Sharing stories

Yesterday was incredible. It was just what I dreamed of for the launch of my new site and more. In the morning I wrote a list of things I wanted to get out of the day, and when I checked the list, I realized that every one of those wishes had been fulfilled. And some of them were pretty big wishes – like wanting to be invited to write or speak about my site somewhere soon (I’ll be on the radio in Minneapolis on Saturday morning!). It’s all so exciting and humbling.

The launch party was truly amazing. Not as many people showed up as I’d hoped (a number of people canceled at the last minute), but in the end I think it was probably just the right number for what ended up transpiring.

During part of the evening, we had a sharing circle in which I passed around a talking stick (which is actually the leadership stick I picked up in Kenya) and people were asked to share something about their emerging gifts, their struggles with sharing those gifts, or whatever was on their minds. Well, I was really blown away with what emerged. I didn’t know how it would go, because most of the women in the room were strangers to each other, but each woman approached the conversation with openness, honesty, and vulnerability and every one of them shared some piece of wisdom that I will carry with me and reflect on again and again.

This morning, I wrote some notes about the conversation because I want to remember it for a long, long time (and, as a result, I will be writing something about story-sharing for the new site). After writing down a bit of what each person shared, I sat back in my chair feeling rather tingly with excitement. I am SO honoured that these incredible women trusted the rest of us enough to share the gift of their personal story.

Then I opened my email and found my first submission for the “reflect” section of the new site (thanks Andrea!) and once again, I was blown away by the honesty and vulnerability that was shared.

I’m feeling so lucky that, in the hosting of my new site, I will be the recipient of many personal stories. What incredible gifts they are!