Story Time!
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The people I talk to during a typical week—
Friends, clients, colleagues, family—
Seem to have one general attitude
In common these days:
It’s enough already.
Winter?
It’s enough.
Politics?
Oye.
It’s enough already.
Pandemic?
Enough, please.
Wily temperatures,
Wily politicians,
Confusing guidelines,
Who knows what is real?
We need solace.
We need relaxation.
We need a break.
The aim of this week’s blog is
To give us a break.
Officially and truly,
Let’s take a break.
Right here.
Right now.
~~~
I was taken with this opening line in an NPR article called, How Stories Connect and Persuade Us—Unleashing the Brain Power of Narrative, from the Health Department of NPR. Written April 7, 2020, it opens with:
“When you listen to a story, whatever your age,
you’re transported mentally to another time and place —
and who couldn’t use that right now?”
Who couldn’t use that, right about now? And that was written almost three years ago!
Check out the link. It’s a fascinating although somewhat simplistic take on storytelling from a neurological/biologic perspective.
Come to think of it—
I believe
I am
Part-storyteller.
I am
Big-part-teacher.
Wait.
Huge part-teacher,
Of course.
And
Certainly
Part-
Stand-up comedian.
I love to tell stories
From my life,
My crazy and wonderous life,
Every single step
Of Which
Has
Delivered
Me
Right here,
Right now,
With you.
I hadn’t considered myself
a storyteller
until this moment.
The truth is, as a memoirist
Oh!
The gift of telling
My stories
Has been
All mine.
I have had twinges
Of embarrassment
Throughout the years,
Having written
Three memoirs.
The writing was…
So…
Delicious…
So…
Seductive.
Today?
Today
I’m thinking about
Offering comfort
I’m thinking about
Offering solace,
I offer this story to you.
Today.
~~
Background—
A thousand years ago I was married to a man. That was my only choice, so it seemed, and I took it. After struggling to make it look right, after several years I was able to cut through enough denial to end it. He had left the apartment. I was looking for ways to unlock the mystery of who I was. Truly—I had no real clue, but I knew I didn’t fit in the traditional box life had seemed to assign me. I did not know that being a gay woman was a thing, a possibility, a direction. I had literally zero clues.
This is a story about clues.
This is a story about seeking.
This is a story is about synchronicity.
This is a story about grace.
This is a story about a moment in time that changed the trajectory of my life.
It was written in 2008 about an event that happened in 1975, and it lives in my first book, Recovering My Voice.
This story is called Leon and the Holy Grail.
~~~
To continue our quest for comfort, here is a gem, a masterpiece both lyrically and musically I do believe. (But/and, I am old.)
Here are two icons that have shown brightly throughout my life, from then to now, magnificently and magically.
Here are Joan Baez and Judy Collins, from Joan’s 75 Birthday Celebration, August 2016.
Here is Diamonds and Rust.
~~~
Folks,
What can you do to take a break?
What can you give yourself
Today, just for today,
That offers comfort?
For me,
I choose dog-cuddling,
Good folk music,
Warm tea,
A soft blankie.
For me,
I choose not battling
The weather.
For me,
I choose
Not battling
Anything
Today.
For me,
For us,
I choose ease.
Please be safe,
Please be well,
Please
Let’s
Imagine
The
Highest
Will
Unfold
For
All.
All blessings,
Aruni
OH, please consider coming and joining me for the Inner Quest Intensive, February 18—Coming soon!
Click Here