Speaker. Storyteller. Coach.
Thirty years ago, on January 6, 1987, I hopped a plane, left my hometown of Tampa, and moved to New York. I had no job and I’d never met my roommates, but to me the risk was worth it — I wanted to do something exciting. I also wanted my long-distance boyfriend who lived in NYC to marry me and I thought proximity might move things along. [Read more…] about On Having an Epiphany
I love being an artist, even though the creative life can be challenging. The best ideas can take years to materialize (e.g., my book) and financial insecurity can almost wear me out (the sculptor Carol Bove said “Becoming an artist is not a good business plan.”). But the blessings far outweigh the stumbling blocks — especially when it comes to storytelling.
I heard at least a hundred stories this year, either while sharing a stage or conducting workshops with The Moth or for my own clients. The stories and storytellers ran the gamut:
Again and again, as I helped people craft their stories, I saw what I already know — when we share our stories, we help heal ourselves and our world.
In 2010, I launched I Will Be Good Productions, a fiscally sponsored art project with Fractured Atlas, to raise funds for my one-woman show How to Draw a Nekkid Man. Since then, I’ve expanded my creative platforms to include the stage, the page (still in progress), digital recordings, and workshops. This year, more storytelling opportunities await, including one in the broadcast world — a podcast is on the horizon!
If you’re looking for a last-minute tax-deductible donation this calendar year, please consider contributing to I Will Be Good Productions. It’s been four years since I’ve launched a targeted fundraising campaign and there are new projects in the pipeline, development costs to recoup, and always more stories to tell.
There are two ways to donate: 1) Online or 2) By check, which must be made payable to Fractured Atlas with I Will Be Good Productions in the memo line. Please mail to Tricia Rose Burt, 1805 Graybar Lane, Nashville, TN 37215 (I’m in Nashville while my husband Eric rides his bike from New Hampshire to South America — as you do.).
Your donation is incredibly helpful and profoundly appreciated. Thank you for your ongoing support!
Wishing you a New Year filled with fabulous stories!
Tricia Rose Burt is a treasure, as a brilliant storyteller and a wise observer of life’s surprising and sometimes unexpected paths to our deepest satisfactions. She speaks from an intimate place where creativity and courage intersect. She’s also hilarious. What a combination. — Charles Kravetz, General Manager, WBUR Boston, the nation’s 5th largest NPR station
“All experience is great providing you live through it.” — Alice Neel
Amy Grant, the best-selling contemporary Christian artist of all time, just released her first Christmas album in 20 years. Her new songs speak to both the joy and loneliness of Christmas. Her message is simple — you are loved and you are not alone, important words for everyone to hear in this very broken world. But according to Lifeway, a major distributor of Christian books and music, her album “is not Christian enough” and they are refusing to sell the record.
I don’t want to speak for Jesus, but I’m thinking he’s a little confused. Here are the lyrics to my favorite track on the album, “Melancholy Christmas.”
I post another picture from the quiet of my room
And wonder who’ll like it and wonder what to do
With the rest of tonight and tomorrow night too
Christmas is coming soon, coming soon
Maybe I’ll call up some friends just to see if they’re home
I don’t want to feel lonely, but I’m here alone
And the snow falls down, coming down
Merry Christmas
You could come over, it’s not too late
Don’t worry about presents, I’ve saved you a place
Merry Christmas
Light a few candles and sing Christmas songs
Everybody needs a place to belong
At Christmas, it’s Christmas
If you feel lonely I feel it too
If nobody’s said it I’m wishing you
Merry Christmas
Since Jesus loved the lonely and the forgotten most of all, I’m pretty sure he likes that song — even if his name is never mentioned.
When I got divorced, I found out that there are Bible studies that actually forbid 
divorced women to lead them. This fact makes me grit my teeth. My divorce brought me into relationship with God, who was with me on the front lines of my suffering. I believe in a God of second chances (and third and fourth, on to infinity). When given the opportunity, I can share stories of hope and God’s grace. But apparently in some circles, I’m not Christian enough, given my sordid past. (Lucky for me, my very insightful rector said, “Sounds like you’re going through a divorce made in heaven.”)
Henri Nouwen, the Dutch Catholic priest and theologian, makes a profound observation in his book The Wounded Healer:
The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.
I need to re-read Martin L. Smith’s essay about the importance of loving Christians we do not agree with — as he puts it, “those other Christians.” I’m struggling these days, and not just because of Lifeway’s choice about Amy’s album. Some folks calling themselves Christians keep spouting words of judgment and division, often in the name of Jesus. I’ll take an inclusive message of love and hope for all people any day.
So go buy Amy Grant’s new album Tennessee Christmas at Target if you want an actual CD (and you get two bonus tracks) or online at Amazon and iTunes. Then give it to your friends and family that aren’t Christian enough. Unless we’re loving as radically as Christ did, that includes all of us.
Here’s “Melancholy Christmas” to whet your appetite.
The fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don’t see the results. — Henri Nouwen