Family Storytelling

Family Storytelling

When we look back at our experiences together, we can pull out stories that have special meaning to us. This storytelling is a powerful way to express and share our family’s unique past. Listen in on two of my favorites growing up with two older brothers, and you will understand the vital role of the family story.
The house where I grew up had a cozy fireplace in the family room. Next to it was a small compartment where wood was stored. Our winter’s supply of logs could be put directly into this storage box by opening a small door at the back. Wood didn't have to be carried through the house. We simply stacked and stockpiled it in this box, using the outside door. Unexpectedly, my parents slowly learned that this same double door feature also accommodated the lifestyle of teenagers. I vividly recall the year after my oldest brother Dean had been away at college. A distinguishing feature of this age was arriving home extremely late after being out with friends. On one such night, my mother thought everyone was in the house, and locked the main door. When my brother returned home, he quickly discovered that he couldn't get inside. Resourcefully, he recalled the wood box "entrance" and proceeded to come into the house through it. My mother, who is a light sleeper, heard the sounds of wood falling (as we usually kept a large supply of logs). When my brother pushed through, in the hopes of being unnoticed at three o'clock in the morning, he looked up to see her there to "greet" him.
Another favorite story is the one we tell about this same brother leaving on a trip. Suitcase packed, it sat outside on the ground near the back of his car. But during the distractions of saying goodbye, he forgot to put it in the trunk before he left. Much to our surprise, when he drove down the carport hill, he ran over his suitcase! He quickly realized what had happened, got out, threw it in the back, and drove off down the road. We never let my brother Dean forget this “accident” of sorts, and howl with laughter every time we retell this story. Remembering our past in this way, serves to deepen our bond, connect us, and quite simply, bring laughter to us all. Humor is key to our story selection process. For certain, by repeating our pasts through storytelling, we experience profound joy.
Stories like these abound in all families. Use storytelling to share much-loved moments from your past. What are some of your family’s favorites?

Family Forgiveness and Cleansing Rain

Once on a family vacation, we experienced a midnight thunderstorm. Awakened by the sound of heavy rain, I went out onto the screened-in-porch with our two older children, then eight and ten years old. Sheets of rain poured down in front of us like a thick clear wall. Surrounded by water on three sides, yet cozy and dry under the protection of the porch, we stood for thirty minutes mesmerized by the solid downpour. Lightening brightened the sky periodically, followed by booming thunder in the distance. It was glorious. While we were enchanted by nature’s natural drumbeat and luminous sky show, it was the rain showers that made their mark that night. Not a drop of water touched us, yet we felt cleansed, as though the massive amounts of water purified us.
Just like spring rains bathe and freshen the earth, forgiveness too is a powerful human cleanser. Forgiveness helps us shed emotions, clear out and heal, and focus on the good things. Emotional clarity flows from rains of forgiveness. Let me explain. After several painful years, one of our sons phoned home from college to individually ask each family member, parents and sibs alike, if we would forgive him for his difficult behavior when he was a teen. He vividly recalled many of the arduous and trying incidents, reminding us of their detail, some of which we had chosen to forget. While the four of us individually told him that we forgave him, he reassuringly asked each of us a second time to forgive him, as if to permanently reassert the fact in his own mind.
It was just like the thick wall of spring rain on our porch. Liberated from negative emotions, now washed away, our son felt cleansed. Time and energy for positive interactions returned. For too long, negative feelings and events consumed his time. Letting go of them caused a purification to occur. Clarity was available to him now. The heavy rains of forgiveness freed him.
Just as the spring solstice is a new beginning, forgiving another family member opens the door to positive energy and intention. Shedding painful memories creates a sense of peace in the present. It frees one up for the beauty to return to the relationship, much like the arrival of long awaited spring. But don’t hang around for the person who has caused the damage to ask for forgiveness. This could consume a lifetime, as though the puffy clouds dash by and never let loose their rain. Forgive now and experience a sense of peace and joy in the present. The message is clear: Be cleansed by the rains of forgiveness.
Have you experienced the inner joy of being forgiven? Have you recently been the forgiver? How did each feel? Do you care to share you’re your experiences here? Read about forgiveness in an excellent book entitled “Forgive For Good” by Fred Luskin, Ph.D. or check out his website @ http//www.learningtoforgive.com/.

Blank Canvas

Several summers ago, we started a new family tradition—the creation of a group art project. We trek off to the local art store together and purchase a large blank canvas and lots of acrylic paints and brushes. Then we divide the canvas into six sections with a light pencil mark. This gives each of us our boundaries to work within. Since there are five of us, the sixth space is usually shared by two who want to have another smaller shared space. We all then paint our own space, taking as long as we want. The entire project is normally completed within a day, with each person usually working in isolation of the others. Anything is acceptable.
Not only is this art project fun to do every year, but we all look at it frequently and are now able to compare the years. We can remember how old each of us was and the important things that happened. But the value of this group art project is that it is something done by our family as a group. It reminds us that familymaking is fun. It also makes everyone feel attached, connected, and part of our family. When family members complete their individual canvas spaces, an amazingly integrated painting emerges.
Everyone needs to know and feel that they belong and play an important role in the family. They need to be involved in shaping the family culture in which they live and grow. Cultural traditions, like the shared canvas, are rituals. Rituals act like glue that holds the family together. Families can develop their own rituals. Any event the family enjoys and does regularly can be a ritual. It might be a fancy Friday dinner, a walk together early every Saturday morning, or a regular walk up the local mountain. Another of our rituals is to take a day-long bike trip along Lake Michigan every summer. The best part is that there are no rules on how to define rituals. They just have to make you and your family feel special.
Rituals often begin with parents, but children’s values and ideas should also be reflected in their selection. If a child wants to introduce a new ritual, parents should allow it, knowing that this will make the child feel special. Each member of the family can establish rituals and weave them into the fabric of the group.

Any event that feels special to your family can be a ritual and serve to bring the group closer together. What special rituals does your family have? Can you share them here?

Pure Play

Recreation, or play, means to re-create. Ask yourself “what do I do when I play?” Does it strengthen my insides? Is the joy so great that I can experience the beauty of creating and recreating? Play is not business, not obligation, not something that has to be done, not necessarily productive, and not necessarily involved with something “worthwhile.” There are times for these things, but they are not play.
Play is pure joy. My eight-year-old constantly reminds me of what play is. When he runs with delight, he expresses a rare form of joy. When he screams with enthusiasm at the plan to stay overnight at a friend’s house, he expresses the same pure joy. When he races to one end of the living room, slides, leaps up, runs back and slides again, he is playing. Play means to laugh, jump, celebrate, and feel happy. If you don’t look forward to your play, there is no joy in it.
Most people will reply to the question “what do you do for fun?” by listing all the planned activities on their calendar. They are going to go the health club after work, then out to dinner with a friend, then to their daughter’s basketball game, then to the symphony with their friends. These are very important activities, but they aren’t pure play unless you look forward to them because they bring you happy feelings, fill you up with joy, and make you smile. An empty calendar can bring such a feeling. It leaves the door open for your day to flow naturally, playfully.
So how does one begin to play? It helps to turn off the TV and the computer. Get outside. Connect to nature. Experience the beauty of our earth. Look around and feel a part of the joy and wisdom of what you see. Walk, run, move physically. Stop thinking. Start really looking at what you see. Start feeling. Balance heart thoughts with head thoughts. Let out intuition. FLOW. Allow play to emerge. See what comes out to play. Try not to force play. Be spontaneous. Laugh. Open up a new capacity for fun. Let go. Free your own child within. Enjoy the now. Do nothing. Observe the quiet. Just be together. Dance! Try mooing at cows.
The message here is simple: Let go and play! What are some family play ideas that work for you? Can you share them here?