Invitation to Storytelling: Tuesday's Reflection

 

I had no idea the storytelling and spiritual direction conference I attended last week would inspire me to move my wolf friend Cap-Chi from the lower level of our home to my garret. Nor did I think I would move myWise Woman figure made by a dear friend from a bookshelf to the ledge in front of my desk. Wise Woman inspires me to speak from the heart, and wolves are a Native American symbol for teacher, and therefore, they both need a place at my table of discernment and inspiration. 

Both remind me I am not alone when I pray or meditate or when I write or prepare to be with spiritual directees. And both remind me of the power of story. 










One of the conference exercises was to reflect on our future best possible life, and part of that was to give ourselves a name for that time. Our names on the conference roster may have looked like Laura and Karen and Marge and Cindy and other names you would recognize, but in reality those in attendance were:
                        Visionary Woman
                         Soul Tender
                         Dream Weaver
                         Traveling Holy Woman
                         Radiant Life
and others, including two Sophias.

And me--Spacious Presence.

Perhaps, this seems silly to you, but Diane MIllis, Ph.d. was quite serious as she encouraged us to revisit our stories, the stories we tell ourselves and others. She invited us to view the ways our stories can be redemptive, instead of contaminative. 

                   What story is worth your life?
                                      Lisa Marshall

So here are a couple thoughts as you begin to think of your life as a series of stories, especially the stories you tell someone early on in a relationship. 

Retell a story in your life as if it were a fairy tale. Once upon a time there was a little girl who...  Use the third person--he/she--to tell your story. Using the third person is a way to go deeper because you become the observer of you, the object. 

Give your story a title. Give your protagonist, that's you, a symbolic name. I named myself "Sacred Seventy" in one of the stories I shared during the conference. Then ask yourself what you noticed in your story. Was there anything new, different, surprising in this telling or writing of the story? Is there anything you would like to explore further or anything you would like to advise or share with the main character (you!)? Can you write a new, more life-giving ending to this story? 

                     You are the story you tell yourself,
                     so tell yourself a good story.

We think we know our story, but Millis advises that our story evolves just as creation continues, and telling a story, especially if someone receives it, is an impetus for change, for redemption, for transformation. Any story, yours or someone else's, can be an opening to further discovery.

                           What's in a word?
                            A world.
                                       Michael White

One more thing: as you listen to someone's story, be mindful of how you hold it. Instead of giving advice or trying to solve the problem, offer your presence. 
                          I noticed....
                          I wondered...
                          I appreciated...

As a spiritual director, I attempt to hear my directees into their own story, their deepest story, the story that reveals the movement of the Divine in their lives. And in that process, I go deeper into my own stories. Wise Woman and Cap-Chi, the wolf, are witnesses to this ongoing process, and my hope of truly becoming Spacious Presence. 

An Invitation
What stories are you waiting to tell? I would love to know.