By: Mia Anderson
Christin Taylor is a writer, essayist, mother and dreamer. She is the daughter of Indiana Wesleyan University’s current President, Dr. David Wright, but her ties to IWU run even deeper. She graduated from
IWU in 2002 with bachelor’s degrees in communications, film and writing.
Taylor soon found herself fulfilling her own dream by moving to L.A. She said, “I really believed I was called to be a missionary to Hollywood in the film industry.” However, after seven years of working in the film industry she experienced several identity and calling crises–her own personal shipwrecks. Her time in L.A. inspired her to write Shipwrecked in L.A., a narrative nonfiction book about her struggle to find her meaning and passion in life as well as her call from God.
Ultimately, Taylor left L.A. with her husband, Dwayne, to move to Washington state. Reflecting on her time in L.A. she realized that while the time was difficult that, “It really was a season for us of discovering ourselves and what God wanted us to do.”
As she began to meditate on her experiences, Taylor soon began realizing that many of her friends and peers around her were all dealing with these “shipwrecks” in their lives, too–it was not just Taylor!
In order to help her readers learn how to best cope with their own shipwrecks and crises, Taylor wrote a follow-up book to Shipwrecked in L.A., called Crew: Finding Community When Your Dreams Crash. This creative nonfiction is narrative in nature and follows Taylor on her own personal journey to being “good company” and finding “good company”.
She speaks on the power of hospitality and being vocal about one’s struggles in order to ultimately be a more whole person. Taylor described her book as a helpful guide to form a crew of people to help you through your shipwrecks. She said, “Often people want to help, they just don’t know how to walk with us through that. So, there’s a real sense of empowerment that you can pick the people in your life that you trust and think can help you.”
Christin Taylor’s book is helpful for young people, leaders who work with young people and really anyone looking to be “good company” for others. Her writing style focuses on intimate stories from her own life, causing Taylor to mention, “People pick up my book and say, ‘I feel like I know so much about you!’”.
Ultimately, Taylor wrote this book to show that shipwrecks happen all the time to everyone. She said, “Hopefully my book makes people realize they are not alone. We can all grow and learn through it [shipwrecks].”
Written by Mia Anderson, Blog and Social Media Manager, and Writer for the Alumni Office. Mia is a Senior at IWU studying Strategic Communication with her concentration in Public Relations. She will be getting married and moving to Indianapolis after she graduates in December 2016! Mia loves hearing others’ stories and sharing them with the world. Visit her personal website at www.MiaLAnderson.weebly.com.
Stop by the Alumni Booth, located at the entrance of the Assembly Hall (Booth #602-04) on Monday, June 6 from 9-11am to meet Christin Taylor and receive a free e-copy of Crew.
Connect with Christin:
Twitter: @shipwreckedinla
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christintaylorwrites/?ref=bookmarks
Personal website: www.christintaylor.com