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February 11, 2008

Wisdom from the Hyphen Neighborhood: The What I've Learned Blog

My friends think I'm obsessed with stories.

My boss does too - I tried to change my work title to "Storykeeper" but they wanted something more professional.

But personally, I am obsessed with stories, and not the kind that I read about on the news. I'm enamoured with the stories of my friends and strangers.

I never ask "What do you do?" when I meet someone. I'd rather ask them what they're passionate about, what they've dreamed of, where they've failed and where they've succeeded. (yes, I actually have these conversations randomly in clubs and bars -- you'd be amazed at what you get when you skip over asking what's someone's job title.)

Of course, I like the big, huge moments (good for dramatic effect and a reason to get toasted) but frankly, I love to celebrate the mundane details about someone's day.

This is our life. More than the big moments, it's the little moments you remember.

For me, it might be what I learned when I asked my mom to make me cupcakes in elementary school. (Basically, I learned that my mom is very frugal and she used it as a reason to use expired items from the pantry. It didn't kill my classmates, but it did teach me humility, creativity, tough love, and an appreciation for cooking things myself.)

So when I was asked to dream up a blog for Hyphen, I thought of who Hyphen is... namely, you.

And I wanted to celebrate your stories. So, on this Valentine's week, I wanted to send you a valentine, from Hyphen.

Introducing "Wisdom from the Neighborhood: The What I've Learned Blog."

“What I’ve learned” will be a bi-weekly Hyphen blog of the lessons we’ve learned. It will profile writers, artists, people on the street, your next door neighbor. We believe everyone has an important story to tell.

Here's the idea behind this blog:
Our hope is to delve a little deeper and extract the wry pieces of wisdom that our readers can take away with them. Whoever we are and wherever we are, we learn things in life that are universal at the same time they're personal.

You're invited to contribute. Share your story or invite a someone else to share theirs. This can be a friend, parent, nemesis, or simply someone you've always wanted to learn more about.

Here's where to start.

Be frank. Be thoughtful. Be wise. Be you. This is your life, and this is what you’ve learned.

Send us your stories to han@hyphenmagazine.com.

Posted by Han at February 11, 2008 4:37 PM