Summer Mystery

The Heat is On. Finally. On the West Coast we are in beautiful summer.
Today I washed blankets and duvet covers and put away the flannel sheets. Yes that's right!
June 29th, I washed and folded flannel sheets and put them away for the season.
So I now know it's official. The heat has arrived. This is summer.
We forget on the coast that the true heat comes later than many areas. Every year we forget.
And then again, the whole thing can change. In the blink of an eye.
I was sitting at a cafe table and a woman sitting beside me leaned over and quietly said:
"Isn't it amazing how it can all change in the blink of an eye." Then she got up and left.
I didn't know her story. I didn't know what might have precipitated the comment.
What had happened to her? What changed in the blink of an eye? A mystery.

The month of June is just about over.
When I talk about this with friends and family, the same questions keeps coming back:
"But where did it go?" "What happened to June?"
I ask myself these very same questions at the end of every June. June seems to slip away on a cloud.
Aunt Olive always smiled when she asked: "What is so rare as a day in June?"
When I was a child I thought that was the beginning of a story. I waited for the answer, for the explanation to what really happened to June. " What indeed," was all she would say.
Now what was I supposed to make of that? Another mystery!

I listened to the gentle and powerful wisdom of Rachel Naomi Remen last Thursday evening.
If you are familiar with her, great.
If not, please do yourself a huge favor and read, "Kitchen Table Wisdom."
Doctor Remen, a medical doctor, celebrates Not Knowing. She reminds us that in this world where Mastery and Knowing have become the ideal, we might re-awaken to Mystery, and to open to Possibility.

I thought about all this.
I realised how attracted I am to the safety of neat, organised stories. I like a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Oh the story can get messy and convoluted, that's ok.
But I want the beginning, middle and end clearly marked out. I want to see the path.
Well guess what? It isn't. Always clear I mean.

But this business of Mystery intrigues and appeals to me.
So at this tender time, at end of June, I am opening to the possibility.
I am opening to Mystery in these delicious days of summer.
What about you?

Happy New Year

It is the first day of 2013.
And I am full of yesterday, today and tomorrow thoughts on this first day of a very New Year.
But I had a chance to stop and think today, thanks to a young man in Ontario.
I watched a short clip on TV about Josh, a High School senior.
Josh is brave and he did a very brave thing.
He was being bullied and bothered at school and he decided to change things.
He decided he wanted to be seen in a new light. So he changed the way he was connecting with his peers.
He decided and he changed his actions. No blame. No pointing of fingers.
Josh did it gently and with kindness.
By holding a door open.
Yes, that's right. Every morning, Josh would hold a door open at school for his classmates, his peers, everyone. And he held it open. Not just for 10 or 20 seconds. I mean he stood there at the hall door and held it open for five, ten minutes. He greeted people, or nodded, or smiled, gently.
Soon, people were thanking him. Then they started to say hi to him at the door.
Then they started to greet him in the hall as they walked by.
They interviewed some of the other students about the "Doorman", as Josh was now nicknamed.
Some of the students said it made them smile, they felt welcomed when they walked through Josh's open door. Some of them said they found they were kinder to others now.

Risking with kindness. What a powerful, beautiful expression!
And it is a risk. To put yourself out there and meet and greet.
To open the door for others.
Thanks Josh.
Happy New Year. To all of you.

Beginnings

Welcome to my Blog!

Thanks for joining me on this brand new adventure!

I’ve been thinking about connections.

I’ve decided I want a deeper connection with others.

But I’ve also come to realise that it’s not about waiting for others to come to me.

That was my old pattern.

Now I need to share more of me.

As a storyteller and speaker, I’ve shared all kinds of stories with a variety of listeners,
in a variety of settings.

But share a piece of me?

Tell you my story?

I’d rather have a root canal.

I teach the importance of creating a safe space for story, 

for opening to sharing, and to listening.

I teach that only in sharing can we experience a true connection.

And I teach it because I need to learn it.

I’ve been very successful at avoiding sharing my own story.

Hiding it even.

So it’s time to walk my talk.

My friend Lynn sent me a copy of an article by Henning  Mankell called:

The Art of Listening. The author tells this story:

Two men were talking about a friend who had recently died.

One of the men said: “I was visiting him at his home and he was telling me

an amazing story about his childhood.  It was a long story and when night came,

we decided I should return the next day to hear the end of the story.

But, when I arrived the following day, he was dead.”

Both men were silent for a long while. Finally the other man spoke:

“ That’s not a good way to die – before you’ve told the end of your story.”

I love this powerful little story.  It triggered something in me.

I saw the story as a reminder, and an invitation to share.

To share parts of my own story that I have hidden or buried,

or even quietly dismissed.  They may be old childhood memories or

gentle reflections on my day, and anything and everything in-between.

So let me ask you: How much of your own story are you sharing with others?

This blog is an open invitation to share.

It’s an exploration with you dear reader/listener.

May we open and share our stories, our lives, with each other.

And in the sharing build true connection.

It is the best way I know to celebrate our beautiful humanity.

So here’s my invitation. 

Let’s start together.