With one lung collapsed and the other half full of fluid.
The nurses spanked me once awhile to keep me alive. On the 5th day our church held a special prayer time. I suppose I felt a presence telling me I should stay, because I took a BIG breath and began breathing. on my own.
Dear Gayla: thank you for sharing your origin story - it's very powerful and moving, especially that I went through something similar with my son! Sending you hugs! M
Four years ago two of my children erased me, taking three of my grandchildren with them. I was devastated. Family was everything to me. Today I am no longer devastated. My life is rich and full again. I have new children, local children, to shower with my love and new friends, neighbors and writing partners, becoming sisters and daughters to me.
Dear Sue: thank you for sharing in such open and authentic way! My heart goes out to you, and I love what you said: "Today I am no longer devastated. My life is rich and full again." so inspiring and so courages! I love that you are showering local children with love! It's so needed!
Magdalena, you really got me to pause and think this time. I have two lines: my husband left me with a baby the day after my father died, and I was fired four days before my fiftieth birthday. They are both very much in the present tense. After reading your post, Iām determined to change that.
Dear Betina: thank you so much for sharing your origin story! and I'm so glad to hear that you are are determine to change it! Cheers to us and re-writing our origin stories!
I was scrubbing toilets on a small cruise ship when I saw, far below, the little sailboat with the crew in bikinis and I thought, "That is what I want to do. "
"I grew up on hamburger helper and iceberg lettuce wedges. No-one in my house cooked...or exercised. I'm the only one in my family to go to college or to graduate college, and at one point in my life I lost over 60 pounds ( after two pregnancies) and beat a meth addiction". before the pregnancies, in my 20s....that last part is only the first time I've written this down, but it's true. God saved me when I asked Him to, and I'm having a hard time letting myself be seen now but I believe writing is my path.
Dear Christina: it takes so much courage to write this down and share with with others! Thank you for modeling your bravery, your trust and your courage!
This was such an interesting read Magdalena. The part about remembering yourself frozen in the bread aisle, but not remembering what you eventually chose or how you got through that moment, really stayed with me. We can build an identity around the hardest part of a story and almost forget that we were also the person who kept going after it.
I think the sentence I often lead with is: I left a life that looked right on paper because I wanted one that felt more like mine.
Dear Sara: thank you for your kind and supportive words! I love what you said about : "We can build an identity around the hardest part of a story and almost forget that we were also the person who kept going after it." that is so true! You are spot on!
I was hoping you were going to discover the end of the bread story by the time you finished writing. But I get it, thatās not the point ā and would perhaps obscure the point!
The āemergency fundā realization is profound.
Once again, youāre illuminating something Iām at the edge of knowing. I love that you always help me see not only whatās in plain sight that Iām missing, but also that thereās something missing from the scene that I need to take notice of.
Dear Gina: thank you so much for your kind and supportive words! I'm so glad and so happy to hear that I'm able to illuminate something for you that's in a hidden spot...Cheering you on, in your own discovery! PS. the end of the bread story...coming next week :-)
In the meantime, while I was touching grass, sunrise gazing, and contemplating your post, your prompt became a voice-recorded whole essay. Because writing is how we figure out what we think, right?
OMG! I'm soo excited! I just love your process! 1) touch grass, sunrise gazing, 2) contemplating, 3) voice-recorded whole essay - super cool! and yes, yes, yes, - writing is how we figure out what we think!!!
I've thought about this. I started again when I gave up my child for adoption and had to start over. I started over when I left my boyfriend, who was never going to marry me. I started over when I left my husband of twenty-two years. And I started over when I found my first love and decided that I was important enough to pursue my dreams. We all begin again and again and hope we can just get it right this time. Thank you for this thought-provoking article. Jennifer
Dear Jennifer: Thank you so much for sharing your origin story! This is so incredibly rich! I love where you say: "decided that I was important enough to pursue my dreams." and "We all begin again and again" - the beauty of this is that when we being over the next time - we can start with a very diffrent mindset such as "I'm important" Very inspiring!
Magdalena - Such a powerful observation and I want to say ubiquitious story....but then I wonder maybe there are some who are taught how to think about when fear gets in the way of moving forward in our lives ... past the point of what we've known previously. Maybe I'm more comfortable with what I know then to push myself beyond what I know towards what I want and yet have not yet experienced in life.
For me that has been what if I can't get that book contract.....measure up to what it takes to get one. For me that has been a mixture of fear, trepidation mixed with desire, wishing, and excitement. Maybe some get the experience without the fear and trepidation. I'm not sure. I only know I have both.
Thank you for sharing your story. I do look forward to reading how it continues to unfold.
Dear Bronce: thank you so much for sharing your very thoughtful observations! You do bring a great point: that "maybe there are some who are taught how to think about when fear gets in the way of moving forward in our lives" - I do hope that's true for some! I aspire to train my brain to get there! Cheering you on with your book adventure! And more unfolding coming up...:-)
I love that the answer here isnāt āstop telling the fifty-dollar story.ā Itās āstop letting it be the only story.ā Thereās something really uncomfortable about realizing that an origin story can be both completely true and still become limiting if you keep using it as evidence of who you are.
Dear Pranjali: you bring such a powerful point: "Thereās something really uncomfortable about realizing that an origin story can be both completely true and still become limiting if you keep using it as evidence of who you are." that is so true! You are spot on!
With one lung collapsed and the other half full of fluid.
The nurses spanked me once awhile to keep me alive. On the 5th day our church held a special prayer time. I suppose I felt a presence telling me I should stay, because I took a BIG breath and began breathing. on my own.
Dear Gayla: thank you for sharing your origin story - it's very powerful and moving, especially that I went through something similar with my son! Sending you hugs! M
Four years ago two of my children erased me, taking three of my grandchildren with them. I was devastated. Family was everything to me. Today I am no longer devastated. My life is rich and full again. I have new children, local children, to shower with my love and new friends, neighbors and writing partners, becoming sisters and daughters to me.
Dear Sue: thank you for sharing in such open and authentic way! My heart goes out to you, and I love what you said: "Today I am no longer devastated. My life is rich and full again." so inspiring and so courages! I love that you are showering local children with love! It's so needed!
Magdalena, you really got me to pause and think this time. I have two lines: my husband left me with a baby the day after my father died, and I was fired four days before my fiftieth birthday. They are both very much in the present tense. After reading your post, Iām determined to change that.
Dear Betina: thank you so much for sharing your origin story! and I'm so glad to hear that you are are determine to change it! Cheers to us and re-writing our origin stories!
I was scrubbing toilets on a small cruise ship when I saw, far below, the little sailboat with the crew in bikinis and I thought, "That is what I want to do. "
Dear Beth: thank you for sharing your origin story! Very powerful!
"I grew up on hamburger helper and iceberg lettuce wedges. No-one in my house cooked...or exercised. I'm the only one in my family to go to college or to graduate college, and at one point in my life I lost over 60 pounds ( after two pregnancies) and beat a meth addiction". before the pregnancies, in my 20s....that last part is only the first time I've written this down, but it's true. God saved me when I asked Him to, and I'm having a hard time letting myself be seen now but I believe writing is my path.
Dear Christina: it takes so much courage to write this down and share with with others! Thank you for modeling your bravery, your trust and your courage!
This was such an interesting read Magdalena. The part about remembering yourself frozen in the bread aisle, but not remembering what you eventually chose or how you got through that moment, really stayed with me. We can build an identity around the hardest part of a story and almost forget that we were also the person who kept going after it.
I think the sentence I often lead with is: I left a life that looked right on paper because I wanted one that felt more like mine.
Dear Sara: thank you for your kind and supportive words! I love what you said about : "We can build an identity around the hardest part of a story and almost forget that we were also the person who kept going after it." that is so true! You are spot on!
I was hoping you were going to discover the end of the bread story by the time you finished writing. But I get it, thatās not the point ā and would perhaps obscure the point!
The āemergency fundā realization is profound.
Once again, youāre illuminating something Iām at the edge of knowing. I love that you always help me see not only whatās in plain sight that Iām missing, but also that thereās something missing from the scene that I need to take notice of.
Appreciate your work so much!!!
Dear Gina: thank you so much for your kind and supportive words! I'm so glad and so happy to hear that I'm able to illuminate something for you that's in a hidden spot...Cheering you on, in your own discovery! PS. the end of the bread story...coming next week :-)
Yay!!!! Looking forward to it!
In the meantime, while I was touching grass, sunrise gazing, and contemplating your post, your prompt became a voice-recorded whole essay. Because writing is how we figure out what we think, right?
OMG! I'm soo excited! I just love your process! 1) touch grass, sunrise gazing, 2) contemplating, 3) voice-recorded whole essay - super cool! and yes, yes, yes, - writing is how we figure out what we think!!!
I've thought about this. I started again when I gave up my child for adoption and had to start over. I started over when I left my boyfriend, who was never going to marry me. I started over when I left my husband of twenty-two years. And I started over when I found my first love and decided that I was important enough to pursue my dreams. We all begin again and again and hope we can just get it right this time. Thank you for this thought-provoking article. Jennifer
Dear Jennifer: Thank you so much for sharing your origin story! This is so incredibly rich! I love where you say: "decided that I was important enough to pursue my dreams." and "We all begin again and again" - the beauty of this is that when we being over the next time - we can start with a very diffrent mindset such as "I'm important" Very inspiring!
Magdalena - Such a powerful observation and I want to say ubiquitious story....but then I wonder maybe there are some who are taught how to think about when fear gets in the way of moving forward in our lives ... past the point of what we've known previously. Maybe I'm more comfortable with what I know then to push myself beyond what I know towards what I want and yet have not yet experienced in life.
For me that has been what if I can't get that book contract.....measure up to what it takes to get one. For me that has been a mixture of fear, trepidation mixed with desire, wishing, and excitement. Maybe some get the experience without the fear and trepidation. I'm not sure. I only know I have both.
Thank you for sharing your story. I do look forward to reading how it continues to unfold.
Dear Bronce: thank you so much for sharing your very thoughtful observations! You do bring a great point: that "maybe there are some who are taught how to think about when fear gets in the way of moving forward in our lives" - I do hope that's true for some! I aspire to train my brain to get there! Cheering you on with your book adventure! And more unfolding coming up...:-)
I love that the answer here isnāt āstop telling the fifty-dollar story.ā Itās āstop letting it be the only story.ā Thereās something really uncomfortable about realizing that an origin story can be both completely true and still become limiting if you keep using it as evidence of who you are.
Dear Pranjali: you bring such a powerful point: "Thereās something really uncomfortable about realizing that an origin story can be both completely true and still become limiting if you keep using it as evidence of who you are." that is so true! You are spot on!
Moved me unexpectedly to tears. Thank you for posting. ā¤ļø
Dear Beth: thank you your kind words, and letting me know that you've been moved. Appreciate you!