We Become The Stories We Tell Ourselves

"We become the stories we tell ourselves." Nick Nissley

It is disappointing to notice the tenacity of an old story. I am living the sentences from the 2002 version of my story. Traveling too much with little time for creative endeavors. Each morning is the start of a marathon of activity.

My friend and colleague Narandja shared an exercise called Rut versus River stories (the metaphor is from Dawna Markova's book,Wide Open: On Living with Purpose and Passion).

Rut stories are the stories we tell ourselves again and again about how stuck we are, or why we are so stuck. These stories tranquilize the teller. They allow the storyteller to keep his/her view of the world, unchanged. Most often rut stories are sustained by the teller not seeing their part in creating the condition.

My busy-ness is a rut story.

River stories -- carry us towards purpose and possibilities -- are the stories that flow. These are stories that empower us to think of ourselves as of capable of change and choice.

This is the process I am doing to help me shift back into the River Story:

1. Center myself
2. Write the Rut Story (or draw it, or act it, or create a myth...)
3. Honor the Rut Story, notice how is has served me.
4. Conduct a ritual to destroy the Rut Story (burn it, bury it...)
5. Center and cleanse my energy (bodywork, bath, walk in the woods...)
6. Create the river story -- using qualities not specifics (write, draw, enact it)
7. Put the river story in a special place and allow the new story to flow in

I started to write "if it works" and realized that part of the creating the River Story is trusting. So when it works you will see more blogs and creative endeavors from my spacious days....