An open letter to Donald Miller...
I love writing letters.
The internet is full of ‘open letters’, I’m not sure where it started or what they are exactly meant to achieve. But, I love writing letters. I always have and I always will. There is something special about receiving something in the post. Someone has taken the time to write, by hand, some words they pulled together - especially for you. They took the time to choose a beautiful card, buy a stamp, find a postbox and send this envelope full of kindness to you.
Side note - I love writing letters so much I actually once sent a letter to the Queen, no this isn’t a joke. I also cross-stitched a small postbox and framed it as a gift (symbolism maybe?) and yes, I did receive a reply.
So, if you receive a letter from me, whoever you are, know that you are loved, and you had an impact on my life. The biggest compliment you can ever give someone is to write to them and let them know how they changed your life. So, Donald, I’ll get started.
Dear Donald,
Oh hey, It's me, Laura, we haven’t met yet but I wanted to write you a letter to let you know how you changed my life.
I first heard of you in (roughly) 2012, my Dad had read this book called “A million miles in thousand years” and talked about how it had changed his life and his perceptions. Little did I know this book and it’s premise would have such a profound affect on my life. It made me live a better story.
My Dad travelled around the world to meet me, my brother and my my mom in Australia for less than 48 hours. My dad does’t just say things, he acts. Upon reading your book, he booked a flight and join us. Why? to tell a great story of course. To create memorable scenes, that one day, I’ll be able to tell my children about. My dads kindness was only made louder by your book.
Your book helped me get a job in South Africa. I had an interview with an international charity to work on a project in south africa. For the interview we had to do a presentation, I decided to risk it all and instead do a book review. I reviewed “a million miles in thousand years” of course. I learnt that the greatest stories do go to those that don’t give into fear. I got the job and spent three months in South Africa, learning so much and growing more than I thought possible.
This book made it into my wedding and made me realise I’d found the ‘one’. At the end of my husbands wedding speech he said, and I’ll never ever ever forget it, “I can’t wait to live a better story with you”. It reconfirmed to me that everything was going to be ok, we both knew the sort of life we wanted to build. any fears I might have had dissolved, The commitment we had just made would be forever, because to live a better story takes work and it takes heart and in front of all our family and friends, not only had we made our vows, but he promised me a life of better stories. Our marriage is now built on the this challenge and this incredible opportunity. The tear I’d tried to hold back through his speech filled my eyes and trickled down my face, I couldn’t stop them. It was the most incredible end to a beautiful speech and the start of our adventure.
Why am I telling you all of this? Really, I just want to say thank you. Thanks for sharing your story and challenging me to live a better one. Having started writing a little bit, I understand how utterly brave and terrifying it is. Putting your work out there. So I wanted to say thank you, just incase no one ever did.
If you’re ever in England, let me know, maybe we could have a cream tea or something, my treat.
Best wishes,
Laura
If you haven’t read the book, get yourself a copy. The book is filled with so many beautiful quotes, stories and analogies, reading it makes you take a long cold look at your life and question what you are? Who you are? Where you are in your life and what stories you are telling. If you look at the copy of my book you will see torn pages, underlining, highlighting, pictures stapled to pages with memories and a promise to myself to reread it every year. If you fancy joining me on my quest to live a better story, sign up to my newsletter!
