“The ambitions we have will become the stories we live.”
I just finished reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. The book is about how he started looking at his life in terms of a story. He didn’t like the story he was living so he changed it. I am all about living a good story. Most of you have had conversations with me that started a little something like this: “Have I ever told you about the time…?” Insert crazy, random event here. From the visit to my apartment from the Haz-mat unit, to being locked on a balcony for 5 hours…in the rain, to the time I won a radio contest and everything in between. Between me and those who know me well, I could probably fill five blog posts with those stories.
Well, have I ever told you about the time I spent my summer in Sarasota? No? Okay than, here is my Sarasota summer story…
I road tripped through Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to get to Sarasota. I judged everything but pork in a BBQ contest in Memphis.
I was sun kissed and sun poisoned.
I survived boot camp. I saw the best view of the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota by parasailing.
I spent time alone, and I spent quality time with my parents. I became someones Aunt.
I stood next to the ocean and was reminded of Who is in control.
I helped set up, and I worked two Sarasota Magazine promotional events. I conquered name tags, address labels and mail merging. I interviewed a wonderful Sarasota woman who learned how to take care of herself after her beloved husband passed away. I interviewed a wonderful young lady who put her own gentle touch on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I interviewed a CEO who loves his wife, his kids, his job and makes time for all three. I will have three clips in two different Sarasota publications in September.
I watched two of my favorite people get married. A dear friend from D.C. came to visit. I caught up with even more dear friends on my visit to D.C.
I read trashy romance novels on the beach. I read my Bible more this summer than I ever have in my life.
I met some very “interesting” guys, and I didn’t meet a guy who I thought would be interesting.
I explored coffee shops, sipped sangria on roof tops, watched fireworks on the bay, and I flirted mercilessly with bartenders. I tried oysters, grouper bites and alligator for the first time. I was fed exotic cocktails by a saucy, Italian mixologist.
I sped from the beach and had to go to Florida traffic school because of it.
I devoured half of the largest and most delicious coconut cream pie I’ve ever tasted.
I met the friendliest old people on the planet, and some younger folks who weren’t so friendly.
I spent every Saturday morning at Sarasota’s farmer’s market feasting on breakfast burritos and drinking iced coffees to my hearts content.
I had dance parties in my living room.
I laughed, laughed and laughed some more.
But despite all of the fun, I realized that Sarasota will be a great place to visit my parents, but not a place for me to live at this stage of the game. This story may be revisited in the future, but not immediately.
Here’s a little insight from Donald’s book that explains why…
“And I found myself wanting even better stories. And that’s the thing you realize when you organize your life into the structure of story. You’ll get a taste for one story and then want another, and then another, and the stories will build until you’re living a kind of epic of risk and reward, and the whole thing will be molding you into the actual character whose roles you’ve been playing. And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can’t go back to being normal; you can’t go back to the meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time.” page 155
And so my story continues…
With one foot in Florida, one foot in Missouri and feet in all of the states in between I send you my love,
Kathleen
