Hi Everyone,

June’s theme is “Not What I Thought it Was – Stories of being under the illusion.”

I don’t know if I hold the record for most times being fooled in one lifetime but I’m pretty sure I’ve at least made it to the medal round. Work, love, kids, food, the more sure I am about what I’m getting the more likely it is that I’m getting something else.

Earlier this year I went in for my annual checkup and all my doctor talked about was how often I checked my moles. At first I thought he was talking about my lawn. But no, he was poking around on the top of my head like monkey looking for bugs. I thought all he was going to do was take my blood pressure, look up my nose, and send me on my way. Suddenly, we’re talking about hats? Now I need to take a physics class to figure out the proper angle to hold three mirrors so I can see the top of my head.

Even worse was is this meditation stuff I’ve been doing since the beginning of the year. Apparently, I have to keep doing it forever. I had this vague idea I could meditate for a couple months and then I’d be enlightened. After that I could move on to other pressing life issues like figuring out where that smell in the fridge is coming from. But according to the 99-cent app I purchased, there’s no end to this meditation stuff. If I want to keep getting the benefits I have to keep doing it. This was definitely not addressed in the iTunes description and I’m feeling a little taken advantage of.

Lately, I’ve been trying to write a story about my asthma. What I’m discovering is that my emotions play a bigger role in keeping me out of the ER than my inhaler does. I’ve been under the illusion that my ability to breathe is completely disconnected from my ability to stay calm. That isn’t listed in the fine print on my Albuterol but I think it ought to be. “Caution: Effectiveness of this product may be linked to your current emotional state.”

This revelation is actually a big deal for me. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks now. It’s changing how I think about my breathing and how much my health is affected by who and what I let into my life. You wouldn’t think you could get a story about being short of breath but I think I might be slowly working one up.

Luckily, this month’s theme is all about coming out from under the illusion of something. Think back to a time where you had a strong belief that you no longer have. What do you see differently now than you did in the past? Did you change your mind about a person? A job? A belief system? How did you get from there to here?

Bring a story about how your eyes were once closed but now they’re open and tell it at our next show on June 28 at Roy Street Coffee and Tea.

Remember, if you bring a story, keep it clean, practice out loud, and use a timer to make sure you keep it under 8 minutes. Here are the rules & guidelines to help you get started. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

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

See you on the 28th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com