Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Anne Frank Might Suggest these 5 Reasons to Write Now

Spinning Gold: Writing that Opens Hearts and Inspires Action
Photo credit: By Bungle - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://bit.ly/2xQ0eEM 

“I’ll make my voice heard, I’ll go out into the world and work for mankind.”
~Anne Frank (April 9, 1944)


Meet Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank, the German-Dutch diarist of Jewish origin, and teenage sHero. Little did Anne know that the prophetic diary entry (above) made before going into hiding would come true.

Frank is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. She documented her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.

The Diary of a Young Girl (originally Het Achterhuis in the Dutch language, English: The Secret Annex), is one of the world’s best-known books and inspired several plays and films. It’s been translated into 70 different languages.



On July 6, 1943, the teenager Anne and seven family members shuttered together against the brutality of the German Third Reich.

Using today’s COVID-19 vocabulary, these eight souls “self-quarantined” for 25 months sharing 450 square feet of attic space before they were found out by the Gestapo in August 1945.

They literally were forced to “disappear” or face the Nazi death camps--which happened with her father Otto being the only survivor.

This blog does not seek to compare their hardships or sacrifices to COVID-19’s isolation, quarantine, or stay at home experiences.

Instead, please take inspiration from Anne Frank to see why it’s critically important to write now…right now! She dreamed of being a famous writer after listening to a government radio broadcast seeking letters and diaries of the war to bring criminals to justice.

Her timeless and encouraging messages linger for anyone to consider, whether you think you are or are not a writer.

Where did Anne Frank write?

The house (left) at the Prinsengracht Canal in Amsterdam, where the family sought refuge.

The bookcase that covered the attic entrance where Anne wrote and hid for 25 months.

A model of the building where Anne Frank stayed, including the Secret Annex. -Wikipedia

Why write now in the challenging times of COVID-19? 
Anne Frank might suggest these five reasons: 

1. Writing emboldens and comforts you with a sense of calm, control, and courage. Whatever troubles you face can be put on pause as you put words on a page.


2. Write to give yourself a self-care safety valve to release the many emotions of fear, anxiety, stress, despair, and anger.


3. Be brave like Anne and write every day in a journal! Set a timer for 18 minutes or scribble on a notepad placed in different rooms. This applies to children!

Write like no one is watching or will ever read your words--and then imagine what did happen when the world read Anne’s diary. Imagine what might happen when someone--your kids, grandkids, great-grandkids--read your COVID-19 stories.



4. Right now, your words can start to improve the world, one comment, one post, one essay, one blog at a time. 
Stop waiting. 
Start writing.
Start improving our world this Earth Day!


5. Writing brings hope to the surface and keeps it present. Anne wanted to go to Hollywood--and she did in ways she could have never dreamed through the numerous plays and movies produced posthumously. 

Like Anne, imagine BIG and write down your epic, seemingly unattainable future wishes!



Thank you, Anne Frank, for the legacy of your writing.


A Wish List of 
Future Women’s Writing Adventures & Retreats
The Anne Frank Center, New York City, USA
and
The Anne Frank House & Biological Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
If interested in being on a travel mailing list, please share that the comments.

10 comments:

  1. Hi Lore, I really enjoyed your post about Anne Frank. She truly was an inspiring young girl! I loved your 5 reasons to write now and particularly resonated with "Writing brings hope to the surface and keeps it present." Thanks for the research you did on Anne Frank and for sharing 5 powerful reasons to write right now!

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    1. Thank you, Pam Thompson. It was fun to reserach her aagain and write this blog. Happy you enjoyed it.

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  2. If I couldn't write every day, I don't know that I could have survived this long not to mention now when I need it the most.

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    1. Seems you and Anne share a love of writing. What are you writing these days, Barb?

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  3. I would love to be on your travel mailing list.
    Thank you so much for sharing this post today. Anne has been on my mind. You and this blog are very in sync with my life. I feel like I have emulated Anne most of my life, almost as if we shared that same life time, a past life, I have felt that since a child I had embodied her. 15 years. So significant. “I’ll make my voice heard, I’ll go out into the world and work for mankind.”
    ~Anne Frank (April 9, 1944) April has always been significant to me as well as being my birth month this lifetime.
    Wikipedia shares:
    "Frank aspired to become a journalist, writing in her diary on Wednesday, 5 April 1944:

    I finally realized that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant, to get on in life, to become a journalist, because that's what I want! I know I can write ..., but it remains to be seen whether I really have talent ...

    And if I don't have the talent to write books or newspaper articles, I can always write for myself. But I want to achieve more than that. I can't imagine living like Mother, Mrs. van Daan and all the women who go about their work and are then forgotten. I need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to! ...

    I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that's inside me!

    When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?[40]

    She continued writing regularly until her last entry of 1 August 1944."

    I have had so many of these same thoughts over my life. I began writing and reading at a very young age. It has been what has sustained and fueled my life. I always offer that as advice to others. Anne is a huge part of me.

    You have inspired me to write about it. I think I'm going to add Anne to my gratitude list in my most recent accomplishment of becoming a published author. I know she would be proud.

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    1. It's so gratifying when someone deeply connects to my writing as you have. Sounds like you and Anne intesect at many places. Thanks for sharing thiss additiional info on her...what a treasure she is. AND...I'm looking forward to our travel trips...one day...until then, be wel, stay well, stay safe, and mask up! Namaste~

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  4. Why do we wait? Interesting to muse about.

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    1. Let me know what your musings reveal, CathySue.

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  5. I feel a sense of empowerment when I am writing too.

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    1. I sense that in your choice of words and sentence rhythms, Mihaela!

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