EPISODE 129: GHOST STORIES!

Hi friends,

 

Well, we got on a roll with this storytelling thing, and so we thought we’d do a podcast about a certain special genre of stories – ghost stories!

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story?
(Especially if it’s for real.)

I’ve got a handful of ghost stories to share with you, from the era of my life where I engaged in the weird and noble art of “ghostbusting,” which is more accurately described as “ghost therapy.”

Are you scared?     Don’t be.
As I explained to Erin, most ghosts are just extremely ordinary people who died but stayed on Earth in their usual “haunts,” so to speak, instead of moving on.

And a study has shown that fully 68% of Americans report that they had a visit from a dearly departed person, and that this spirit experience was actually a comforting, purposeful event in their life.

Ghosts, ancestors, guides, animal spirits, nature spirits, angels, and Master teachers ….

the spirit world is a friendly mystery that is fun to talk about,

so tune in this week and next week to enjoy contemplating our life with the Invisible.

It’s all good!
Mary and Erin

Have a listen!   ______________________________________________________________  

EPISODE 129: GHOST STORIES!

Ghost stories are a perennial, much-loved genre of storytelling,
and as a mystic, Mary has had enough encounters with ghosts and other spirits, that she can say with confidence,

“This is just part of life, and basically it’s all pretty normal and nice.”

Erin’s not so sure! (scared!!)

but as ever, she is open-minded and curious, and willing to go where Mary leads, in this unique conversation about interacting with ghosts.

Does a ghost attend their own funeral, to communicate with the living? Can a ghost make toast in the kitchen?

Is the spirit world right here, with us, all the time?

How does it influence us?

This week’s podcast is the first of two that explore our life with the Invisible.

 

Posted on October 17, 2015 | Discuss on Facebook

EPISODE 128: RE-FRAMING YOUR OWN STORY

Hi friends,

Are you having a good time inside the story of your life these days?

We live near an ocean of stories, and we are laying down a narrative of who we are in the world.

Are you living a hero’s journey, traveling through strange lands with a golden nugget of faith and your bright sword of will for truth and goodness?

Here’s our latest and greatest podcast about storytelling – the one that reminds us of the importance of saying

“This will be good!” in the middle of a bad life moment.

That’s what I said when my house got almost completely flooded one time, and ….

some stories take a little while to unfold …

five months later ….

I was right! It all turned out well.

Enjoy!
Mary & Erin 

EPISODE 128: RE-FRAMING YOUR OWN STORY

Did you know that there is a Sea of Stories,

and that The Universe issues each storyteller their own story water faucet, when it’s time to tell a tale?

So they tell us in “Haroun and the Sea of Stories,” by Salman Rushdie.

The hero story is a story of a person on the path of self mastery, and there are features that are applicable to the sturdy spiritual seeker:

– the challenge to use your will, (or surrender it to a Higher Will)

– the need to turn to your mighty companions,

– the magical gift from the mystery advisor,

– the nugget of faith that keeps us going forward.

 It’s important to affirm,
“This will be good,” when you’re in a bad moment.

To be strong and positive, with only a little bit of whining when you’re just overdone with it all. (Tho sensitive people will need to whine more often.)

Hear the story of the unexpected flood that destroyed Mary’s house. It turned out well.

And the story of a woman who is cheerful about having been raised by a mother who was utterly evil. She chuckles?

Forgiving and healing a bad story is as possible as laundering your muddy clothes so they are clean and bright again.

Enjoy this conversation in which Mary visits the local shaman, and Erin exercises her screenwriter chops to show us

the classic arc of storytelling in the hero tale….

and what that mirrors for each of us, spiritually.

 

Posted on October 9, 2015 | Discuss on Facebook

EPISODE 127: IN PRAISE OF STORYTELLING II

Hi friends,

Here’s Part II of our In Praise of Storytelling series.

You know how we all have a “Most Embarrassing Moment” story that we loathe and treasure at the same time?

This week I’ll tell you one of mine.

Storytelling about bad moments is one of our best devices to remember that we can get through anything.

Keep reading below, for more on this week’s Storytelling podcast.

Enjoy!
Mary & Erin 

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Episode 127: In Praise of Storytelling II

“Allow me to explain about the theatre business.

The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

So what do we do?

Nothing.

Strangely enough, it all turns out well. How?

How does it turn out well?

I don’t know. It’s a mystery.”

Stories within stories … like in a drama by Shakespeare, our personal life stories are trying to help us solve the mysteries of life and death, good and evil, character strengths and tragic character flaws, courage and resilience.

We love a good redemption story and we love to hate a villain, and our very worst moments become our best-loved tales, when it’s finally time to tell them, and even be able to laugh.

If we keep growing and healing, we become the hero in our own story, an example of resilience and endurance, to ourselves and others.

Yet we cannot force anyone else to transform their victim experience into a hero tale.

It’s their story, and they’re writing it.

Enjoy a ridiculous little story-within-a-story of Mary’s most embarrassing moment,

and a thoughtful one about transcending the pain and limitations of childhood difficulties with learning in school,

yet becoming a creator, anyway.

It turns out well. 

 

Posted on October 2, 2015 | Discuss on Facebook