Emergence, Week 2

Dear Storians--
It was wonderful to see you all yesterday--those not present were sorely missed. The primary accomplishment of the evening was the confirmation of meeting times that will function for the group! Right now it appears Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-12:50 will work--flexibility offered where needed for those of us, myself included, who have conflicting obligations on one of those days. Locations are being investigated now and a confirmation of place will be emailed this weekend. As I mentioned last night, since we will be reading and working with the idea of story in both word and image, Tuesdays will be structured as "word", time to discuss our readings and the more traditionally academic aspects of this work. Thursdays will be "image", a time for informal story sharing, art, ritual and whatever else we can dream up. In the words of Margaret Mead, "there must be music and dancing and good food as well," if we are to change the world.

Your assignments for this week are to read the Northup chapters (if you haven't done so already) and develop (or continue) your story showing practice. Use those practice minutes each day as a way to integrate some of the elements of ritual Northup explores in her chapters. In addition to the questions I posed in the initial post, you may choose one of the following statements or quotations to explore in your practice:

Can you think of a time where the sharing of a story offered you freedom?

Where do you find your fullest free expression?

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Do one thing every day that scares you. What could this look like?

Is there a place in your life where you hold fear? What would it take to confront that fear?

Respond to any of the following quotations:

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."
--Amelia Earhart

"I think there is a choice possible to us at any moment, as long as we live. But there is no sacrifice. There is a choice, and the rest falls away. Second choice does not exist. Beware of those who talk about sacrifice."
--Muriel Rukeyser

"You can't test courage cautiously."
--Annie Dillard

Until we meet again, be well---