About a year ago at this time, the wheels of change were already starting to churn for me. Then the election happened while I was at the first week of my residency at Virginia Tech. I came back, and it felt like we were in a whole new world.
I couldn’t ignore my call to step fully into being a storyteller and story coach. The time was now to enact my mission and help people tell their stories, especially in these times when we need to hear each other across lines of difference.
It’s been a wild ride. There were projects I lined up that were supposed to part of how I thought I knew I could do this sustainably that fell apart in the first month. There were other opportunities that came along I never could have dreamed of. I’ve struggled financially, and I’ve gotten paid better for one-hour speaking gigs than I would have ever asked for.
Now, a year later, it’s with the greatest pleasure that I get to tell you StoryMuse is evolving a bit for 2018. Thanks to a grant from the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, I will travel the state of Georgia with a photographer to collect written stories about people with developmental disabilities. These photojournalism pieces will be used for advocacy work at the state legislature. I’m so excited about this project and the opportunities it will bring. More on it soon.
Of course, I’ll still have time to conduct my other work of coaching, facilitating for boards, residencies, and workshops. I look forward to how the curriculum I’ve created co-evolves with this new opportunity.
One of the things that felt so auspicious about this time last year is that we were in the middle of three supermoons in a row. The moon ebbs and flows. She whispers her secrets about the future and the past to us. She makes us feel connected to those who are far away.
This time of my life feels just as auspicious in the way it is clarifying, cyclical, and full of possibility. I hope the moon that’s smiling on you has similar properties.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVO7nj49odY]
Congratulations! I’m so happy it came through!