While dusting, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping floors, and everything else, I decided to catch up my favorite podcasts.
I loved them all, as usual, but the one that really stuck out to me was the one titled, “Document the Days.”
The title intrigued me.
Ann Kroeker encouraged us to not miss recording the events, the experiences, the feelings, the details of our days during this historical moment.
“Record your story as it’s unfolding; capture and preserve—in real time, in your voice—what will become source material for future historians or for your own memoir.”
Ann Kroeker
One day, COVID-19 will be in history books. Historians will be searching all over the world for everyday stories and experiences that have been recorded and documented by people.
Dr. Shane Landrum advises typing up our observations and stories or using indelible ink on archival paper. He suggests keeping a daily journal of what’s going on in our lives during this unique time.
Ann Kroeker suggests getting stories “out there” in the public forum in order to “document the days.”
“Our role as writers in these uncertain times is to be among those who capture the stories. Tell your story. You tell yours from your corner of the world, and I’ll tell mine.”
Ann Kroeker
As soon as I heard that, I knew I needed to keep writing. I knew I needed to keep telling stories. I knew I needed to keep sharing my experiences with the world—as simple and mundane as they may seem.
I have been documenting my days—everyday. I have been recording my life stories—everyday.
Sometimes, I have wondered if they were worth recording, worth writing, worth sharing, worth posting.
But, something deep inside of me pushed me to keep recording, keep writing, keep sharing, keep posting.
Something deep inside of me propelled me to write, compelled me to write. Something told me not to stop.
“Act on your impulse to write. Act on your impulse to document the days.”
Ann Kroeker
Sometimes, I have wondered if anyone cares about my everyday stories in my part of the world, if anyone reads them, if anyone listens to my words.
When I heard Ann Kroeker’s wise words, “Document your days,” I was suddenly freed from those questions.
I am simple “documenting my days,” recording my experiences, my feelings, my life, my questions, my confusion, my fears, my worries, my tears, my laughter, my smiles . . .
“What better task to undertake than to bear witness and keep track. Witness, and keep track. Thomas Lynch said that’s the basic work of writers.”
Ann Kroeker
Even if no one reads or listens today . . . perhaps, down the road, in hundreds of years, some historian will be searching for and collecting stories and news from real-life people who lived in Spain during the COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps, down the road, someone will stumble upon my stories . . . read, listen . . . and share them with others.
For now, it doesn’t matter. For now, I’m simply “documenting the days.”
I’m telling my story. I’m telling my story from my corner of the world.
What about you? What’s your story? What’s happening in your part of the world?
I can’t wait to hear!
Look around, watch, observe, and “document the days.”
Don’t miss today. For tomorrow, it will be gone.
If you have stories to share from your part of the world, StoryCenter is capturing and documenting a global archive of stories from the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to submit your story for all of us to hear!
Check out “The Quarantine Diaries” from The New York Times—stories and drawings of people “documenting the days” all over the world.
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
GET YOUR FREE EBOOK, “THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
Have you been “documenting the days”? A journal, emails to family and friends, stories, drawings . . . ? What could you do today to observe, record, and tell what is happening in your part of the world? How can you encourage those around you to do the same—perhaps even your own children?
If you have stories to share from your part of the world, StoryCenter is capturing and documenting a global archive of stories from the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to submit your story for all of us to hear!
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
