Lately I’ve been thinking about how much of my frustration in life has been caused by my inability to let go. Sometimes it’s obvious what I have to let go of, like a relationship or maple bars. Other times it’s pretty subtle. If I want to have a girlfriend then I have to give up a certain amount of control over my life. If I want a job that pays more money I have to give up the low stress life that my current job gives me.

Worse were the times I gave up something because I thought I had no choice. More than once I gave up self-respect to be with someone who treated me poorly because I thought no one else would want me. Ten years ago I gave up writing and performing because I thought I’d never find an audience who cared to listen to what I had to say.

In a world that teaches me to always want more I’m starting to think that clinging to certain beliefs, ideas or people is what holds me back. There are women I used to think I couldn’t live without that I’m pretty certain now that I actually can live without. I used to think I could stay healthy without exercising or eating right. I had to give up that belief a few years ago but when I did I discovered I actually like exercising and I’m proud of all the meals I can now prepare without looking at a cookbook.

The most important thing I’ve given up is my need to look like I have it all together. That may be have been the most damaging thing of all. I had to let go of the idea that just because I was halfway intelligent that I wouldn’t make some dumb decisions in life and have to deal with the consequences. The energy I spent trying to look like I wasn’t fumbling through life was enormous. I guess you could say that I finally had to give up trying to look like I knew what I was doing. Such freedom!

What have you had to give up that you never thought you could? A person? A way of life? A belief system? Maple bars? Seriously, if anyone knows how to give up maple bars I really need to know that.

But that’s the kind of story we’re looking for at our next show, May 25, at Roy Street Coffee and Tea. The theme is “Stories of living without something you didn’t think you could.”

Remember to keep it clean and under 8 minutes. Here are the rules and guidelines for telling a story at FGS:

https://freshgroundstories.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

Practice out loud in the car or in the living room on the cat. Let me know if you have any questions.

I hope to see you on the 25th.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Big thanks to all the folks who came out last Thursday and supported our storytellers. The room was packed and show was full of sweet, tough, sad and beautiful stories.

All our first-timers did great and I hope they come back. Jennie showed us what can happen when we refuse to believe in all the “nots” we’ve grown up with. John made us laugh when he realized the best thing he could hope for in his first ultra-marathon was to die gracefully. Sonny got a huge roar at the end of his story when we found out the man he helped was Gordon Lightfoot (I still wish we could have sung The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald afterward). And Sam had us all wishing we had majored in physics when he told us how he proved to his auto insurance company that, according to Copernicus, his car didn’t actually collide with a stationary object.

Renee, in her second time up, made me realize how little compassion I have for people I disagree with. Renee didn’t just take the high road when confronting a racist on the bus, she took the space shuttle. It’s great when I hear a story and realize that if it had happened to me I would have reacted completely differently and in the end would have made everything worse. Thank you Renee for reminding us that we can’t really call ourselves compassionate when we only have compassion for people we agree with.

Lauren, another regular, told the funniest tanning story I’ve ever heard and I will do my best to convince her to let me post the audio on our Facebook page. Thank you Lauren for making me suddenly happy with my mole-y, pasty, Northwest skinsuit. I always wondered what I’d look like with a tan and now I don’t need to find out.

Thanks to all the tellers who got up there and shared a part of their lives with us. I know how hard it is and I’m grateful to anyone who has the courage to do it. It always hurts when we get to the end of the night and we still have names in Mr. Coffee. I’m sorry to the five people we didn’t have time to get to. I hope next month’s theme is something you can rework your story for so you can throw your name in again.

Our next show is May 25 and the theme is “Letting Go – Stories of living without something you thought you couldn’t live without.” Or something like that. I’ll get the wording right and send out the invite as soon as I can.

The audio turned out fine so if you told a story at the show and want the audio send me an email and I’ll get you the MP3. I only give the audio to the people who told a story and it’s only of the story they told. A lot of what you hear at FGS is very personal and most people don’t want their stuff all over the internet.

Thanks again to everyone who walk up to the mic and the folks in the audience who always show so much love and patience. I hope you heard something that made you smile or feel a little more connected to the people around you.

See you on the 25th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com