Writing as a Journey to Storytelling - by Melissa Crook

Writing as a Journey to Storytelling - by Melissa Crook

Kim Mosiman

I received my first diary when I was 8 years old.

This was my first invitation to write about my life, my day, my feelings.  There was a whole narrative around a diary being the place you kept your secrets, all those feelings you did not necessarily want anyone else to know about, but you needed a place to put them. You would open each day’s entrance as “Dear Diary,” as if you were writing it to someone, but it would only always stay between you and the pages between the covers of that diary. There are whole movies, TV shows, and books about people reading others’ diaries without permission and learning all these surprising, sometimes scandalous things about the writer’s life. This all felt very intriguing and mysterious to me, but also unbeknownst to me at the time, would become a life line, a way to get out of my head and body those things that I was carrying that I only felt safe sharing on the pages between these precious diary covers.

As I became older, diaries turned into journals, and continued to become a place for me to jot down thoughts, feelings, and events that were important to me, sometimes that were universally known, and sometimes were left to live only on the pages between the covers.

As happens so many times when we get into adulthood, these diary and journal entries were put on the back burner as I got busy with work, being married, having children, and all the different ways we were engaged in our community and activities. It wasn’t until I started doing some studies in women’s ministry groups that I started doing any kind of writing about my thoughts or feelings again, but even then it was specific to that topic or study.

But that all changed in January of 2018 when I attended a Herstory Writers Workshop on the Hofstra University Campus on Long Island. The power of my own writing was brought back home to me. I was only there on an investigative journey per the request of the director of Mentorship at Adelphi University.  We were trying to determine if having Mentors and Mentees doing this memoir writing workshop together would be a way to break the ice and allow these partnerships to connect on a deeper level. The main requirement of attending a workshop was that you would not only listen to what writers were sharing, but also that you would write yourself. This opened a gateway for me to re-engage with the power writing has to move through, share and process your own story, as well as listening to and being curious about others stories. This is such an impactful way to build bridges, as well as a way to release things that you have not been able to say out loud, but that need room to breathe and heal.

I spent two years working with this group, and even though I left it when we moved from Long Island to Texas, its impact never left me. Without my time tapping back into the power of writing and storytelling, I do not think I would have gotten to the place of starting my network, The Embracing Layers Network, that was birthed with The F.E.E.L (FindingEmpowermentEmbracingLayers) Podcast in July 2021, that then added the book Embracing Layers Unapologetically in September 2024, and most recently the Online Course “Embracing A F.E.E.L Fueled Life,” and coinciding workbook (with big support from this very platform’s owner Kim Mosiman). It also opened the door to me reincorporating a journal into my life, that place I could go to each day to write down all my thoughts, feelings, fears, celebrations, curiosities, and how it plays such a pivotal role in my self care.  

When I decided it was time to introduce a book to my platform, I couldn’t have done it without my writer Jessica Garrison, but I also know that being reconnected with the power of writing and sharing each other’s stories really enabled me to realize the importance of a book and written products being a part of our platform. Having books and written content allows people to engage with our message in a way that allows them to really sit with and take in the information on their own timeline, in a way that feels authentic to them. It also encourages readers to think about their own story and maybe tap into their own writing to see what unveils as they unpack their journey as they consider what living out F.E.E.L looks like.   

May this create curiosity in you not only about your own story, but others’ as well. I believe it’s by tapping into this curiosity that we build bridges and see the value in our own and other’s stories.

About Melissa:

Melissa Crook is the Thought Leader, Speaker, Author & Host of The Embracing Layers Network. She is passionate about women understanding and believing that prioritizing their wellness is not selfish, and is absolutely necessary. She leads these discussions via Public Speaking, her newly released Online Course (Embracing a FEEL Fueled Life) and corresponding Workbook, is host of the award winning The F.E.E.L Podcast (FindingEmpowermentEmbracingLayers) and Together We F.E.E.L YouTube Panel Show, and, in collaboration with her blog writer and author, Jessica Garrison, released the award winning book Embracing Layers Unapologetically in Fall 2024.

Melissa currently lives in Fresno, CA with the great love of her life and father of their 3 daughters, Brady Crook. Melissa loves her family, friends, traveling, the beach, mountain lakes, sunsets, and is a huge sports fan.

Connect with Melissa:

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