I still have room in my small groups – two of them – for folks who think they might be interested in getting some clarity with “more hearts in the room.” If your curiosity is piqued, feel free to reply to this email, send me a contact page note, or email magic@thewayoftheriver.com!
Dearest –
I have an 8 ½ by 11 piece of paper on the side of my desk that says some important things about why I do the work I do. Some reminders that I read when I’m scared to do what I’m doing. Some things that keep me going when I’m not sure that anything I do has any value or anything helpful for anyone else.
There are, of course, also the three post-its on my shelf:
Just because I’m anxious doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
Forgive yourself for everything every day.
Ten mistakes a day, and
Your heart is trustworthy. (That last, given to me by Rev. DeAnna Vandiver.)
But the page I’m talking about is a list of why I do my work, and how I can bring myself to the work, to the page, to the truth. And one of the most important things it says is this: Someone, somewhere, needs to hear your story. You may not know how, and you may not know why, but they need to hear it.
The fact of the matter is that most of the time, I don’t know why or how or who I am helping. Someone reads something and maybe they even pass it on to someone else. I learn this very rarely, but I know it’s out there happening. Some of you write to me and tell me what has helped, what you disagree with, or what has landed.
This is not only truly for me. It’s true for you too.
Everyone has a story. An important story. It’s just that some of us aren’t sure how to tell it.
I have tattoos, and they are part of my story. They are a narrative of where I have been, what I have thought and believed at different times in my life.
I have paintings that are similar to my tattoos. They are visual reminders of where and who I have been and what has been important to me. And then there’s that one that was so beautiful and so important that I painted over in a fit of pique. Ugh. Such regret.
I have sermons. And sermons, like other kinds of liturgical languages (workings, we call them in Stone Circle Wicca), require really thinking about what I perceive the community needs. But they, too, are signposts.
I have these Reflections and the blog on The Way of the River (https://thewayoftheriver.com/blog) which, like sermons, are often affected by the conversations I have with you—those of you I see in individual spiritual accompaniment and those I see in small groups.
Finally, there are the letters I send and the poems that emerge from them. Words that may end up being letters for the recipient and poems for me, or poems for both of us, or even poems for you, me, and the who-knows-who out in the world.
Oh, and I almost forgot. There’s my journal. The book into which I put the daily thoughts and ruminations. The things that may lead to other things or might not. The things that will be a record. “How did I ever think that?” I’ll wonder sometimes. Or “I’d forgotten about that thing.”
Or the magic times when journals remind you of something essential. Like the time one fell out of a bookshelf—it was a journal/planner I had in 2001—and I had written about how in love with Julie I was and how I didn’t think she felt the same about me. She went back into her journals of that same year, and they said the same thing. Funny, no?
So what is your story? Be daring. At least write to yourself. Be daring. Ask the Divine what you have to say. Be daring. Write something and show it to five other people. Be daring. Make a poem. Be daring. Paint something. Sculpt something. Be daring. Dance something in your living room. Be daring. Sign up for that improv class that your friend keeps going on about.
Tell your story however you can. I guarantee it will change you, and I guarantee it will help someone else.
As my dear friend Rev. E. Eldritch wrote in his song, “Blessed Crossroads,”
Blessed Crossroad (Revised 2018)
Where I’ve been is…Where I’ve been is…Where I’ve been is information for the places I will goBlessed Crossroads, Blessed Crossroads
Who I’ve met is…Who I’ve met is…Who I’ve met is inspiration for the people I will knowBlessed Crossroads, Blessed Crossroads
What I’ve learned is…What I’ve learned is…What I’ve learned is education for the knowledge I bestowBlessed Crossroads, Blessed Crossroads
How I feel is…How I feel is…How I feel is preparation for the power I will showBlessed Crossroads, Blessed Crossroads
May you find the daring that will let you show your power in the story so many need to hear.
Blessings of love—
~Catharine~