{"id":7502,"date":"2020-02-14T12:55:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T18:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=7502"},"modified":"2020-02-14T12:55:40","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T18:55:40","slug":"writing-your-story-is-lonely-here-is-the-cure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2020\/02\/writing-your-story-is-lonely-here-is-the-cure\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Your Story is Lonely. Here is the Cure."},"content":{"rendered":"
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On a January night where I live in Kodiak, Alaska, I was working on a book. It was 10:30 p.m. Tired, under a deadline, and riddled with doubt, I knew I needed to go to bed, but I wanted to finish the chapter. While working, I glanced at my Facebook feed and discovered that the northern lights were ablaze. I was missing too much life. I shut my computer, proclaimed a \u201cNorthern Lights Search Party,\u201d and yanked my sons out of bed. (They were both still awake, reading sneakily by flashlight.)
\nWe jumped into the car in various states of dishabille and drove to the top of a mountain, up a switchback road, passing\u2014count them!\u2014thirty cars on the narrow gravel passage coming down. The whole town was out!
\nAt the top of the mountain, beneath massive windmills, we scoured the black horizon for the shimmering waves of light\u2014but saw only blackness, and then, something else. As our eyes shifted to night mode, they appeared, faint at first, then growing in intensity until we all gasped\u2014a swimming sea of stars, like the night ocean alive with phosphorescence. We bathed in their glory together for a long moment while three windmills strong-armed the sky overhead.<\/p>\n

The Northern Lights Taught Me Something About My Writing<\/h2>\n

I was under a book deadline. I am so aware of my limitations, how others\u2019 words and stories are often so much better than mine. How can I compete? How can my words ever make it among so many brighter lights? But standing there, I realized something. There is no single star that knocks us down. It is the panoply of stars that take our breath. It is the uncountable collectivity of galaxies and star clusters that light the black sky and plow us down into worship and humility. It is their sheer density and magnitude that teach us our size and then make us glad to be small.<\/p>\n

Join a Constellation<\/h2>\n

Yes, I am small. Dear friends, aren\u2019t we all small? We are one among millions of talented, smart, creative others and their stories. Lucky us\u2014we get to hear and listen and learn from them all. Write your stories for all of us. Keep going. You\u2019re already a star. Now you get to join a constellation.
\nI have learned a lot from writing alone. But now that I\u2019ve led writing groups for decades, I know what I\u2019ve missed. When a community\u2014a constellation\u2014however small, is gathered around our stories, our words come to life in surprising new ways. I\u2019m reminded of it every time I lead a writing workshop, especially out on our island in Alaska.<\/p>\n

Introducing LifeStory Circles<\/h2>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\"
\nThat\u2019s why I\u2019d like to introduce you to LifeStory Circles and give you guidelines about forming them. I hope you can do this. I hope you can find others who will journey through the process of writing your story.
\nIf you\u2019re writing with friends or in a class, form a LifeStory Circle (or circles, depending on how many are in your class). Pull out the scenes you are writing or an encounter-with-God story. Choose the piece you\u2019d most like to share. Take turns reading and responding around the circle, following the Be R.E.A.L. guidelines<\/a>. Be sure to let everyone read who desires to.
\nYou may be writing together on an online book club, or with friends who live in other cities. Consider other ways of reading your work aloud to one another: through Facebook Live, Zoom, or Skype, for example. Reading your words aloud and hearing others\u2019 words, even through a screen, can still be powerful.
\nEven as I say this, I know that some of you are not able to write and share your stories in community. Many of you are writing alone. Bless you, and keep writing. If you can find an audience, even just one other, as you write, you will be glad for it. If you cannot\u2014and there have been long periods of my life when I could not\u2014just keep writing. So much good is coming from your pen, your keyboard. And your words will find an audience at just the right time.<\/p>\n

Read-Aloud Stories<\/h2>\n

For all the years I wrote completely alone, and for those of you here without a group or reader to share with. You\u2019re not alone! Here\u2019s something valuable that you can do: As you write your stories, try reading them aloud, giving them your full voice. You\u2019ll experience your words differently out loud than on the page. Consider recording it as well. You\u2019ll get a whole new sense of the value and meaning of your story when you hear it aloud. (And<\/em> you\u2019ll be creating a valuable audio record of your life, faith, and thoughts.)
\nWhat if you join a LifeStory Circle, and then the worst thing happens? What if everyone in your class or circle is better than you? Of course they are! Every time I\u2019m in a writing group I fall in love with everyone else\u2019s words and I feel my own wither in comparison. Don\u2019t you know others will fall in love with your words, too, and think their own are paltry and poor next to yours?<\/p>\n

No More Comparing Stories<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s stop doing this, comparing voices. Let\u2019s remember the real world we live in, which is a world abounding in gifts, voices, and experiences. Let\u2019s dump our culture\u2019s competitive mind-set where we rank and measure everything. It begins the moment we\u2019re born with our Apgar score, and soon, we\u2019re ranked and marked in kindergarten all through graduate school. Now we\u2019ve gadgeted up our lives so we can measure and rank our steps, and even the few hours of our lives when we try to sleep! Can we put all that away? It\u2019s not real. The real world runs not on scarcity, not on competition, but on abundance.<\/p>\n

What is a LifeStory Circle?<\/h2>\n

A LifeStory Circle is simply a group of people sharing their writing together. The circle can be as few as two and as many as eight, depending on the time, the need, and the story. The ideal size is often three to five people.<\/p>\n

Why a LifeStory Circle?<\/h2>\n

Sharing our stories<\/h3>\n