60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday: Shall We Shop or Call On the Old Stories?
Hello to you listening in Brittany, France!
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.
As a storyteller for some 30 years now I can say this: when life is upside down and backward we call on the old stories. The old stories of who we are and where we came from ground us in the truth of the origins we might forget when distracted by shiny things, especially at this time of year.
Shopping [by Faith Shearin]
"My husband and I stood together in the new mall
which was clean and white and full of possibility.
We were poor so we liked to walk through the stores
since this was like walking through our dreams.
In one we admired coffee makers, blue pottery
bowls, toaster ovens as big as televisions. In another,
we eased into a leather couch and imagined
cocktails in a room overlooking the sea. When we
sniffed scented candles we saw our future faces,
softly lit, over a dinner of pasta and wine. When
we touched thick bathrobes we saw midnight
swims and bathtubs so vast they might be
mistaken for lakes. My husband's glasses hurt
his face and his shoes were full of holes.
There was a space in our living room where
a couch should have been. We longed for
fancy shower curtains, flannel sheets,
shiny silverware, expensive winter coats.
Sometimes, at night, we sat up and made lists.
We pressed our heads together and wrote
our wants all over torn notebook pages.
Nearly everyone we loved was alive and we
were in love but we liked wanting. Nothing
was ever as nice when we brought it home.
The objects in stores looked best in stores.
The stores were possible futures and, young
and poor, we went shopping. It was nice
then: we didn't know we already had everything."
"Shopping" by Faith Shearin, from The Owl Question. © Utah State University Press, 2002.
My mother always told us that we were rich we just didn’t have a lot of money. When money was even tighter we weren’t poor; we were just broke. Mom was right. The shiny things have come and gone but the richness of the stories - who I am, where I came from - those remain close to heart.
“We Ain’t Buying It!” is a nationwide movement to pause shopping from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday with major corporations that are enabling the administration's lawlessness: Target, Home Depot & Amazon. Click HERE to learn more.
Story Prompt: If you had one wish, what story would you most like to hear again; what would it say to you; what remarkable bit of contentment would it provide? Write that story and tell 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 Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.
Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team
Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music
ALL 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.
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