BE INCREDIBLE – FALL UP
Fall is in the air. Leaves are changing and lovely colored sweaters that have sat patiently in drawers for months are coming out. I love Fall. The smell of the crisp cold wind, the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet, the sight of colorful new trees that line the curb of my street.
It’s harvest time for pumpkins hanging over head and a cornucopia of treats. Fall is also the first year anniversary of the release of Falling UP – A Memoir of Renewal.
As I look back on the experience of collecting my life’s stories and assembling them into my book, I can see how, like I write in the book, that my perspective is ever-changing like autumn leaves dancing in the wind. Here is an excerpt from the book:
As a young graduate student, I was deeply impressed by a tetralogy of four books – The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell… When one reads the books at first, it’s hard to imagine that the individuals are in the same place at the same time. The sights, smells, textures all seem so different according to the different characters that the reader is confused to the point of being challenged to establish their own memory, their own perspective. This notion of seeing different things at different times, even in the same setting, has always struck a resonant chord with me.
Pause and reflect about what you remember and how you remember. We do so in a nonlinear way – memories floating to the surface in bold abstract ways only to be pushed aside for another more poignant view. Such is the construction of this book… I invite you to read backwards and forwards and even sideways. Not to find greater clarity of who I am and the stories I’ve lived, rather to ignite your imagination and take you on your own adventure of finding a resilient spirit.
These words couldn’t be more true. Indeed, perspectives change, just as they have for me reflecting on this past year. And that is the story of Falling up – courageously examining not without discomfort new visions, new horizons that may at first terrify (SFD or Shitty First Drafts as Brené Brown calls them) and then inspire!
Over this past year, I have discovered and rediscovered Resiliency in the courageous stories I have listened intently to. I am grateful for your warmth and welcoming, your courage to wrap yourselves in change, to rewrite your stories and to Keep Falling Up! I am also lifted by your words and reactions (like the one below) to my stories and I thank you for your feedback.
