Interview with Meta Commerse
An interview with meta commerse
Meta Commerse is a word medicine woman black boomer whose spiritual/artistic home is rooted in stories and poems. She is author of five books and founder and CEO of Story Medicine Worldwide, based here in Asheville, and has been our Story/Arts artist-in-residence this month. Below, find excerpts from the talk-back at her show “Romance, Jingles, and Dreams” held at Story Parlor on November 3, 2022 — a weaving of monologue, music, images, movement and selected story readings from Womaning, A Memoir.
What was the inspiration for Womaning, and what was the creative process like, excavating and exploring your life story on the page? What did you learn about life, and yourself along the way?
My initial inspiration for the memoir was a burning desire to break silence. Unknowingly jump starting this process, my son asked me a question one day. But to give him a satisfactory answer, I felt the need to write the story of his birth in order to help him understand the context into which he had been born. Once I did this, I wrote the stories of his two siblings, and by that time, I was on a roll! It wasn’t new to me, this story writing. In college, I had been encouraged to work with my story to help diffuse some of the anger I presented when I began. So, I started with my earliest memories and wrote from there. Initially I learned to recognize the things that stood out. The patterns in my early life, the ways in which early childhood trauma impacted my sense of self.
Did your perspective of your personal stories and memories change in the process of writing your memoir and, if so, how?
My view of my stories morphed many times in the writing process. Initially, I saw them as stand-alone stories and had written them as such. But the thread of what I call a gold nugget found in each one joins them all at the hip. By “gold nugget,” I mean that I found deep and important lessons in each of them, having in some way to do with my body awareness. I have also come to understand that this book is what I’ve been trying to write since my first book, and that it basically depicts my personal experience of the patriarchy. The stories came alive and melded together as one piece as I completed the writing process. At that time, I saw their deep spirituality and, the fact that the healing in the nuggets crossed generational lines as well.
How did you go about choosing the particular excerpts shared in your residency performance?
Womaning is a very intimate work which means that reading from it and performing these stories creates what I call “vulnerable space.” I’ve performed enough times to have experience with this. And it takes extra work, so, I select the stories that don’t require quite as much of this tender energy. Even then, there will be listeners/audience members who cringe at the personal nature of the work. We aren’t socialized to participate in such vulnerable spaces.
For others embarking on the deep and personal work required to write a memoir, what advice would you impart to them in their own creative and introspective journeys?
I would say first to anyone planning to write a memoir, start by cultivating a writing practice. This is especially true if you plan to find healing in the writing process. Your practice is sure to help you move inward, past the external layers of built-up emotion and armor that most people carry around. Once you’ve done this, the work of writing responsibly, from your own emotional truth and in a clear voice will probably flow. Let me encourage memoir writing, especially for elders. Our world needs the medicine that can be found in your stories. Write and share your stories with your children and grandchildren. That’s the most important piece of advice I can offer.
And finally, someone asked how the phrase, “DETERMINED not to drown” taken from your extra piece entitled “From the Midst of Mothering” might apply to pregnant girls of today.
In that piece, I was trying to make and emphasize the point about being equipped in that situation only with determination. Knowing that all I had was determination “not to be just another statistic…” but not knowing what other important information I did not have except that I did not know very much about life in general. As for pregnant girls of today, there is a great resource!!! Recently, I heard a “Fresh Air” radio interview about the book, “Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College and Creating a Better Future for Young Families” written by Nicole Lynn Lewis. It begins with the author’s story. But she didn’t stop there. She finished her education and founded a non-profit organization to help support pregnant girls to finish theirs, too! There are alternatives available today that were unheard of 50 years ago. The film “Juno” also provides clues about a new body-centered awareness available to pregnant girls, one based upon reality rather than dreams and ideals.