Hello Beautiful People,
As Christmas nears the corner, we are pleased to introduce you to our next interviewee in the Movers & Shakers Q&A Series. She is a person of grace. She is a person of beauty & light, both inside and out. She excudes…love. If there are angels on earth, well, we do believe that she is one of them.
And now without further ado, we’d like to introduce you all to the wonderful…
TWT: First things first, can you explain to our readers how The World Needs More Love Letters came to be?
HB: The World Needs More Love Letters was what I refer to as the “after effect” of a year spent leaving love letters strewn across New York City and mailing them to hundreds of strangers who requested the handwritten letters from me. Back in October 2010, when I left my first letter, I never could have anticipated that this organization would exist one day. I was simply looking for a way to escape from my own sense of sadness and find wholeness in the world.
After mailing over 400 letters, and receiving dozens of emails from individuals wanting to do exactly what I was doing or help with the letter writing, I realized that this idea was something I needed to spread out into the world. The World Needs More Love Letters was born after that realization.
TWT: What went through your heart and mind when you left that first love letter on the 4 train?
HB: You almost feel criminal the first few times, as if you are doing something wrong. Crazy, right? I was really cautious because I did not want anyone to see me drop the note. I wanted to be discreet but there was also this nervous anticipation brewing inside of me over the prospect of someone finding and reading the love letter. It was definitely enough of an adrenaline feeling to spur me to leave the love letters again & again.
TWT: What can the world expect next from Hannah Brencher?
HB: Ah, the world I am forced to ask myself on a daily basis. I definitely have a few other projects brewing up my sleeves specifically for the millennial young women population. But I have to believe that More Love Letters has my full attention for the next few years. A lot of people believe in it and I think she still just a baby so right now the world can expect me to pour more into this passion project and pour more into writing endeavors. Yes, there is much writing to be expected in the future so stay tuned!
TWT: What three pieces of advice would you give to young bloggers?
HB: Great question. There is just a boat load of wisdom I wish I could give to young bloggers. First off, really take the time uncover your style and your voice. Style and voice are two completely different things but I definitely think both are necessary when it comes to creating a blog that stands apart from the rest. Know what you want to say. Take time away to figure out who you are. Write about what you know. Don’t copy other people’s experiences and styles just because you can. Put in the time and energy it takes to be an original. Another piece of advice I would give is this: if you want to be a writer then be a writer, not a blogger. I actually don’t even like the title “blogger.” I don’t consider myself to be a blogger. I just realized that blogging was the easiest route to getting my writing out there. So I blogged & blogged & blogged until people started turning around and calling me a writer. If you come onto your blog to write, and I mean REALLY WRITE, then make that clear. And don’t steer off from it. The last chunk of advice, AKA the most important piece of the puzzle, keep the joy in the blogging. If the joy gets sucked out, reevaluate. It is easy to be dictated by blogger comments or visitors or subscribers but all those things will never matter so much as you feeling like your heart is in the posting, from start to finish. I am a very spiritual person. I gave up all the logistics to God a long time ago. I literally remember saying to him, “This consumes me way too much. Just breathe your words through me and take care of the numbers on your own.” The Big Man has not let me down. Never. Not even for a minute. People will make you think that blogging is about the numbers, but if the joy isn’t there then the whole thing goes stale.
TWT: What advice would you give to students in high school who wish to pursue a career in writing?
HB: Do it. Don’t let a single soul stop you. Don’t listen to the naysayers. If I had a dime for every time someone told me that writing is tough field, well I would be making a pretty healthy salary for doing no work at all. No one has the right to stomp on your dreams because they deem it to be unrealistic. I am young, 24, fresh out of college still with an English degree and my living is fully supported by writing. It is the most beautiful thing I could ever ask for but I would have never gotten it if I gave up on my dreams to be a writer.
TWT: Here at The Write Teacher(s), many of us work with “at-risk” youth. These students are recovering drug addicts, struggling drug addicts, teenage parents, and almost all of them come from broken homes. The struggles, demons, and anger that our students face is often a hindrance to their progress in school and life in general. Do you have any words of wisdom to offer these students?
HB: I wish I could sink deeper into their shoes. I guess my words of wisdom would be something along the lines of never stop speaking. Never stop sharing your stories. Never allow yourself to get to the point where you think you are unworthy of speaking loud in this world. No matter where we come from or what troubles we encounter, the real problem lies in us feeling like we cannot speak it out loud, like we cannot scream the demons away. Words are a powerful thing. The words we tell ourselves on a daily basis can be the biggest enabler or the biggest hindrance. Pick words that are powerful. Impactful. Strong. Start speaking and decide to never stop.
TWT: In today’s economy, arts programs in schools are being cut. What reasons would you give a politician for preserving the arts?
HB: Arts were honestly my everything. They were confirmation that my crazy mind fit into this world in the form of theatre and writing and drama and art class. Without the arts I would have felt like the biggest misfit. But it is so much more than that; art gave me the outlet to express myself. It trained me in expression. I would have left everything bottled up without the arts. If we don’t train our students in that regard, or even validate the importance of it, then we are taking ten steps backward before even one step forward.
TWT: Here at The Write Teacher(s), we believe that art drives life, and theatre transforms lives. Would you agree or disagree with those statements? Why?
HB: Truth. Truth. Truth. What I do on a daily basis is art absolutely. I may not use a brush or an easel but I am certainly an artist. It gets me up every morning . It gives me purpose and drive. Without art, I would not be who I am today.
TWT: Just for fun, what’s your favorite movie and book?
HB: Favorite book: Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Toni is an absolute genius. Her words are like truffles to me. Movie: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It is just a beautiful, raw and telling story. It makes you really rethink the value in human relationships and the impact we have on one another.
TWT: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
HB: You know, there have been so many throughout my life. I am lucky to have had so many teachers who impacted me in such a positive way. I don’t know that I came name just one. I honestly view a lot of people in my life as positive teachers. Without even the job description of a teacher, they guide me with their support and their experience. I am constantly gaining new teachers and I never get tired of learning from each–no matter the field or path they’ve taken to get to me.
Hannah, our words to express our utmost admiration cannot fully encompass our gratitude.
Thank you.
Live, Love, Learn,
The Write Teacher(s)