" I guess it shows as well as anything but there is still a stigma, that there is still fear that if we told these intimate stories that reveal our own struggles, we might not be viewed as professional enough, trustworthy enough, or healthy enough for the field."

" If you can say it out loud, it isn't so scary. But contrarily, if we cannot face those parts of ourselves, they grow and expand and become so much scarier. And further if you can't face it, if you can't learn from it."

" I didn't talk to anybody, I would keep to myself. And I didn't realize how it was affecting my family, because I didn't really see it."

" I don't never want my children to be nervous or scared to come talk to me about anything."

" Ya'll ever had one of those siblings to get all the attention and then the other one -- I'm the other one."

" half of the reason why I was suppressing my voice was the same reason why my brother was seeking this attention."

" I didn't know that by feeding this cycle of anxiety with this particular response that I was actually cultivating, fueling, and strengthening OCD."

" What persisted from the experience was obsessive thinking and the cycle of fear that enabled it."

" I saw a station wagon that looked like ours but was brown and had the word sheriff and a gold star emblem on the side. As the man with the whiteboard had walked my father's drivers side, I knew on that day that a cold icy treat would not be in our future."

" do everything that she can to make sure there will never be another four year old sitting in the back of a car blaming herself for all that is wrong with the world because all she wanted was an ice cold icy treat."

" And maybe, maybe this person I'm thinking of, certainly other people Im thinking of, can't get warm, can't get comfortable, can't get dry enough and warm enough."

" I think it's that sort of knowledge born of the body that led to this thing we call the Mobile Thriving Respite."

" So I just want to encourage you, that whatever it is that you are facing or trying to deny, look into it."

" You just learn how to deal with it. And the best time to get is in the beginning to have early intervention so you can start now."

"I didn't know that the incident had scarred me. It might have imprinted a fundamental desire to live where – my – own security and personal space are reliably respected."

" The future is not a gift. It is an achievement."

" John, you don't understand. For you not having a wallet might mean an inconvenience on how you're going to pay for the meal. For me to go into public space with no identification is terrifying."

" I support women who want to make choices for themselves. But many times those choices involve other people."

" No matter if we agree or not. There is nothing she can do that will ever make me stop loving her. That she doesn't have to make the hard choices alone."

" I didn't know what it meant to be from the projects because I didn't know I lived in the projects. Nobody told me that. "

" It's really amazing how far you've come considering where you started from"

"In my father's world and my father's culture, if your family disowns you, you are as good as dead."

" I find it helps to find a friend who will help fill out the picture. After all, there's usually more to the story."

" Now I look for friends who are different from me, so the learning can continue."

" I know the damage caused by the made up construct of race. I have witnessed socio economic blindness that allows middle class and impoverished whites to embrace solidarity with their whiteness"

" I could be a difference maker by really just being myself."

" Friends, have you ever had an experience that put your entire life in perspective?"

" that life has a purpose. That's true for all of us. Your life has a purpose. You'll never know how much time we have left but if you're here it's not by accident."

" My family's life was consumed by court hearing court hearings, her attendance at the new school, school counselors, professional therapists, wrong diagnosis and endless meetings with teachers."

" Statistically people with autism or people with mental illness are more likely to be a victim than a perpetrator. But our school system and our judicial system, they haven't caught up with this realization."

" I also realized that racism is a disease, it's a disease that festers, plagues the minds and bodies of an indvidual some ugly disease."

" As long as they can separate us they will always have control and none of us win."

"They argued for hours but remained friends afterwards."

"The doctor came into the office and asked me whether I had an insurance and I said no, because he suggested that I needed to get a colonoscopy." "They turned me away and just gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way."

"She said she loved me and she hoped we could still be friends" -- after finding out they were in the opposite side of the political spectrum/belief system."

"...to have an opportunity for folks to share and hear stories that you wouldn't normally get to hear because of all boundaries that exist between us socially."

"Everything is so tall and shiny. And oh my god, look, there are girls walking around in pants, just like they do in the movies."

"By the fifth grade, I was thriving academically, but still felt like I was thrashing. Just aimlessly, here and there, left and right, trying to move in the direction of the other kids."

2023/05/25 DMZ at Tripoli Community Center

"I got plans today. I got my bag. I'm going to the mall."

"As I'm laying there in the room, I keep hearing this scream. And there is a woman who is screaming bloody murder."

"Sometimes you have to change your plans. Sometimes things are going to happen differently than what you want them to happen."

2023/05/25 DMZ at Tripoli Community Center

"I suddenly heard a loud crash. It was the bar window breaking."

"He quickly turned around and ran, but the gun wouldn't fire."

2023/05/25 DMZ at Tripoli Community Center

"This disease crept up on me and ruined my life."

"She surprised me and made me cry. I'm grateful for her."

"Life can be surprising... we never know where it's going to take us next."

2023/05/25 DMZ at Tripoli Community Center

"There's something wrong with Maureen... neither of us can tell anyone until we take her to the family doctor."

"My sister Nancy became a fierce defender of our sister, even getting into fistfights with kids who made fun of Maureen."

"Maureen, age three, rolling around in the grass and laughing hysterically after drinking my dad's beer."

2023/05/25 DMZ at Tripoli Community Center

A conversation between Pamela Monk, the StoryburghLive! and DMZ RingLeader, and Will Halim, the Founding Director, about the origins of Storyburgh in late 2015 and one of its recently launched programming: The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in 2022.

DMZ aims to provide a safe space for people to share personal experiences and stories that may be uncomfortable or cringeworthy. Coaching is offered to storytellers for guidance and support.

The overall goal of Storyburgh is to build community and understanding through storytelling.