It’s been quite a while since I have blogged. I am going to try and pick up the habit again. So I thought I’d start by doing some blogging from the re:create conference Iam attending in Franklin, fittingly the place where I was first introduced to blogging, tweeting, and all just about all other things internet by Randy Elrod. Trust me, you know him even if you think you don’t. Anyway, on to the blog.
What a great day at the re:create conference 2011. I just got back to the hotel after hearing Ed Kowalczyk (formerly of the band “Live”). Unfortunately, I had to cut out after a few songs because, alas, I am old and pathetic. But what I heard was really incredible. The band backing him had some incredible musicians, and the place was rocking! We also had an incredible liturguical communion service and a really cool worship time with “1211,” a worship band from Gateway church in Austin, TX. It was like an Austin City Limits show once we’ve all passed on to glory.
But the major impact of the day was our morning speaker, Patsy Clairmont. She started with what will probably be the go-to phrase for the week, “shakin’ the trees,” speaking of the power of our personal stories, owning that story, and using that story to impact people. Here are sopme excerpts of wisdom from her talk:
– In sharing your story, you offer to others the answers for the questions in theirs
– There’s something about redemption that qualifies you to share your story
– Owning your story helps you become more consistent between who you are and who people see
– William Faulkner quote – “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
– Listening to someone else’s story we ask ourselves, “Does that fit into my life? Can I do that?”
We then did an exercise in which we selected an item from a miscellaneous group of things poured onto our table, and we let that take us to a memory in our life, a part of our story. We then had just a few moments to process what that might mean. I chose an eraser. I don’t have time to get into what that led to from my story, but suffice it to say the eraser said much more about me than I could have imagined when I selected it. Maybe it’s really time (now that I’m too old to stay awake for rock concerts anymore) to process and really own my story.
Thanks, Patsy. You “shook my trees” today. Now it’s time for me to “rake the leaves.”
The Left-Brained Artist 
If owning your story means revealing parts of your life that made you who you are then I am waiting…. with great anticipation… to read what you are going to be willing to share. You never know who might need what you have to say.
well … it’s a process, so don’t hold your breath