How a curious and wacko kid became an oddly-perceptive adult — I was a snoopy little fat kid who listened in on my parents through the heater vents. We all did — my brother, sister and me. We lived in an old farmhouse with a large grate at the top of the stairs. Lying on the floor with our heads on…

The Camino de Santiago melted my fat and built my muscles — Your body fat melts like butter. Your feet widen and flatten. Your skin browns, whether or not you use sunscreen. Your body will respond to the demands, and serve you well. It can break down, however. Be cautious. In Pamplona, I met an extremely athletic twenty-something who twisted his ankle…

His spirit was with me and he said goodbye — When I boarded the plane in Bangkok, the flight attendant tried to take the porcelain urn away from me and I burst into tears. Of course, the beautiful cream-colored urn with gold inlay was in a long box, stamped with permissions and passports and Khmer script. The flight attendant knew. …

I minored in trash cans at University of Oregon, at least for a while — Betty Boop figurines sat around the tiny trailer. Every detail was neat and tidy, but clearly a man’s residence. One little coffee cup. A blue-checked dish towel. And then, the poster. Tim had a poster of a naked woman on the cupboard near his bed. The woman posed with her…

Traveling always gives this woman food for thought — An American woman from Arizona went missing in 2015, while walking the Camino de Santiago. I heard of it through a Camino Forum online. I had a trip planned for October 1st through November 11th. Where had she gone? I would walk 500 miles, from the border of France and…

Getting ready for Camino Porto — Getting bedbugs on my flight from Spain back to Oregon was an itchy experience back in 2017, but I got through it. I don’t want bedbugs again though. And I’ve figured out I can’t wear a flippy little hiking skirt either. My thighs swell and they have a heat-generating party…

Make your writing ‘pop’ with images, anecdotes, and plenty of reflection — Look around the Medium platform, and you’ll find all sorts of nonsense. There’s one entrepreneur who — for only $200— will set up a ‘fruit money’ profile and write ‘fruit content’ for you. Oh, cool! Fruit money content. Your investment will pay you big money. Oh, no — it won’t…

She lost everything, then she lost some of mine too — My apartment was a happy place when I was twenty-one. I’d just moved in with my girlfriend, and life was grand. Our little apartment was near the river, and trees surrounded our place. The handyman for the apartments was our biggest problem. A quiet married forty-something, he put ladders outside…

Some of the great stories of September 2023 — These lists will never be complete, but I want to show off some of our excellent stories at The Narrative Arc! These are some of our September offerings. I included some of the boost pitches further down so you can have a look at how that works. Enjoy! …