Tell me about an event in your life that you would deem tragic/traumatic, how you recovered from it, and something you took away from the experience?

This is the question I asked my friends for this project. The aim was to collect brief human interest stories in the style of Humans of New York about the most traumatic event in their lives and how this event shaped who they are today. 

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This collection of short stories is inspired by my own traumatic experience. When I was 17, I was in a car accident. By some miracle, I was physically fine, but the incident mentally shook me. In the time of my recovery I remember feeling isolated and doubtful that I would ever be able to heal, let alone come away from it as a stronger person. But here I am. Able to look back at my experiences and find that trauma is a part of life, and something that more often than not gives you more than it takes away. 

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Before settling on this project, I experimented with trying to convey a similar theme through a poetry anthology and a photo essay. Though these modes allowed me to share more about my own personal experience of trauma, what they were lacking was a contribution from other people. I knew I wanted my project to be more than just my experiences, but also those of the people around me. Rather than a singular compilation, I wanted to make a collective one that a wide range of readers could relate to. 

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The title of this project is Traumedy: where Trauma meets remedy. Trauma and tragedy are common denominators, unique to the individual but similar in their ability to impact lives. A lot of times, we are not eager to talk about these experiences and what they mean to us, even with the people we are closest to.

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For this project, I decided to interview 5 people within my life:​

• My childhood friends Erica, and Addi

• My closest friends at college: Rachel, Megan, and Izak.

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I chose to collect stories from people in my life because I wanted not only to give those who read these stories an understanding of the commonality of traumatic experiences, but also wanted to use this project as an opportunity to build my relationships with the people I love. I want these interviews to serve as a continuation of my healing, and in interviewing the people closest to me, I hope to start conversations we have never had before about a topic not frequently discussed.

Moreover, I chose to do this project in the Humans of New York style as I have always been a fan of this blog and it's ability to make you feel a real connection with the interviewee. In an article I read about the HONY project, the popularity of these types of stories is due to the fact that within a massive city like New York, individuals tend to feel isolated, and by sharing individual stories, a seemingly non-human crowd can be turned into something more approachable. This is the kind of effect I want this compilation to have: to emphasize the common experience of trauma and combat the isolation many people feel in their experiences. 

By using direct quotes, I want the subject's story to feel organic and real. As if the reader is having a conversation with them. Additionally, since these stories detail a tragic experience within the individuals own life, it just didn't feel right for me to tell their story in my own words. 

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My hope is that you as a reader can connect with the stories in some way, and relate them to your own experiences of trauma in a way that emphasizes positivity and helps you find a remedy in your own life.  

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