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!
