Still recovering from the Ear Spider Incident. I had to clean up the bathroom this morning (the scene of the crime). Yesterday, I couldn’t bring myself to go in there and see the squished spider under the bath mat, and re-live those hysterical screaming moments. This morning I was greeted with a bathroom splattered in water, with towels on the floor, a bottle vegetable oil on the counter and an oily sink. I made quite a mess. Whew! That’s all gone. Hopefully, that will help erase the memory of the Ear Spider.
This morning was my StoryLab workshop and I am so enjoying leading us on this little journey to discover, craft and tell your stories. Although, our focus in on business stories, our conversations drift into more personal topics – and we find that we are moved by the stories we are telling. I am sure there is a story in their about the Ear Spider, but I am just not ready to tell it. Our conversation this morning was about how to find your stories. And of course, they are everywhere.
Several years ago a co-worked commented to me “Cindy, you have a story for everything.” — and “yes, I do, if you are not creating stories, you are not living” was my response. I stand by this today. Someday you will only have your memories, your stories. Your loved ones will have your stories, the stories of your life.
I am so enjoying this little journey I am taking into finding and crafting my stories, for my professional life, and for my personal life.
This morning I am wrapping several videos that April and I have recorded for our YouTube channel, “Real Stories, Real People” and I am happy to hear these travel stories from the people we interview. They are so much more than travel stories, they have real moments where we get a glimpse into their lives – what they love and what they are seeking out. It is such an interesting vantage point of their life. Some of our guests have taken life changes to spur them on a journey, others have started on a simple journey with friends, family or a school excursion and been profoundly changed because it. Today I am finishing up the interview with Godwin who traveled to Kosovo and Gillian who lives in Scotland and visits the Isle of Skye often. Lovely stories and unique and special people. Tomorrow we are interviewing two more guests! Doing this YouTube channel was a simple whim, something we did at the start of the world shut down in response to Covid-19, but it has turned into a living and breathing thing – something that holds things together. Sometimes it is holding my whole life together. When there was nothing to focus on, nothing to look forward to, I had these interviews to do. I had video production skills to acquire. Now, it gives my day and week structure. When I feel like I don’t know what I should be working on, or where to focus my energies, I am able to put hands on keyboard, head down and work. And hearing the stories from our guests and meeting these amazing people gives me joy. It fills my heart with optimism and helps me feel inspired to dream about travel.
I’m going to head over to my video edit window now and get started on that part of my day. Enjoy your Tuesday!
