Moth stories have the power to bring you into a world that is often not your own and leave you wishing that you could live in that world

Just a little bit longer since 1997 the moth has shared more than 50,000 stories with audiences around the world through shows,

workshops and on the moth podcast and the moth radio hour once the curtains have closed the rooms emptied and the voice is

Quieted it's the stories still ringing in our ears that whisper over and over we are all of us more alike than we are different

Help us write the next 25 years of the moth story by making your year-end gift today

Text moth22 no spaces to 41444 to make your gift and help provide the space, tools and resources needed for more people to embrace the art and craft of

Personal storytelling in their own lives. Thank you

Welcome to the moth podcast. I'm Michelle Jalasky your host for this week

The holidays can be tough

Constant reminders that you're supposed to spend quality time with loved ones to find joy and togetherness to just be happy

But what if that's not where you're at?

What if holiday movies and Mariah Carey songs don't perfectly describe you this festive season?

The Grinch gets a bad rap but can we really blame him?

The holidays can be overwhelming and sometimes as we make our way through this chaotic world we can all feel a little

Grinchy our story this week is from Mary Gates go

Mary told this on a cold night just a few weeks from the holidays at a moth main stage in New York City

Where the theme of the night was leap of faith

Here's Mary live at the moth

In August of 2012 I was separated from my husband and I was in humongous debt like 66k of it

I just taken a job teaching at a college in Geneva, New York way upstate

It was a temporary job that came with the furnished house and so I decided to give up the firm of the rental home

I shared with my husband put all my stuff in a storage locker and saved some money

...