Alie: An Introduction

I've been a writer all my life. 

This is the one thing you know is true. It's one of the only things about myself that I am certain of and - if you know me - you know I am not certain of anything. So far, I am an unverified philosopher, book skimmer, people reader, chameleon, and queen of my own crochet kingdom. All of those are maybes, but of being a writer I am sure. 

The rub is that writers are artists, and claiming myself among the dreamers, the makers of this world, the story-shapers and word-benders, this seems a tall order. I have also been many things, played many parts, most of which I’ve shed like dead skin, so to say that this - an artist - is what’s left feels …terrifying, if I’m honest. I suppose the terror of it is how I know it is my reality. Usually, the things that scare us most reside closest to our tender place, the seat of our soul, our heart.

Artists have a contract with two entities. First, with their art, second with their audience. To make is to live, and without the making so too is life not lived. I also know this from experience. I can survive on bread and water, but without these words life feels void of meaning. It is in the words - slippery and shifty, visceral and tangible - that I find my reason for being. Yet, it is not enough to keep them to myself. I have to share them, the way a proud dog would display her pups. I have to protect them the way a mother bear would defend her cubs. They are my life line, and in your hands they are vulnerable, yet I must share them. Without sharing them, without showing them to the world, I feel their beauty wasted. Maybe it's self-seeking -though perhaps we could all use a little bit more seeking of the self - but it is also necessary. 

You see, the words aren’t really mine at all, but I am theirs, a vehicle for their travels and a chauffeur who delivers them; they have a mind of their own and a destination predetermined. Maybe you are the destination, maybe you will welcome them in with open arms. Maybe you are the destination wherein they are met with a door slammed before their face. I don’t know. Still, I must get them there, to you. 

“What words would you share with me?” you may ask. 

Well, many first and foremost. I never have ever been short-winded. Joke aside, I write about most things. I will aim to tell stories with truths that tether them to our shared experiences, or enlighten the experiences we do not share. I will tell stories that I hope move you beyond despair or meet you in it, affirm or dislodge your doubts. I will tell true stories, from my life and the moments I share with others, and I hope that they will raise your questions, console your doubts, affirm your existence, and strengthen your commitment to thriving. This is the purpose and point behind this venture; to share stories that shape and shift your world, if only by a word.

I hope that you will find yourself here, or if not all of you at least some small part. I am a writer, and I am discovering who and what else I am everyday. I do that here, and wish to share that process of becoming with you. Here, among these words, I hope you will find something beautiful, something true, something that makes something good in your small corner of the world. I hope that, among these words you find a community or, at least in me, a companion. The road can be dark, and is often full of terrors, but we need not go at it alone. The stories we share are sign posts that scream, “we have been here before and we survived it!” Listen and heed them, my friend.

If you come to like the little word gatherings here, then please feel free to subscribe. You will receive a once weekly e-letter with my most recent posting, and any other life updates I have to share. If you want to expand what you read into a dialogue, just send me an email at write@auntiealie.com. I’ll look forward to hearing from you and seeing what discussions we can get up to.

In summary, if I am sure of anything it is this: I am a writer. 

If I am sure of anything else, it is that I send you these words wrapped in love.

Sincerely, 

Auntie Alie