Category: Fairy Grandmothers

And grateful to author Anne Lamott, who taught me to claim this notion with pride, even when times are rough and quitting seems tempting.

I’m guessing you may have noticed that there’s a whole lot going on these days that feels like that. I know I’m noticing… body, mind, and spirit! And, I know a good place to find help!

In her fabulous Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott reads from the gospel of Toni Morrison:

“The function of freedom is to free someone else, and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Get it all down…”

This is my “fractured fairy tale” made new:

Once upon a time, kind of a medium number of years ago, I found myself “wracked and in bondage” not to a person so much—though that had to be dealt with—but to beliefs I had and stories about how life was supposed to be and how powerless I was to change that.

Then, one day, I found myself four months pregnant and filing for divorce. The details really don’t matter anymore. Go ahead and fill the story in with whatever makes sense to you. I simply could not put a child in the place where I was.

There was no fairy godmother in sight!

Slowly, I found my way to freedom, ironically led by that little child. I learned along the way that the stories we tell, the realities we create with our very words, make all the difference. I learned that our stories can be edited! Re-formed into tales of freedom rather than bondage.

To risk freeing someone else is to tell those new stories. With clients only daring to hope that change might actually be possible for them. With folks praying that the 7:00 news isn’t the only story there is.  And with grandchildren who have the amazing chance to learn better, stronger stories the first time through!

To fashion new stories – stories that are empowering and more true – is to free ourselves over and over again and to risk freeing someone else.

Often Kleenex is involved!

Let’s start right where we are… As ever, you do you!

Body… More fruits and veg. Organic. Non-GMO. Fresh. In my case, no green peas allowed! Brussel sprouts and okra for lunch!

Mind… WRITING! Lots and lots of it. And editing. And paying close attention to the chill bumps that mean I’m getting really close!

Spirit… Giving thanks for all those things I just listed. Celebrating the glimpses of saintly women – many of them family – kindly appearing in my heart and my book. And a huge ah-hah from the painting at the top which has decided to share some more hope!

ps… Yes. You may have heard this story before – from Annie or from me. It’s one of those I depend on, even in the midst of the crazy.

pps… if you’d like to be part of the cosmic team, Gloria, our official cat-angel who’s named in honor of Gloria Steinem, and I would be way past grateful for prayers and positive intentions! This is, in fact, the phase that feels dismayingly like walking naked on the road of mattering!

It began, as so many days do these days, with dreaming my book-in-progress. And, it’s more than a bit possible that a whole lot of election results last night contributed to making my dreams more intense!

As is usually the case there was, in my opinion, good news and bad news. Or, as someone once said, “We don’t know if it’s good news or bad news. It’s all just news.” (It’s possible that I learned that watching The West Wing!)

I’m going to assume that you’ve done whatever you need to do with news in your world and not slog around in that more, in this moment, except to say that there are huge connections, for me, between the news and the need for this book!

The cuppa cacao beside my chair helps. I’m not an expert yet, especially on the ritual part, but it tastes delicious, feels comforting and, if it’s also good for my body, that’s a triple win!

One of the very cool things about writing – rather like preaching! – is that before I can explain things to someone else, I need to dig deep and figure out what those same things mean in me. And, since I’m writing for tweens and teens, I need to do all that in Fiercely Compassionate Grammy Voice!

I’m about 5000 words in at the moment, and it’s growing, as the old song goes, deep and wide!

I’ve added a new piece of Red Thread to my wrist, especially for this book adventure. I chose sparkly yarn because it reminds me of Glinda, my partner in magical wisdom.

Here’s the part which feels most crazy to me…

MS NOW is telling me, as I write, that the USA is starting a legal battle with Cuba that has to do with honoring the loss of Americans. With not forgetting innocents who lost their lives. Ironically, they’re doing this in Miami “because it’s close to Cuba.” It’s also quite close to Epstein Island, which somehow didn’t come up!!!

When are those same talking head politicians going to be concerned about the victims of those horrific crimes???

Frankly, dear heart, this is more ludicrous irony than I can manage right now. It’s prayer dot time. And, after my pulse slows down, back to the book. Back to my call and my promise to Just Tell The Story!

ps… the photo at the top insisted on being with us, today, for many reasons…

pps… if you’re still reading, I’m so delighted to share this! There are, literally, actual owls dancing in the air above my garden and, wow, did I feel the need for that! In addition to the legendary connection to wisdom, here’s a bit more of what I found when I pressed a few buttons… Their presence encourages us to look beyond the surface and trust our inner voices. Owls represent the end of an old phase and the beginning of a new one, guiding us through personal growth and spiritual evolution. In many traditions they are considered keepers of sacred knowledge and messengers from the spiritual world.

SO BE WE!!!

You know how, every now and then, there’s a surprise in your email? A surprise you didn’t even know you were longing for?? And, better yet, a surprise that’s way more about recognizing than it is about searching???

Well, I got such an email yesterday, from a dear Intentional Creativity® sister named Jena. She’s the wise woman behind the adventure known as storywalking. I love traveling with her, even when I fall behind and wander astray… like now!

Her question for this moment was What is changing in my story now?

My first internal response was succinct. EVERYTHING!!! And, it kind of feels like that’s true. And then I realized that it might just be the fact that I’m being more conscious about noticing and wondering. You see, the book I’m working on is all about new ways of hearing old rules and stories.

And, yes… the photo at the top is the table next to my magic hatching chair!

This whole adventure is feeling very scrap-quilty. A bit of this. A couple bits of that. You hear me. I’m just fascinated by the way new things materialize out of old things people label as too small or no longer cool.

Then, I fixed myself a cuppa and curled up with that question for a while.

Many things do feel like they’re changing and, frankly, a lot of them don’t feel welcome or helpful. Body things. News things. Deeply uncertain things.

Then, I went exploring a little deeper. Literally.

On Friday I printed some ancestry stuff, searching for a more orderly version of stories I’ve been collecting for a while. I now have 12 sheets of paper which document a straight line of connection – one generation at a time – from my 71st and 70th grandfathers to me, here and now. If you’re curious, that’s about 2 thousand and 50 years from Grampy Hezekiah to me. Really!

Then came Hezekiah, Jr. And the sad news that, while we know those two grandfathers’ names, their wives are listed as name unknown. (I haven’t given up on finding those names!)

I’m not sure anybody along the way would have guessed we’d make it from a couple of Jewish guys, all those years ago, whose next 5 generations of sons were kings of France (!) – to me – an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church, USA, sharing this story, now. Let’s just say there’s a whole lot that’s changed… and a fair amount more that needs to! Urgently!!!

For now, though, back to our original question. What is changing in my story now?

For me, the answer is simple. It’s not so much about the stories from times gone by – though I love many of them. It’s also about the stories I’m quilting together… and how I’m praying they’ll help witness what’s possible in this world, now, and into the futures our Littles will inherit.

ps… are YOU ready to change your story, now? Could you use some company on the road? Let’s talk! You, me, journals & cuppas. Red Thread if it’s handy. 45 min. My gift. Your dreams. We’ll claim your next right thing… and plot Good Trouble we could cause together! Just click here and the Calendar Elves will hook us up!