Beautiful!

Yesterday's combination of stories was really lovely. Thanks to all. I was delighted to see how Val and Priscilla incorporated the sonnets. As you encounter prose and poetry, let them into your "body of tex.t" Sometimes the cutting of a poem, a line from a song, or a section of literature can help you finish out the story. Storytelling in that sense can be a form of collage, piecing together the events and the texts to create the whole picture. Priscilla's moving portrayal of her childhood trouble with mother and her adult appreciation of her mother was a beautiful example of pieces of memory put together to form a full story. You can do that too, Mi Ryoung!

It was interesting to see how the discourse evolved from Lorri's begining story. The ghost tale of the lost child and the father put a number of lines in motion: parent & child; death; fear for our children; fathers; mothers; love.... Lethan's whimsy was a nice counterpoint to Lorri's somber and whistful mood, yet he too was speaking of love, loss, and letting go. Ilene developed the theme of love and deserving, working with lines of sacrifice Lethan had begun. Beth amplified the question of service and sacrifice. Priscilla brought those all together as well as the more somber themes of death and loss that Lorri had introduced. But she brought us to a place of common ground with the recognition of the mother's gifts that brought her here. Val likewise picked up the loss of a parent as well as the crossing of many thgresholds ("firsts"0 weaving in the pieces of text to complete her story. Finally Kenny brought us all back to the present moment of parting, picking up the thread of air travel from Val and giving us a glimpse of the "human comedy" in which we are players, elevating the mood to one of celebration.

I am reminded of Rumi's parable of The Blind Men and The Elephant. A group of blind men encounter a beast called "elephant." Using their hands, they each attempt to understand what an elephant is. The elephant, being so large, presents different aspects to each man. They fall to arguing over whether an elephant is a snake (the trunk), a fan (the ears), a tree (the leg), a boulder (the body), or a rope (the tail). Alas, had they been storytellers, they would have known to sit and listen and combine their diverse experiences to gain a greater understanding.

As we participate in the ongoing combinatoria of stories, we help bring the great, ineffable elephant of human experience into view.

Parting is sweet sorrow.

Thank you all. Travel well and stay in touch!