If you created a map of your life, what would it look like? Would it be a topographical map with hills and valleys that describe the highs and lows? Would it be a birds’ eye view with road names like “Inspiration Lane” and “Winding Way?” Maybe there’d even be a few Dead End signs? Thinking…
Life Story Work
Welcome to Your New Name
A few weeks after maternity leave ended with my first-born child, I was still adjusting to the new routine of dropping my son off for daycare. One day, as I entered my daycare provider’s home, I set my son’s infant carrier down and handed off the diaper bag to his caregiver Gayle. From inside the…
Turning Points: Thresholds that Invite a New Direction
I remember the feel of my dorm room’s concrete block wall digging into my shoulder, the edge of the wall holding me up, but also uncomfortable. Like it knew I needed both support and a strong nudge too. “You want to do what now?” My mother’s voice from 200 miles away sounded tinny through the…
Open Doors: What’s Next in Your Story?
Are you on the cusp of something new? Every life is filled with thresholds—the point at which we sense that change is afoot. A doorway beckons: do you feel ready to turn the knob, open the door, and step across into the unknown? The Nature of Transitions When it comes to midlife transitions like retirement,…
Where Our Stories Meet
The reader finishes her personal essay on the theme of “family”, voice tinged with emotion. She looks up from her paper to see a group of us looking back at her, our eyes full of compassion and support. No judgement. Just a brief silence. Then someone offers: “I see me in that little girl you…