If you've been watching my Instagram feed or Facebook posts, you may be getting an idea of who these Six individuals are. I've given little snapshots of them, quotes here and there, but I find it incredibly difficult to answer that question. Who are the Six?
I've tried to avoid telling their stories, even disclosing too much about age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and such when talking to friends or posting on social media. And I feel the same way here in this blog post. It's not that I don't want to accidentally spoil something, though that's certainly on my radar, but I want you to discover them for yourself and allow those aspects of these Six wonderful people to unfold before you as you get to know them.
They're individuals. A hulking strong guy from Texas. A hopeful girl from the streets of NYC. A little person on the cusp of womanhood. A young man caught in the cycle of addiction. A cut-throat woman climbing to the top. A gentle boy broken by his past.
They're diverse. Diverse culturally. Diverse racially. Diverse socioeconomically. Diverse in sexual orientation. Diverse in gender. Diverse in life experience.
And I have found it all profoundly eye opening as I've written for them. I'm a white guy from the bible belt of Texas. I've watched, listened, discussed, and observed the world around me all in the hopes of being true to each of these Six people I've grown to love and their readers, yet still I feel I've missed the mark in many ways. I never feel like I understand them well enough, so it causes me to continue to watch, listen, discuss, observe, and hopefully grow in empathy. As I've gotten to know these Six people, I've come to know and understand so much more about myself. I'm not the same person I was when I started writing this book several years ago.
I hope the same for you. Maybe not a big come-to-Jesus moment or an Oprah ah-ha moment, but maybe something strikes you just right and you think, "Hmmm . . ." Books are great like that.
Later.
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