Okay I saw this post going so differently then my sister sent this:
We all need that reminder.
While reading on the front porch this morning from Your Blue Flame I read this:
I know a youth minister who wants to inspire teens to live spiritually healthy lives. She tries to help them avoid the gossip and the needless arguments that are rampant among kids at that age. It seems like an impossible challenge, yet when I encountered the kids she works with, I noticed that they had more mature relationships than many adults I know. “What’s your secret?” I asked. Her response was fascinating: “I engage them in good drama.” She went on to explain that all of us crave drama—adults and teens alike. We’re all wired for story, for adventure, and we naturally seek to add interest to our lives. One easy way to accomplish this is to embroil ourselves in gossip and scandal. When you’re out for drinks with coworkers, speculation about whose marriage is falling apart will hold your attention better than talking about the weather. If you put yourself in the middle of an acrimonious argument between two friends, at least you won’t be bored. Our desire to delve deep into the human experience is a good thing. But if we’re not intentional about how we do this, we can end up with lives that are filled with drama in the worst sense of the word. “When we don’t have good drama, we create bad drama,” my youth minister friend said. She challenges teens to come together to complete difficult service projects. She directs their conversations to lively strategy sessions about chasing their biggest dreams rather than petty talk about who’s mad at whom. She has them channel their energy into thinking about the unique mission that God has laid out for them rather than how they measure up to others. It works. Her meetings are filled with the kind of energy that makes kids look forward to showing up week after week. Even outside of youth group, these kids end up directing their energy toward filling their lives with positive drama—in other words, they’re trying to live great stories.
“Your Blue Flame: Drop the Guilt and Do What Makes You Come Alive” by Jennifer Fulwiler
In context Jen is talking about why we need good drama in our lives as it is part and parcel of living a really good story. The part before this tells how Jen thought, by some software she was using discovered that she had a huge fan base in Luxembourg. After looking at the data the publishing company was willing to send her. However a little digging revealed that she didn’t, it turns out that the software was missing something and the fan base was in CT. Can you imagine showing up in Luxembourg for a book signing and no one shows up? I’ve left some details out, go get the book it’s worth it.
So reading Jen’s chapter on drama, and how we’re made, hardwired to live a good story I’m reminded of loving to watch British Crime dramas. My Sweetie and I have dug into several over the last year that I’ve just loved the story telling. “I can’t believe this is over!” has been a consistent conversation then the hunt begins for the next show series to watch. The current is “Silent Witness” we’ve also watched “Ashes to Ashes,” “Line of Duty,” and a few others have really captured our attention. Our favorite was “New Tricks” as in you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. I think with all of these I like the problem solving element.
I’d love to give this whole “moral to the story” and say “go live a good life” and that’s sorta what I do when I teach, “go quilt, make mistakes, have fun, don’t worry what other people think” or “be the best you, you can be” but all of that sounds trite and echoey of all the same stuff. I think I’d rather say go make some mistakes in your quilting and do the problem solving, especially if that is asking for help because we are build for, made for community and community is well, interesting.
Happy Stitching,
teri
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