I had a big story to share with everyone about an escape I made in the summer of 2017 but I couldn’t get it finished in time for this invite. I’ve been working on it for months but when I got to the ending a few days ago I realized it wasn’t a story about escaping as much as it was about a story of facing something.

I’d still share it with you as a story of escape but now the ending is all messed up. I gotta figure out how to explain that by trying to escape an old memory, I ended up having to confront my shortcomings and accept that I did my best with what I had at the time. Sometimes in the middle of telling a story, I catch a glimpse of the person I used to be and cringe. That’s what happened with the story I was going to share with you this month. You know how I always start the show by saying, “Tell from your scars, not your wounds”? Well, it looks like this was memory wasn’t quite scarred over enough. Maybe by next month I’ll have the words to get that story down right. And that’ll make it easier for me to accept that it happened.

In the meantime, I’d love for some of you to bring to the next FGS a story of escaping something. Tell us about a time when you escaped from a person, a place, a belief, a way of life, or anything else that made you feel trapped. What were you running from? How did you get there? Did you sneak away or run for your life? Maybe you escaped from a stifling hometown. Maybe you escaped from a way of life that didn’t work or you anymore. I’m pretty sure we’ve all escaped from something at some time. Bring that story to the Olive Way Starbucks on August 15. We’d love to hear it.

Here are the rules and guidelines for telling a story: https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

Make sure the story is clean, practiced, and under 8 minutes. We’re getting more names in Mr. Coffee and some folks aren’t getting to share their story because we run out of time. Your story can be as short as you want but not over 8 minutes. Thanks for understanding.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com