I believe that every human life is worth the same, from king to pauper, and that each of those lives matters equally in the greater scheme of things. We live in a time when the stories that reach us most often are those of people at the top of society, whether they are praised as heroes or condemned as villains, while the lives of ordinary people are quietly left out.

In the larger story of humanity, every person has something to contribute, regardless of where they live, their place in the social order, their health, or any other distinction we use to separate ourselves. Each of us lives a life that is both deeply personal and part of a greater whole. We love, we fear, we fail, we betray and are betrayed, we form bonds, we make sacrifices, and we endure. We are all the protagonists of our own lives, and each of those lives is a world unto itself.

These stories are meant to shed light on those ordinary lives, to suggest that there is meaning, substance, and value in them, and that there are lessons to be found not only in the lives of the famous few, but in the lives of the rest of us as well.