Lately I seem to have a myriad of stories raucously running amuck in my mind.
Life is about storytelling, isn’t it?
Where do these familiar and unfamiliar stories come from, who is telling them, and why on earth do they insist on repeatedly running through my mind?
My stories come from a quiet voice that shapes itself in my mind before I speak them aloud, most of the time anyway.
They are the echo of every word spoken over me, every memory handed down like folded pieces of paper tucked into my heart.
These stories of mine are just a glimmer of every narrative I’ve chosen to buy into, whether they lift me up into a world of possibility or bind me in tangled doubt.
Sometimes I think I am just watching myself move through the world as if I were drifting in and out of a shifting mirror. I am as I seem, I think, a reflection I have polished and placed before family, friends, others, and the world, hoping they see the light I want them to see.
I look around as I emerge from the mercurial surface of this shifting mirror to see the stories I tell myself, built into the frame of this mirror, its edged carved out by old beliefs and childhood echoes. It is molded by the lessons whispered by those who love(d) me and those who tried but didn’t know how.
When I stand before this mystical mirror, do I see the world as I want it to be, or as I need It to be?
Do I see it as sacred, shimmering with beauty and alive with wonder, or do I let the fractures and shadows surrounding it, tell me who I am?
I contemplate in wonder; is the world I see a reflection of me?
The question stirs in the stillness within like a soft wind rippling across calm waters.
If I carry chaos inside, if I let fear or resentment stain the lens of my seeing, then what colors do I cast back into the world’s waiting hands?
What stories do I whisper into its ear without even knowing?
I walk down our country street and watch the sun lay down over rooftops; liquid gold melting into the cracks of red tiles and gray stone.
I hear children laugh, their voices like bells scattering pigeons into sudden flight.
I see an old man sitting on his front porch, fold his newspaper and look up as if listening to something no one else can hear. Is he listening to his stories?
I think this is the world I want to see. This is the story I want to “tell” with my life.
It is a story of light catching on broken surfaces and small joys unfurling like the petals of a wildflower pushing its way up through a crack in the sidewalk even when the ground is rock hard beneath.
To live as a storyteller is to choose which story takes root in the soil of my soul. It is to choose whether the mirror I hold up will be clouded by the shadows I’ve absorbed or polished by the love I have received and am willing to offer.
My job is to remember that I am both the narrator and the tale unfolding, every breath I take shapes the way the world sees me, and the way I see the world in return.
So, I’ll ask again… Is the world I see a reflection of me?
Or can I, with each day, write a new chapter that shows beauty where others see only chaos? Will my story breathe hope into places where despair has taken hold?
Life is about storytelling, after all.
What story will you choose to live today?
Please enjoy my Free “Meditation for Centering” MP3
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Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickildobbsauthor