LGBT activist Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller have started a storytelling movement.  The “It Gets Better Project” on YouTube, begun in response to the recent highly publicized series suicides of gay teenagers, has inspired hundreds of people to tell their stories on camera.

The concept is simple and very effective. Savage and  Miller sat in front of a camera and started talking. They told about their awful experiences being bullied as teenagers, how it got so much better and about their lives together today.

Then they invited other people to send in their video testimonials. According to the October 9  Los Angeles Times, “Since Sept. 21, the channel has clocked more than 1.2 million views. More than 650 people young and old, gay and straight, religious and atheist, have submitted their own stories”.

Facebook has at least two pages devoted to the stories. There’s the It Gets Better Project that quotes Harvey Milk, “You gotta give ‘em hope,” and the Make it Better Project.

Several celebrities have made videos telling their personal stories including Neil Patrick Harris, Kathy Griffin and the cast of Wicked. Ellen DeGeneres said that four teen suicides in a row should be considered a crisis and that this needs to be a wakeup call for all of us to help our teens.

You can go to the It Gets Better Project website where you can post your own video story.

There are several supportive communities on Facebook including the It Gets Better Project that quotes Harvey Milk, “You gotta give ‘em hope,” and the Make it Better Project. Even the White House is talking about teen suicide.  From the official website, “Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett spoke at the annual national dinner of the Human Rights Campaign to directly address the recent tragedies surrounding youth who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.”

This is an amazing example of the simple act of telling our stories being one of the best way to reach out to people.

If you are a teen being bullied or know one, reach out for help.  In Tucson contact Eon, Wingspan’s youth program, 520-624-1779 ext 127 or kellasante@wingspan.org. Nationally visit The Trevor Project or call its national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for gay and questioning youth at 1-866-488-7386.

This year the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival is expanding dramatically, and for the first time the festival will include a whole area in the TCC Plaza, outside the Tucson Music Hall, dedicated to storytelling and the narrative traditions of Tucson’s living cultures.  There will be a stage set up like a Southwestern living room for a wide range of performances.  Adjacent to this area festival attendees can participate in a version of the sobremesa tradition by gathering around tables to share stories of their own on particular themes. (Sobremesa, according to Google Translate, is after dinner table-talk.)

Come out to hear the tales:

Tellers include Big Jim Griffith (founder of the festival and Tucson legend), Jordan Hill (Jewish stories and Tucson ghost lore), Sheila Patteson (Irish tales), Marc Severson (stories of life in Tucson), Anne Lee (Slavic stories), Jean Baxter (stories from Tucson’s early days), Tucson teens from VOICES and Tucson Hebrew Academy (tales of living young in Tucson), and youth from the Singing Bird Sangha (Buddhist stories).

Come out to tell tales of your own:

Facilitators of the sobremesas include Odyssey Storytelling, the UA Creative Writing Club, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, and more.  Topics range from food, love, injuries, and holidays to immigration, religious experiences, and encounters with Tucson ghosts and wildlife (of all kinds).

Come out and be a part of an exciting and profound new way for Tucson to truly meet itself!  The Festival will be in downtown Tucson this coming Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thanks to Jordan Hill for this information.

I got an email from my friend and fabulous photographer Charlie Bidwell with his weekly photo and quote.  This was the image he sent:

I loved the picture from an aesthetic point of view; his minimalist sensibility really appeals to me.  And, at the same time, it evoked a clear and happy / funny memory for me.

I sent a reply email telling him that I saw Doris Day – Rock Hudson movies there with my grandmother when I was a kid.  She was just as confused as I was about the double entendres.  Seeing those movies now (how tame they are!) reminds me of how great it was to see the Rockettes and be in the loving company of my long deceased Mom-Mom.

Charlie’s work is very suggestive.  He has a fascination with the shapes of man-made structures (iconic buildings, funky neon signs) against skies. His abstract nature photos are amazing.  Check out his website, www.1bidwell.com, to see more.

When was the last time you had the experience of looking at art, either visual or performing, that took you into your own story?