Thanks for trying to endure my try in describing my purpose with the illumini poem. Now let me see if I can be more literal.
I believe that we are all storytellers. And most of us learn a whole lot through the stories we are told. They penetrate us to form lasting impressions and indelble memories. They provide context in space and time. Importantly, stories connect us. I believe we are each and all connected; to one other, to the land and seas, to the winds and rain and sun, and to our collective spirit. I don’t want to get all woo woo about things here, but I can’t help be convinced that we re not each all all parts of a whole. What I do affects you, the earth, the skies, and everyone else on this globe and beyond. Visa versa is true too.
We are one. So when I learn more about someone else, something else, and somewhere else, I also learn more about myself.
There’s more untold stories that there will ever be time to tell or hear. That kind of means we have a lot of work to do if we wish to learn about ourselves.
By the way, while there are such a great many stories to be told, I don’t believe everyone is a highly qualified storyteller. The last thing I would guess any of us wants to read or listen to is someone who is wasting time, purposely telling lies, telling stories whose sole purpose is to promote themselves, and stories that do not provide some kind of an insight. I don’t know about you, but when I hear a story, I want to be both entertained and provoked, to draw some further question and inquiry.
So that’s what this whole illumini thing is supposed to be about? It’s about storytelling though different mediums; photography, videography, written blogging, and podcasting. It may or may not be good enough for others to read, hear, or view. But I promise to keep trying to improve upon that. It’s a journey, doing the work to continually seek understanding. And as it is said, you must first understand to then be understood, I think it would be pretty cool if I learned something that I might be able to for into a story to pass that on.
A friend once asked me to describe myself using three words, something she and her team used as a part of a team building practice. My three words were integrity, respect and yearning. I hope these ingredients are present in stories told.