Helena Dea Bala was a lobbyist in DC, unhappy and struggled paying her student debts with her meager salary. After talking to a homeless man that she sees everyday on her way to work, listening to him talk about his problem and seeing herself doing the same gave her the much needed connection and an idea to post an ad in Craigslist. It promised to listen without judgment, anonymously and for free.
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There are 40 stories divided into 5 categories and I love the way the author writes and narrates the stories. There were few pages per story, it was short but packed with so much emotions. Most are not easy to read and do not have happy endings and will make you stop, sigh, gasp, relief, teary eyed, smile, mad - those emotions all over the place. While reading it, you sometimes forget you are reading something that happened in real life with a real person. At least one or two or more stories will resonate with you or you know someone who experienced the same thing as the stories cut across all human struggles and issues you can think of - love, family acceptance, betrayal, abuse, racism, gender, identity, addiction, mental health, prostitution, loss.
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You will not see the author’s point of view or advise offered instead what she gave is space for each story to be heard and to unburden themselves without judgement as most of us just need somebody to listen to us. We all go through something in life, we don’t know each person’s struggle but knowing that we are not alone in all of this make us a tiny bit better and appreciate more that we have now.
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Would you confess to a stranger your deepest, darkest secrets knowing it will never get back to you?