These are strange times; we are living with confusion, a lack of clarity and a barrage of information and mis-information. But could the uncertainty created by Covid actually provide an opportunity for us to reconsider what is really important to us? Could we use this time to make positive changes in our lives? Facilitator and story artist Fiona MacBeth thinks we can and she is using storytelling and writing workshops to help people to do this.
There is so much we can’t see in sharp perspective at the moment, there’s a sense of fogginess and the possibility that we are unable to grasp the truth of the situation. Who are the expert scientists? How come they don’t agree with each other? Where is the money for furlough coming from? Is there actually a ‘magic money tree’ after all? How dangerous is the virus? Where is the voice of reason? How can we actually work out what’s going on? How can we question the information from the government without moving into the territory of conspiracy theories? Will we ever meet with friends and family with easy hugs and closeness as we used to? Will businesses survive? Will life be better for more people afterwards?
Taking the dog for a walk on Sunday, I stopped to chat with an elderly gentleman tending his beehives on the edge of the fields. He told me that his bees were doing well and feeding on all the ivy nectar that’s around in the Autumn. ‘Ivy’s not what we like but it’s good for the bees, keeps them fed and it’s got the right sugar for this time of year’. We may see ivy as an invasive pest but the gentle exchange with the elderly bee-keeper sent me to my computer to find out more. And there, a 2013 study from the University of Sussex states ‘Our research shows that ivy is hugely important to honey-bees and other flower-visiting insects in the autumn. In fact, if ivy did not exist we would probably try to invent it.”
It's made me think about what we already have that, like ivy, we have discarded, thinking it unnecessary. Supposing the current sense of confusion and lack of control carries within it something that is vital and life-sustaining? Something that if we didn’t have, we would try to invent. Supposing the not-knowing is what reminds us that we do know, in some unknown or forgotten part of ourselves, what we truly need. If we allow ourselves to listen for the deep questions beneath the doubts and fears, we could uncover something really valuable.
Do I need to keep going in the same direction as I was before? What is it that makes life joyful? What would make my life more meaningful? Where does my mind go when it wanders? What happens when I follow my feelings? How do I use my intuition to find a way forward?
‘An Inside Story’ can help you to find your way through whatever moment of fog or stuckness you are living with. ‘An Inside Story’ runs storytelling and writing workshops to guide you to the places, people and stories in your imagination that can help you to find new directions in life. As you make up your imaginary story, you are totally in control of it, and if you want the way forward to become clear, it will. The workshops invite you into a landscape of story where you find unexpected guides for yourself, without directly addressing your life situation or experience.
Workshops are currently running online but will resume in-person in January.
For more information, visit the Inside Story website or send and me an email.
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