Filling the Bucket

Lately, with my writing students, I’ve been talking about their stories as vessels. Each story they tell is like a vase, crafted from experiences and memories that only they possess. The details of each vase--its size, its contours, the glaze and texture and color of its walls--are unique. When others admire that vase, they delight in its exquisite, unexpected details--like none they’ve ever seen.

Stories, though, are more than works of art. They are containers. When we create a story, we take the raw clay of our daily lives and mold it into something that contains meaning. When we share that story, we offer not only the beauty of the vessel, but the meaning within. We invite others to drink from it, and to fill their own vessels with what it contains. 

The deepest well, with the purest water, is no use without a bucket. All of us go through life thirsting for meaning. Tell your stories. Share them with others. Quench the thirst of the world.