Awareness – Page 12

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”~Philip Pullman

Who doesn’t love a good story? We all have stories. Good stories, bad stories, sad stories, joyful stories and unfinished stories that are still unfolding.

We all have stories BUT are you so attached to your story that you cling to it with reckless abandon? Do you cling so tightly and identify so strongly with your story that you cease to move past it to recognize who you are outside of that story? When we are attached to our story, we have decided that’s who we are but here’s the thing, if that’s what we decide then that’s where we’ll stay.

Attachment can be based on many things but many times you’ll find an underlying pain picture. How many times have we internally told ourselves this story? How many times have we told the story to others and how many times do we embellish and change the story?

I recently took a story telling class to open up a new, vulnerable space and find more of my voice. There are many levels to story telling and I’m not going to go into all of them but I do want to talk about what happens when we are attached to our stories.

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.”~Gilda Radner

As I develop a story for the stage it fascinates me how I sometimes find myself attached to a word or a part of the story that feels important but really isn’t. What I get stuck on generally is a random detail that 1. I’ve placed more importance on the detail than the full story 2. generally makes the story longer than it needs to be 3. is something I’m afraid to say or think I shouldn’t say.

There’s also the part where, for whatever reason, I associate the images in my head with telling the truth in great detail in efforts to be understood. Regardless of the reason, the moment I become attached to a word or random detail I’m no longer telling the full story. I notice my energy is stuck in the tiniest of details trying to “fix” or “figure out” what to say and how to continue the story.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who drones on and on and you’re not quite sure where they are going with the story? For sure I’m guilty of telling a story in such detail it drones on and on! I think we’ve all done this at one time or another and there’s actually a good reason. We, they, us ALL want to be understood!

What I have discovered in this early stage of story crafting (I have so much to learn!) is that I’m experiencing all those places where my energy is stuck in the past! Digging deep to tell our story on stage or even to a friend means we run the risk of being invalidated or judged.

If we are, as U2 eloquently puts it, stuck in a moment and can’t get out of it, a part of our energy is in the past securely attached to that story. If we are attached to a story we run the risk of identifying with and becoming that story instead of being who we are. We are stuck in the past.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR STORY.

Your story is important because it is yours. It’s something you went through. It was an experience, a memory and a part of your past but it is NOT who you are. If you are attached to “I grew up on the other side of the tracks” or “my parents never listened to me” or “He (or she) hurt me” you are attached and you will never be able to move forward until you pull your energy out of those pictures.

There is so much more to you than meets the eye. Embrace your story for what it is. A story. A great (or not so great) memory. It only has power over you if you give it power and it is not who you are.

The fact is that most of us love to tell and hear stories so tell your stories! There is brilliance and magic just waiting to burst forth. Just keep in mind, you are not your story. Always remember that if and when you find yourself attached to a story, it’s time to call your energy back from that story and leave it in the past.~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com
Daily Muse Home Page

Debra is a gifted Clairvoyant Reader, Energy Healer, Author, and Intuitive Business Consultant providing insight and guidance to clients around the world. In addition to her clairvoyant readings, business consulting and healing work Debra also offers one to one personal empowerment sessions and leads meditation workshops to help people heal and awaken to their own truth and spiritual gifts.

white-squirrel “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”~Mary Oliver

Open your heart, mind and soul to the offerings of others. Everyone has a special gift to share. Everyone has a unique outlook on life. The moment we decide our way is the only way is the moment we stop growing.

The moment we decide we know better is the moment we stop learning. How can we possibly learn and grow if we close ourselves off to a different perspective?

Our best teachers are the ones who recognize they are still, and always will be, learning. They learn from their students and know that although they may be the teacher they are learning from their students at the same time. Those teachers become the student and the teacher in the same class.

The moment we begin pushing our agenda as the right one instead of offering our opinion as a different perspective is the moment communication stops. Would you rather be “right” or would you rather be in clear communication? Would you rather the world bow at your feet like an isolated King or Queen or would you rather be a co-creator adding your gifts to the collective whole?

The moment we have to be “right” is the moment of separation. When our way becomes the only way it is the ego speaking. There are many paths that lead us to oneness. There are many methods that work together in harmony when we are not closed off to what they have to teach us.

There are people we can learn from who were brought up in different settings than our own. They have different religions than ours. They may have skin of a different color or speak a different language or have a completely different perspective than ours.

Our differences, our diversity, does not divide us when we open our ears and listen without judgement. We are not divided when we open our heart, mind and soul to what each person has to offer. What initially may seem like a “box full of darkness” may indeed be our greatest gift.

There is wisdom in recognizing the gifts that are discovered when we embrace in the offerings of others. It is also important to acknowledge our own gifts. Each one of us is a teacher. Each one of us is a student. Each one of us has a different perspective and we are all co-creators with gifts to share.~Shine Your Light Debbie

SpiritLightInsight.com
Daily Muse Home Page