2012 is just around the corner. This is the perfect time to reflect on the years behind us and consider those ahead. You know, try to learn from the stupid things we (and others) did last year or the year before, or the year before that...
So, in the spirit of learning from mistakes, we invite you to participate in PenTales If Only I'd Have Known Story Project.
The goal is to collect stories that have life lessons for all of us. For example, we recently interviewed a New York shopkeeper who had a great tale about his 95 year-old immigrant dad, an amateur boxer in the 1930s. Among many things, we took away that it takes grit and smarts to survive robberies, rising rents, and changing times. He sums it up with: "You never know how you'll handle yourself in a time of war."
We're particularly excited about nuggets of wisdom from those people who have been around a lot longer than us. We believe that those are the stories that are the most valuable to preserve, learn from, and share. So, if you're headed home for Thanksgiving, we've got an assignment for you: interview your moody great uncle, wacky aunt, or didactic dad and ask them what they'd wish they'd known. (The stories they'll come up with are the sort of stuff you can't make up... trust us!)
As always, we're open to all sorts of media (whatever tells your story best).
+Video Interview (2 min or less)
+Audio Interview (2min or less)
+Image and caption (30 words or less)
+Text (500 words of less)
We're hoping you'll send us at least 31 Life Lessons by January 1, 2012, so we can share one with you every day for the first month of the year. That way, we're sure to be off to a good (and mistake-free) start.
Love,
Stephanie, Saskia, Ezra, Olivia, Louisa, Aswini, Maham and the rest of the wonderful PenTales crew from all around the world.
Stephanie, Saskia, Ezra, Olivia, Louisa, Aswini, Maham and the rest of the wonderful PenTales crew from all around the world.
PS: Need a hobby? Shoot an email to writepentales@gmail.com and we'll loop you in!
