Welcome aboard the Story Ark! Captain Kenny Mears sets a course for a deeply personal and powerful story about finding your place in the world. Many of us feel like we don't quite fit in, and today's storyteller, Rhonda "Honey" Duval, knows this feeling all too well. With a unique background of Navajo (Diné) and African American ancestry, Honey shares her journey of navigating identity and belonging.
In this episode, Honey recounts her teenage years, marked by a difficult experience with racism and exclusion while living in Utah. After being expelled from school, she returned to the Navajo reservation in Blue Gap, Arizona, a place that was geographically and culturally distant from her life in Utah.
Her story takes a turn during a school trip to Flagstaff. Faced with bullying and a deep sense of isolation from her peers, Honey maintains her composure. The tale culminates in a surprising and humorous moment of karmic justice involving a swimming pool, a very long toenail, and a crucial lesson about compassion and kindness.
Honey’s message is a powerful one: be a "good relative" to everyone, whether they're family or a stranger. She emphasizes that we can all connect through shared experiences, and that kindness is the most important lesson of all. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider and a reminder that creator works in mysterious ways to teach us all how to be better to one another.
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