“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic, they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality. ~ Iris Murdoch

The first quote above is one I use at the end of the show notes for every episode of my podcast, Story~Power. I use it because it’s true. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that I tell myself stories all the time about things that happen to me or my life situations. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve had to admit that most of the time those stories are bogus. They’re not true but for some reason, I was so invested in believing they were true that I created situations for myself that were less than ideal. In some cases the stories I told myself were down right harmful.

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to weed out those false stories and get a grip on true reality. My latest realization is that I’m capable of much more than I thought. For example, I used to think that I wasn’t good at making money. Who knows where I got this silly thought. Maybe it’s because my parents didn’t have lots of money as I was growing up. We had to pay close attention to our expenditures, weigh the best times to buy big ticket items and be sure to get the best deals on every purchase. Through no fault of theirs I got the idea that money was scarce, that I was never going to make lots of it, and that’s the story I’ve told myself until just recently. 

I’m never sure how the realizations that a story I’ve told myself is untrue comes crashing into my consciousness. The acknowledged shift occurs after lots of little pieces have come together. Recently, I’ve had a big realization, that I am capable of managing not only small amounts of money but larger amounts too. In fact, I was surprised to realize that I’m capable of running a business. The key is my attitude about it. If I choose to run a business, I can do it. As Marie Forleo says, “everything is figureoutable.” Running the financial side of a business is something I would have turned my nose up at a year ago but now I’m willing to embrace it. I may fail, but as I tell my students, and myself, there are no failures, it’s all just learning.

Other things are shifting for me. For example, I’ve written this blog for nine years in a kind of haphazard way. If you’ve followed me for any length of time you might know that I really hate regimented organization. I’m not someone who loves spreadsheets, or routine. I will follow a routine when I have to, but hating doing so is another story I’ve told myself. I can change the plot of that story. I don’t need to have a strict structure, but some kind of structure is better than none.

What I’ve come to understand over the last few months as my true retirement from teaching approaches, is that it’s time for some changes. My attitudes about money and routine are just two of those changes. I’m not completely sure how this blog will change yet. I may share bits of my books, or snippets of audio conversations from my podcasts. I may share my feelings about stories I’ve consumed. We’ll see. I’m letting myself get used to the changes I’m making, how I view who I am, and what I want to be doing that makes me not only happy, but feel like I’m contributing something meaningful to the world. 

I guess listening to and watching multiple versions of A Christmas Carol over the holidays has contributed a bit to my resolve to make some major changes. After all, Scrooge makes some pretty big changes in his life. As the character Carl Davis says in the holiday classic movie, Holiday Affair, “Anything can change a life that’s ready to be changed.” I’m ready for some big changes. I don’t know about you, but my life was getting pretty stagnant. 

I plan to pay attention to the lessons of the last two years and try new things. 

I feel like 2022 will be a better year for all of us if we choose to make it so.

Blessings and Happy New Year.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2022

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.

If you want to support my work financially, please give a donation. I appreciate anything you choose to give.