Still Following the Trail of Breadcrumbs
to Journal Your Way Back Home
Begin traveling down your own long-forgotten paths into that realm of memory, where not the smallest detail is forgotten, and the sparrow does not fall from the tree except that it is noticed and remembered…
In Terry’s fourth book, she book teaches people from age 10 to 110 how easy it is to spin up the kind of short first-person essay that anyone would want to hold onto forever. And because stories enter the heart most directly when they arrive through the ears, it comes with two CDs on which you will hear Terry's own voice, so precisely captured by Eagle Rock Studios that you ll think she is sitting beside you. We all know that the best spur to telling a part of your story is to hear someone else tell a part of his. Hence, in each of the book's 27 chapters, you will first listen to Terry recounting some tales of her own before reading the transcript and sitting down to the actual writing prompts, questions and suggestions that will have you scribbling away like a happy Fourth Grader. Between each story, a fresh musical interlude will allow you to begin traveling down your own long-forgotten paths into that realm of memory, where not the smallest detail is forgotten, and the sparrow does not fall from the tree except that it is noticed and remembered. Because true memory is like that: Permanent. Saved forever. Written on our hard drives. All that we ever saw and thought is still down there , resting at the bottom of the deep pool of Experience, waiting only for the waters to grow still enough to let us peer down and see it.
Throughout the book, instructions at the end of every chapter lead you onward. In the one titled What Do You Like? for example, Terry describes six things she just plain loves, then invites you to do the same. In Rules to Live By she tells what her chief guiding precepts are, then asks you to set down yours. The Wicked Elsewhere gets you remembering back to the time you first heard the stunning news about Where Babies Come From. And the bittersweet Take a Sad Song.. recounts a painful experience that is then transformed into something soaringly positive by one of the four inner-city boys who over time have become honorary sons to Terry and her family. And the list goes on... Though most of her chapters will make you laugh in places, every one of them will also make you remember, and sometimes even wipe tears. In general they will help you get at your feelings as, chapter by chapter, you learn to tell your own story. And the more you do this, first on the messy pages of a notebook or even stray napkin, the easier it will become to do it anywhere and anytime, a progression that reflects the message underlying every single thing Terry writes. That message is? That we can - and must - relish our time here. That we can - and must - learn to communicate our truth to those beside us on the journey. In so doing we will forge a new kind of community, in a humane new world where connection and brotherhood are deeply sensed and no one need feel lonely again.
Praise for Still Following the Trail of Breadcrumbs
"People who like to read often like to write as well. Terry Marotta, a weekly lifestyle newspaper columnist, is someone who keeps a daily journal and, since I do the same thing (the older version of a daily blog), I found her latest book, Still Following the Trail of Breadcrumbs to Journal Your Way Back Home an excellent guide to the value of writing a journal. She does this by example, sharing her journal with the reader. It is a great way to look at life around you and to sort out what is occurring within you at the same time. This book is inspirational. And for anyone staring at a blank page or screen, the truth is you can find your voice and discover what you want to say once you have acquired the confidence to do so."
- Book View
“She writes with such grace, understanding and humor. If E.B. White were alive, he’d have reason to worry.”
- Jerry Zezima, American Public Media Commentator and LA Times-Washington Post News Service Columnist
“A very therapeutic work, in that it facilitates a wide range of emotions that don’t easily surface for people. Terry’s voice is calming in itself, and leads one forward in one’s own feelings, describing place and family as nothing else can.”
- R. Marino, Family Therapist
“You can just relax and appreciate her deft and delicate touch with language, or try writing yourself with her gentle, supportive voice showing the way. It’s all here, each little essay a brief meditation on the beauty of the world and the human heart.”
-Carol Weir, Educator and Reading Specialist
