As an alternate or addendum to the usual Black friday retail frenzy, I would like to suggest that we contribute to the Storycorps tradition. As an avid NPR listener, and an enthusiast of oral histories, I exepcted to enjoy the Storycorps project. It all began when a private recording booth was set up in Grand Central station so that dyads of people could interview one another for one hour. What I was not quite prepared for was how powerful many of the stories aired turned out to be.
A key point of storycorp is the emphasis on the fact that "ordinary" people have extraordinary stories, studded with humor, love, pain, wisdom...and all too often left unsaid. While driving home and listening to the radio, I was moved to tears but the first interview I heard. Sisters were talking about their love for one another and how they suffered and battled one sisters' self-cutting compulsion. Since then, stories have been recorded of marriage proposals, long lost family members, veterans' tales, and so much more.
In an electronic age where my 2 and 5 year old neices spend more time with their DS or my iphone than talking with us, the value of oral history and family traditions are easily be lost. I hope you can join in the new national tradition of listening. As someone who listens for a living, I can attest to the fact that every listener is enriched when someone shares their history and perspective, even for just one hour.
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