Spring 2007

 
This issue of Itineraries had a mind of its own. Back in December I thought I knew where the issue was headed and what it would say. But it seems Itineraries had its own story to tell and would not be diverted by what I happened to have in mind.

I began to suspect as much when I interviewed Mary Brooks Tyler and Leo Baldwin and neither of them said what I expected. I got another big hint when two planned articles couldn’t be delivered, and then two unanticipated articles showed up. I knew for certain “what the issue had in mind” when the book reviews arrived, and then yet another unexpected article arrived in my email box.

This issue was determined to be — and is — about STORY and about storytelling.

In Chris Belding’s article, “The Gift of Story,” and in Barbara Kammerlohr’s review of Angeles Arrien’s Second Half of Life, we are encouraged to risk experiencing the depths of each unfolding part of our own story.

Christina Baldwin advocates preserving and passing forward our own story as our best, most lasting legacy in her article, “Grandma’s Teacups.”

Roger Harrison suggests that the soul of a group or an organization can be accessed, and reanimated, through the organization’s founding story in “Touching the Soul of Community.”

“Stories with role models for those growing old in a culture like ours are difficult to find,” says Barbara Kammerlohr in her review of Sister Age, by M.F.K. Fisher. But in Fisher’s book we find delightful models for our next steps in the journey.

And in my own interview with Mary Brooks Tyler and Leo Baldwin, I found that one should never have expectations about what a storyteller will say; it’s far better to settle back, enjoy the story, and allow oneself to be totally surprised.

So come now, enjoy the stories of STORY in the second half of life, as told by Itineraries, Spring 2007 issue.

— Cynthia Trenshaw, Guest Editor

When it was my mother’s turn, she began to read and soon was unable to continue, due to the tears and emotions her story evoked. I finished reading it out loud on her behalf. She had written about foreseeing her death, or for her, “the call to come home”…

 The author, Chris Belding, who lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a Certified Sage-ing Leader and a Certified Crone with over 60 years of life experience.

Story is really all we leave each other. Even the most precious heirlooms, including the ones I tend in my own home, will not last: someday they’ll end up in an estate sale, or a house will burn down or they will simply lose meaning. What has the most lasting value is the story of who we are, who we come from, where we aspire to go. ...

 The author, Christina Baldwin, has focused her life work on the preservation and celebration of story, a passion she returned to in her most recent book, Storycatcher.

Go within yourself in a brief meditation. See if you can connect with something that feels like the soul or spirit of an organization that you know. Inquire of that being: What is your vision for this organization? What is your work to do in the world? What benefits are you meant to bring? Ask: What interferes with this purpose? What is needed from us to support your evolution at this time? ...

 Author Roger Harrison's long international career in organizational development includes designing programs on Positive Power and Influence; the book, A Consultant’s Journey; and much speaking and writing.