After “blowing up his life”, leaving his marriage and his career, Tad Monroe decided to try a recommended three-week solitary retreat. He tried everything imaginable to deal with the loneliness – even climbing and then chopping down trees – before he discovered the truth about being alone.
PHOTOS: Scott Haydon
Justin Wadland wrote his first book while working full-time, finishing his MFA, and becoming a father for the first time. He followed a brutal schedule to get it written, and then a full-body case of psoriasis showed him the price of joining the author’s club.
Also! Check out Justin’s Book:
PHOTOS: Scott Haydon
Nora Leider found the love of her life, and a passion for volunteer service, at Tacoma’s Guadalupe House. What she didn’t find was a way to tell her straight-laced, mainstream parents that she chose the urban missionary lifestyle of a Catholic Worker.
PHOTOS: Scott Haydon
The basketball court was the place to fit in when Michael Haeflinger was in high school. Based on his playing skills, though, he had to start his own club to get there.
PHOTOS: Scott Haydon
Rebelling against puberty and spending too long with Ken Burns’ documentaries, Christy Fisher thought she would finally find her tribe at an eight-week summer camp. It wasn’t until she got learned the camp’s religious beliefs that she decided becoming a lady was better than be-bopping across the Universe.
PHOTOS: Scott Haydon
The Tad-O-Meter Audience Applause Scale was at maximum elbow tilt for Story Slam winner, Ayme Art-Bergamot
After our main-stage “Members Only” storytellers, five audience members took the stage with their own five-minute tales of fitting in, falling out and finding their tribe.
The winner, Ayme Art-Bergamot, brought the house down with a story of leaving a quarter-century marriage and embracing herself. She won a $50 gift voucher to The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.
All of the Slam members faced the terrifying initiation of stepping in front of roomful of strangers and sharing their lives, right off the top of their heads. We welcome them to the “Member Only” Story Club.
ALL PHOTOS BELOW: Scott Haydon
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While Groucho Marx didn’t care to belong to any club that would have him as a member, it’s human nature to want to be a part of the crowd. At our next show on Saturday, March 28, 2015, we have a lineup of storytellers recounting hilarious, tragic, and life-changing experiences of fitting in, falling out and finding your tribe. Get…