Hi Everyone,
I hope you’re looking forward to our next show on the 21st, CTRL-ALT-DELETE – Stories of starting over, or as I’m thinking of it now, stories of rebooting your life.
https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/303678263
A couple weeks ago, as my son was staring at me with an ax in his hand, I decided it was time to reevaluate our relationship. I know it’s a little late by the time one of you is swinging an ax but it always takes a big event to get me to change anything.
The reason I was thinking about our relationship instead of diving out of the way was that he wasn’t swinging the ax at me. He was swinging it at a chunk of locust wood we were taking turns splitting. I’d just spent a full minute explaining to him the proper way to swing an ax, which is starting with your left hand at the end of the handle and your right hand just under the head of the ax. As you swing, your right hand slides down the handle to meet the left. He was swinging it with both hands starting and ending at the end of the handle. My way gives you more control. His way is more fun.
The way he looked at me took us both 20 years back in time when we were sitting at the kitchen table and I was drilling him over his times tables. Or showing him how to chop carrots. Or explaining how to make stir-fry. All of these moments ended up with both of us frustrated and angry. What I know now and wish I knew then was that I’m not always the best person to teach him things. Sometimes your dad is the last person you want teaching you anything.
As my son swung the ax that boinged off the wood and sent the log spinning across the yard, I decided I was going to try to only say things to him that brought us together. He doesn’t need me nagging him about how to split wood. The rest of the world is already doing a great job nagging at him about everything. I’m one of the few people on earth who doesn’t need him to be a certain way. Bosses, teachers, and even friends can go find someone else if they don’t like what he’s doing. I’m the one who can decide he’s going to support this kid no matter how long it takes to split that log.
So a few minutes ago I called and asked if he wanted to go to Seattle next weekend and take pictures. We both love street photography and Pike Place Market is a great place to do that. We did that earlier this summer and it was one of the best days of the year for me. We didn’t talk much. We just walked around snapping photos of things that made us smile. I’m a better dad when I look for things that make me smile. Probably a better person too.
I hope some of you bring a story about starting over or rebooting your life somehow. It can as big as moving across country to start a new job, or as small as learning to let your kid make a sandwich any way he wants.
Remember to practice your story out loud on as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.
All stories have to be under 8 minutes. Stories can be as short as you want but not over 8 minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.
The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:
We have a free monthly online workshop that’s a great place to get feedback on your story. The next one is Sunday, Nov 3 at 1 pm.
https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/
I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Send me an email and we can set up a phone call.
If you can’t wait until our show on Nov 21, there are some great opportunities coming up to get onstage (or on Zoom) and tell a story 🙂
Story Sphere
Friday, Nov 8, 6:30 pm at Masthi Bar & Grill
https://www.meetup.com/open-mic-for-stories/events/304175197
Bar Stories
Nov 11, 7 pm at the Ravenna Brewing Company
https://www.meetup.com/free-monthly-storytelling-meetup/events/303345886
Paul
Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com
Fresh Ground Stories 