60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday: What a Difference a Postcard Makes

Hello to you listening in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more for a story) for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.How do we get good at turning toward the uncertain future?How do we sustain ourselves, and each other?How can we help each other, even--or especially--those with whom we don't agree, through the revolutions ahead?  I have an idea. We can share our stories. Here’s one.The great Polish rabbi, Israel ben Eliezer, also known as the Ba’al Shem Tov, deeply loved his people.  Whenever they were troubled or persecuted he went to a sacred place in the forest, lit a sacred fire, and said a special prayer asking God to protect his people. It was enough and the people were saved. But in time the Ba’al Shem Tov died.  Later, his disciple, following in his master’s footsteps, went into the same part of the forest and said, “Creator of the Universe, I do not know how to light the sacred fire, but I do know the special prayer; please, hear me! and help your people.” And it was enough.Generations passed and when the next Rabbi saw how his people were being persecuted, he went into the forest and said, “Oh, Lord, I don’t know how to light the sacred fire, nor do I know the special prayer, but I still remember the place.  Help us! Protect the people”  And the people were protected.Decades later, a very elderly rabbi seeing his people being persecuted, spoke to God saying, “I don’t know how to light the sacred fire, nor do I know the special prayer, and I can’t even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell you this story and hope that you will hear me. Please help the people!”  And again the people were spared.Story Prompt: When we find ourselves lost in the forest, do not know how to light the sacred fire, or say the special prayer, we can share our stories. What else might we do to help each other? Write that story!You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer https://www.quartermoonstoryarts.net/services/,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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. 

Hello to you listening in Painesville, Ohio!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday and your host, Diane Wyzga.  Let’s call it like it is: We are living in decidedly difficult times. As a result we might feel restless, anxious, irritable, impatient or just plain cranky. That negative tension fills our body affecting us from head to toe so we have difficulty managing even simple everyday situations.In my experience breathing exercises hold the key to relieving  anxiety. Practical Tip:  Try this: sit quietly and begin to breathe slowly in and out. With each breath calm your mind by releasing troubling thoughts. Focus on the ways in which your body begins to relax. Encourage your body to reach deeper states of calm by breathing more slowly, more deeply. You might repeat to yourself: "Breathing in, I know I am alive; breathing out, I smile to life in me and around me." With this simple technique you are decreasing stress, anxiety, and fear.  Question? How does this work? Answer: Breathing deeply floods your system with oxygen and calms you. By mindfully slowing your breath, you send a signal to your body that all is well, peace is within you. As soon as you become aware of tension rising in you begin slowly and deeply breathing to dispel the anxiety you feel. It works. Guaranteed.  You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out What I Offer,✓ Arrange your free Story Start-up Session,✓ Stay current with Diane on LinkedIn.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.

Hello to you listening all over the world!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.I coined the term “engaged storyism.” What do I mean?  “Engaged” in something means to be actively involved, focused, and committed. “Storyism” is concern about and action aimed at advocating for narratives that unite, not divide; that raise up, not beat down; that include, not exclude. Most importantly storyism is a willingness to examine our narratives, reconfigure outdated beliefs, and undo memories that keep us attached to the old ways and self-images so that we evolve from who we used to be to our better selves.  Authentic narrative has been fading while social media encourages algorithm-driven opinions encapsulated as sound bytes and masquerading as wisdom. We have a duty to revive stories that have the power to heal people and cultures, unbalance the status quo. When we employ stories as a bridge to peace, to the greater good, we can help each other out of the dark places or, as I have said for years:  “Each One Lift One.”Following are four questions to kick-start “engaged storyism” conversations through the revolutions ahead:  ✓ How do we engage in empathetic imagination?✓ How do we get good at turning toward the future, no matter how uncertain it may be?✓ How do we extend kindness to each other, especially to those with whom we disagree?✓ How do we sustain ourselves, and each other?Question: Engaged storyism is a collective effort. What thoughts and ideas do you have to help us help each get really good at turning toward  the new narrative future? You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer https://www.quartermoonstoryarts.net/services/,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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. 

Hello to you listening in King, North Carolina, The Gateway to the Foothills!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Our very own Whidbey Island Poet Laureate, philosopher, and Bard of the Boardroom, David Whyte once said,“Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew.It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world or your possibilities for the future.We need that same skill as an art of survival.We need to overhear the tiny but very consequential things we say that reveal ourselves to ourselves.” [Flying Edna Digital Calendar 2024]Question? What amazing idea did you overhear yourself say? Now, how might you put your amazing idea into play so you can help others aspire to amazing?You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out What I Offer,✓ Arrange your free Story Start-up Session,✓ Stay current with Diane on LinkedIn.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.

Hello to you listening in Londrina, Brazil!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.Recently I was honored to share the mic with my podcast friend and colleague Maritza Perez, the host of My Accent Is No Accident. Together we celebrated cultural diversity by sharing stories and valuable insights about overcoming barriers, and the importance of community. If you’re curious to discover how sharing your origin story can transform lives and promote understanding in the corporate world and more, this episode is for you!Highlights✓ How to reclaim your powerful voice and set the stage for confidently stepping into the life you want by shaping and sharing your origin story (how you got from There to Here).✓ How to shift attitudes and behaviors in the corporate world to overcome efforts at “gaslighting” or undermining women and work toward a more equitable workplace.✓ How neighborhood block parties, shared food and stories can promote understanding, empathy, and ultimately, world peace.Click HERE to watch on YouTube  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIb6xTamebQ]Be sure to show us some love with a thumbs up, Subscribing, and leaving positive comments. Thanks for watching!Connect with Maritza PerezE-mail: [email protected]: https://maina.now.site/homeYou’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer https://www.quartermoonstoryarts.net/services/,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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. 

Hello to you, dad, listening on your Happy Birthday!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.I’m a born and raised Jersey Girl. What’s so special about New Jersey? The Diner Capital of the World, Bobcat Alley for the only wildcats in New Jersey, birthplace of music legend Bruce Springsteen, the Leeds Devil of the South Jersey Pine Barrens, prized Jersey tomatoes, Atlantic City Boardwalk (the first, longest and most popular boardwalk in the US), and, of course, the Jersey Shore, 90 miles of white sand beaches. Any season of the year is a reason to visit the Jersey Shore; but if you happen to visit in Summer unlock your sandcastle creativity at the Belmar Sandcastle Contest.Click HERE for more photosStory Prompt: "Like a sandcastle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it. And when the time comes, let it go." [Jack Kornfield]      What in your life have you built, tended, enjoyed, and now are ready to let go? Write that story!  You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with me as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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.

Hello to you listening in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Washington!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday and your host, The Witch of Whidbey.Maybe like me you were discouraged from displaying your womanly witchy powers, dismissed for dabbling in sparks of magic that would heal the world, disowned for seeing beyond everyday reality to the visionary knowledge born of imagination, curiosity, and self-expression.But, it’s never too late to remind yourself of the woman you are and the witch wound you are ready to heal.THE WITCH WOUND“They call it the witch wound.We were punished you see, broken, slain, for shining too brightly.So we learned to hide that spark.We learned to play it down, play dumb, play dead.And we were taught to fear the light within us, lest it herald our downfallBut not anymore.You are not a wicked witch my friend, you are quite simply, or complicatedly, a woman.And your magic is not something you can choose, or lose.It always is, and always has lived within you.And you need no longer hide it.I call it the witch wound, but the time to heal is here.Now.Let that magic out.” [~Donna Ashworth - Witch Wound, from ‘Wild Hope’ -   UK: https://amzn.eu/d/2j0Nquu -   US: https://a.co/d/h6FEaTv]You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with me as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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.

Hello to you listening in Laxa, Sweden!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.The other night I was watching Episode 16 of Season 3 of the TV series The West Wing. Sam Seaborn is visited by his former physics professor, Dr. Dalton Millgate, who wants Sam to put in a good word for the funding of the superconducting supercollider - a controversial scientific project that would cost billions. Senator Enlow from Illinois is holding up the project for political reasons. A short exchange happens in Sam's office between Dalgate, Enlow and Seaborn about what this costly project “does":   Sen. Jack Enlow, D-IL: If we can only say what benefit this thing has. No one's been able to do that.Dr. Dalton Millgate: That's because great achievement has no road map. The X-Ray is pretty good, and so is penicillin, and neither were discovered with a practical objective in mind. I mean, when the electron was discovered in 1897, it was useless. And now we have an entire world run by electronics. Haydn and Mozart never studied the classics. They couldn't. They invented them.Sam Seaborn: Discovery.Dr. Dalton Millgate: What?Sam Seaborn: Discovery is what. That's what this is used for. It's for discovery!Practical Tip: When we lose hope or direction or get discouraged about what we're about, about what our project does or is good for, remember this: it's for discovery!  And that’s the road map to great achievement.Click HERE to watch the scene on YouTubeYou’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with me as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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.

Hello to you listening in Parker, Colorado! Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Since 17th September I’ve been virtually retracing my pilgrimage steps on the Camino de Santiago, an annual ritual to remind me what I gained, what I was willing to toss away, and marking my life as BC & AC: Before Camino and After Camino.That cold dark morning I climbed the wet mountain trail to arrive at the Cruz de Ferro - also called the Iron Cross - bearing rocks for 16 friends and family members. Funny to be carrying all that extra weight when our packs are supposed to be pared down to the least we need. But I had promised that I would include my beloveds in this Camino ritual to set down burdens by leaving a rock and a prayer  - even symbolically - leaving behind for them the weight of fears, heartbreak, mistakes, regrets, disappointments. For me it was fear of poverty.  What the Camino gave me then and continues to give me now is a profound sense of community I’ve found nowhere else. Whether we prayed for ourselves at the Cruz de Ferro or for the state of the world or for something in between I just know that our prayers were heard. And answered; but perhaps not in the way we expected. Why? Because we don’t get what we ask for; we get what we dream of. And that might take time to recognize.Practical Tip: Know this: we are all pilgrims on the road walking each other home the best way we can with compassion, stories, and believing that Each One Lift One is the Way of the Buen Camino.You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with me as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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.

Hello to you listening in Bucharest, Romania!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.Recently I had the privilege to share the mic with my empowerment friend and colleague Colleen Biggs, the host of Take the Leap podcast. If you are curious about how Your Voice is Your Power; The Importance of Self-Discovery for Self-Expression; and Deep Authentic Connection Through Storytelling, this episode is for you!Highlights✓ Your voice is not just a means of communication; it is your power. Your voice is as singular as your fingerprint—use it to rise above the noise in the marketplace and make yourself heard.✓ Before we can effectively express ourselves, we must dig deep into our past experiences, values, and passions to build a strong foundation from which we can confidently share our ideas and insights.✓ Storytelling fosters connection. In a world that often feels disconnected, sharing our stories can bridge differences, create understanding and help us realize that we are not alone in our struggles and triumphs.Click HERE to watch on YouTube Click HERE to listen on Apple  Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review and nice words; it helps us all:Step 1: Click the link to listen to this episode on Apple podcastStep 2: It will prompt you to open Itunes-Open ItunesStep 3: Click on ratings and review!Connect with Colleen BiggsWebsite: https://colleenbiggs.net/Leap Community: https://colleenbiggs.net/community/Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-biggs/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleenbiggs/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/310881170189409You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with me as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories 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.