60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday: An East Coast Girl Yearns for Winter’s Promise

Hello to you listening in Bellingham, Washington!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.There is nothing quite so still as an old growth forest to settle the anxiety I feel in these times of madness. Walking deep in the woods of the island’s old growth forests a stillness beckons me to stop and listen deeply. The stillness asks if I can hear the immense power and depth of silence. I am reminded that all sounds arise from silence and fade back into silence.When we take the time to stop and experience silence we calm our mind, still the crazy chatter, breathe more deeply. Allow stillness. Stay with silence as long as you can. Tune in to your intuition, see clearly, hear your heartbeat, feel the blood coursing in your fingertips, and sense the steadiness of your breath coming and going easily. Remind yourself that we are alive and connected to all beings.Question: How does it feel to seek a bit of refuge in the stillness of the present moment? How does it feel to be alive, vibrant, and in tune with silence?   You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening all over the world as we get ready to greet the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Fire Horse last celebrated in 1966!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Imagine this: you’re a podcaster, storyteller, writer, or entrepreneur. You have honest-to-goodness talent, outshine all the rest of the competition on the field talent! But, what if talent isn’t enough? What do you need? Connection!We are connected to allies, friends, colleagues and supporters who believe in us, who want us to succeed, who will go the distance for us. Think of your cohort of connections as a mini-culture. When we belong to a culture that embodies our beliefs, dreams and values they know us, we know them. We can ask for a trusted hand up when the time comes. What do we do in the meantime?Practical Tip: “Each One Lift One is the way we roll here!” Before you ask for a hand up, give a hand up. Look around for those talented unheard voices you could help. Be a generous champion for them and their skills. In turn, someone will do the same for you. Guaranteed!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Layton, New Jersey and Hancock, New Hampshire!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday the 13th and your host, Diane Wyzga.I’m an East Coast Girl born and raised. Winter was always a time of mystery and majesty. All that snow! All that wild and welcome time to trek, ski, snowshoe, winter camp, and skate frozen ponds. I yearn for the winter activities being enjoyed by my family still Back East; but even more I want what is yet to be. I want Winter’s Promise.Winter’s Promise“I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future…the timelessness of the rocks and the hills... all the people who have existed there.I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape,the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it,the whole story doesn’t show.” –Andrew WyethStory Prompt: What is the promise your life holds for you now? What will you do to realize that promise? What are the stakes? Write that story and share it out loud!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Long Beach, California! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories from Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.  Might there be an antidote to what feels like escalating badness and madness in the world? Yes! The good in our lives. Some may say I’m a Dreamer, but I’m not the only one.Inviting the good - even if we do it grudgingly - has the power to lighten and brighten our life. Donald Altman created a particularly useful approach for creating a positive attitude toward life. Of course it’s called G.L.A.D. Click HERE to learn more:Practical Tip: At the end of your day record a wee bit of Gratitude granted, a Lesson learned, an Accomplishment accomplished, and a Delight that delivered wonder, curiosity, maybe even discovery. Take a chance, give it a go; the GLAD is guaranteed!   You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in South Bend, Indiana!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk With 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.  The line on the birthday card from my sister goes like this: “The sun is up and you are alive to see it. Start there.” [Lin-Manuel Miranda] It’s just what I need to light my way in the early morning dark to the coffee pot in the kitchen.  Following are 5 inspirations chosen for you. Dance with the one that calls today:  “Well, I've often felt that dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask.” [David Duchovny playing the character Fox Mulder The X-Files 1995)]“Roll out, snakes! It’s daylight in the swamp!” [The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich]“Always remember Bilbo, when your heart wants lifting, think of pleasant things...  Eggs and bacon. A good, full pipe. My garden at twilight.” [Gandalf & Bilbo Baggins]"When nothing's working, it might be a cosmic conspiracy to get you to experiment." [Caroline Casey]“What’s really important is not the big things others have created but the continuous, each-by-each little things you are bringing into being. Never underestimate your singular power as a creator.” [Diane Wyzga]And thank you for listening.You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Marion, Ohio!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.They say that when Marco Polo returned from his decades of travels through Asia along the Silk Roads, he had gems sewn in his cloak to prove the fantastical nature of his stories.Where might we find the fantastical, the unexpected gift in our stories? What did we bring home from our journey? What was the agent of change? How were we transformed? And does any of it matter to someone else? “It’s strange to think that there might be things we know that people who live one hundred years from now would like to know. We forget to say them.” [William Stafford]The story we bring back from our journeys is the gift of grace that was passed to us as we journeyed through our fears, doubts, and failures bringing us from There to Here.Story Prompt: What insight, glimpse of wisdom, shiver of compassion, or wee bit of knowledge have you received as you walk the story of your life? Write that story and share it out loud.You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Stellenbosch, South Africa!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.It’s a tradition to light the candles on a birthday cake and say, Make a wish! Blow out the candles!Where did this tradition begin? Maybe it’s true or maybe it isn’t, but as the story goes the ancient Greeks in the time of Zeus brought round-shaped cakes adorned with lit candles when they visited the temple of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The Romans called her Diana. As you can imagine, the lit candles made the round cakes glow like the moon. Others believed that the smoke from the candles carried the wishes and prayers heavenward where they would be granted - in time - although not always in the form they were expected.  Practical Tip: What Birthday Wishes of yours might have come true but not in the form they were expected? When it’s your birthday light the candles, make a wish and expect the unexpected will again come true for you. Birthday wishes are like that! Guaranteed!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello and Happy Birthday to you listening in Daniels, West Virginia!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.I’m often asked: What was the most difficult lesson on my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage? Letting go. Letting go of the way I was. Letting go of my old self. Giving myself over to the walking.You think it’s easy? Get up in the dark, pack in the dark, head out in the dark. Walk 15 or 20 miles a day, no matter how hot or cold or wet you feel. No matter how rocky or lonesome or tired. Nothing prepares you for walking Camino but to walk Camino.How do you do it? Here’s a tip: surrender. Give yourself over. You are here now. Make the most of it. When you want to stomp around and make furious gestures, make the most of that. Make the most of your joys as well as complaints. Give voice to them all.And then give yourself back to the only job you have: to walk. Every day my Camino lesson shows up like this: “Just walk it off, Diane!”Question: What single-minded purpose of yours guides you along your way? And how are you walking? You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source. 

Hello to you listening in Gaborone, Botswana!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Maybe like me you have spent time looking for something even if you don’t know what it is.  After feeling stuck in the cross-roads of my life where the true way was wholly lost to me, I set out on a new road. I left everything I knew: a home, a community of 20 years, a successful national litigation consulting practice and drove 1500 miles north washing up on the shores of Whidbey Island. Why Whidbey? Pretty place, nice people, good pie.Little by little over the past 7 years I’ve cobbled together a home, a community, my Quarter Moon Story Arts business, a global podcast (still holding in the top 3% worldwide), and being of use.I’m forging the life I want even if I don’t know all that it could be.  I’m curious to learn, “What happens next? And now what?”Story Prompt: What you’re looking for is looking for you. How are you preparing yourself to meet it? Write that  story and share it out loud!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Corning, New York!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.One of the first signs of recognition a new mother looks for in her infant is - a smile. Look! She’s smiling at me! Yes! Baby sees you. Baby recognizes you.From earliest days we are cued to the smiles of other human beings. Remember what we missed in the COVID time with masks masking our smiles? Sure, we crinkled our eyes to signal a smile but it wasn’t the same as receiving a smile from another human. Sometimes the tone of our voice was a good substitute. The “music of the spoken word” stood in for our smile. We did the best we could with what we had.  Like a smile, the "music of the spoken word" brings written text to life with inflection, pause, tone, emphasis, and  cadence. Reading text alone is quick, cheap, and easy but the human voice lends expression and emotional meaning.I create each 60 Seconds episode with you in mind to offer a measure of hope, delight and imagination, as well as thoughts to ponder, stories to share, a practical tip to lighten and brighten your day. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my podcast episodes. My voice is me smiling at you.  You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.