Happy New Year, Story Collectors! It is good to share our stories. If you’re looking for inspiration, share about beginning. It can be your intentions for 2022, your One Little Word (OLW), something new, or something you are trying again.
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—There is a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
invite others to join us
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
I write this letter during one of my favorite weeks of the year: the week between. It’s the last week of the calendar year, and it holds reflection and possibility. I’ve been thinking hard about SOS Magic, and decided a decision needed to be made.
Often in life when I don’t know what choice to make, I write. I began this letter unsure of how it might unfold. The truth is I feel like a failure when it comes to this space.
Recently I was reading a familiar passage of scripture in a different version from what I normally read. This sentence wrapped around me:
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
Matthew 11:28-30, The Message
I’ve been challenging myself to extend the unforced rhythms of grace to my own soul. I read the original invitation of SOS Magic to Story Collectors and was struck by these words:
This isn’t a challenge or a competition. This isn’t something we track. This isn’t something to join, which means it isn’t something to fail.
If any Story Collector told me they feel like they should quit writing because they’ve been stumbling along the journey, I would be aghast. I would tell them the perfect place to begin again is with SOS Magic. It’s the purpose behind this space: a place to share our stories and connect to other story collectors so that magic pulses around the globe. It’s a project that means a lot to me.
Perhaps I can extend the same unforced rhythms of grace to myself?
In the same spirit as the original invitation, I am throwing an SOS out into the world.
This is an invitation.
An invitation for those who discover the magic of stories because you write.
An invitation for those who know the magic of stories because you used to write.
An invitation for those who want to know the magic of stories because you imagine being a story collector and sometimes you imagine being a writer.
An invitation for those who wish they could know the magic of stories, but feel like there’s never a story to tell. This is especially an invitation for you.
It is not a secret that I’ve struggled to stack words on my blog or maintain weekly invitations to SOS Magic. Beating myself up for falling short is not going to make the posts magically appear. Giving up on writing or giving up on inviting others to write is not going to make my life better.
Thinking there is no more grace available for Story Collectors to extend to me is just plain silly. 2021 has been a year where I’ve been forced to established a new normal. In some ways I did it well, while in other ways it left a bit to be desired.
We begin again. On January 6, 2022, Invitation No. 70 will be extended. You can expect an invitation each week. I look forward to the surge of magic that will greet us by beginning again (only better this time).
I know I am what I am. But I am not sure what I am.
[MASON COOLEY]
I like the “I am” prompt for a little list in a notebook. Let’s try it this week. It’s a good way to give the out-of-shape writing muscles a stretch.
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—There is a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
offer an invitation to others
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
If something is important enough, you should try. Even if the probable outcome is failure.
[Elon Musk]
Here we go, trying again, after trying again, after trying again. Let’s write about trying again.
It’s been a long time since some of us have written. That’s okay.
Some of us don’t know what story to write. That’s okay.
Some of us don’t feel like writing. That’s okay.
Some of us feel like maybe we don’t have anything left of value to write. That’s okay.
Or maybe, it’s just one of us who feels this way (me). That’s okay.
I’m going to try again to collect moments and share them. I hope you will, too.
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
Soup is good for my soul. I like that it simmers. I like that it gets better with time. I like that it doesn’t take a recipe. And I like the vegetables. Mostly, though, I like soup on an autumn evening when the world is whispering slow down…slow down.
This week the invitation is to write about soup…or about slowing down.
Of course, if there’s something else tugging at you—write that instead!
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
My friend sent this to me. She included a note about how I’ve likely read it before, but it reminded her of me. This is one of my favorite gifts to receive! When someone reads something, sees something, experiences something, tastes something and they pass it along because they are reminded of me—I feel loved.
Surprisingly, I have not read this Mary Oliver poem. Not surprisingly, it resonated with me.
Today you can share your story of a time you passed something along or received something that was just the right thing at just the right time. Or you can respond to the poem, because I’m sure I’m not the only one whom it resonates with.
Of course, if there’s something else tugging at you—write that instead!
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
Seasons are changing and often we can see the shift in the trees. Even in places where trees tend to stay the same, there are subtle changes.
Of course, if there’s something else tugging at you—write that instead!
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
It is simple. Open the post box. Write. Share. If you want some inspiration, here is a quote that rings in my mind in the hard seasons. I only know it because Christy Rush-Levine shared it with me many moons ago.
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
Please accept my apologies for missing a couple of invitations. I’m grateful for your grace. Sometimes it’s time to regroup. I hope you’ll share your story and encourage someone else to share their story, too.
*Remember, you don’t have to accept this invitation…but I do hope you will accept the invitation to write. Sharing our stories is magical.
PS—I started a Facebook Group for the #sosmagic community. Join here.
write
Open your blog and write a post. Just write.
share
Reply to this post, jot a note and paste your URL.
comment
Comment on other blogs. Soak up the magic that will find you.
grab an image for your blog
Use one of these images so we can find each other…and you can invite others to share their stories with us!
Offer an invitation to others.
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
SOS 