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Journal page Story the Space of an Old Nana

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Woke this morning with thoughts already formed,  waiting for me.    About story.  the story of    person.   and specifically,  the story of a child.  of children.    This is going to be difficult to follow.   As i think it in this moment,  it's all over,  moving,  changing.    But if i can just get enough fragments here,  i can come back and back and understand what this morning was so clear.

2 things.   Words.  Story is words.  Words telling.      and then    Story is Lived experience.   as it goes.   I wonder about how we give children a story about themselves,  even if it is our best truth….it is Our story…..Rather than give them the opportunity to create their own lived story….Listen to them tell their own story of themSelves. 

When we tell children the stories we have of them,   we weave our own selves into that.   What i would like to do at this point in time is to watch closely this tendency….with what's happening over there at Virginia Ave.   Where at this moment,  right now, are   6 children.   Two of which i have not written about.    But, 6.

i went back in Deb G's blog…beecreative.typepad.com   to her 9/27 post  #90 Return.   her log cabin square that i just LOVED so much,  so surprisingly much…  and what  i am trying to work with here is like that log cabin square…the seemingly,  to me,  disparate pieces,  NEXT to eachother….their chothers….creating this most joyfull and satisfying Whole…just touching…not going into,  just being and being next to.   And the Story occurs of its self.   

and then.   To Note this distinction at this point in time.                                                                                                                                      I am OLD NANA here.  The great grandmother.   Jenny is New Nana.  The Nana.  the Grandmother.   She steps into her shoes.  Judy Martin….Judys-journal.blogspot  today.                                                                                                                                                          "the island state is a state of remaining within one's own boundries, undisturbed,  by any external influence.  It resembles a kind of narcissism or even autism.  One satisfies all one's needs on one's own.  Only the self seems real.  "                                                       Olga Tokarezuk                                                                                                                                                                                                               it resembles a kind of autism.    This i know.   This is one of the me people that i am.   and yet……..

stand back.   weave yourself  NEXT TO….but not into.    Weave yourself into yourself.   But not into.  especially children.  NEXT To them…close and with love.   But leave them the opportunity to live their own story .  and Tell it TO you as they go.

the Cloth.  more Tree body and 3 leaves.   Understanding the meaning of the Blue.

 

 

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16 responses to “Journal page Story the Space of an Old Nana”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    That’s a wise old tree holding the chothers, as I read your story I heard that old Crosby Stills & Nash song from Deja Vu on the juke box in my head, here’s a good link to that old song from1970 with an interesting animation made with sketches you might be able to tell this chothers story by animating your photographs of this cloth in process
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQOaUnSmJr8

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  2. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Yes let the children tell their own stories…equally, remain open to answering their questions because they will have questions. What I have learned from my own grandchildren, who faced the loss of their paternal grandmother when they were Emrie and Brinley’s age (4) and the loss of their paternal grandfather when they were 7, is to let them ask but don’t be so quick to toss off an answer; sit with the question and oftentimes you will find more questions come forth…

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  3. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    This is perhaps too theoretical for the moment but I am going to share.
    The class I am taking is currently discussing how we have views of children, of childhood, that we impose on children. The ones that we are discussing are more belief systems but it is easy to impose on children our own stories, our own perception of what is happening.
    I believe we have to be very careful with our stories. One of the theories of how children form memories is that they are told a story over and over again. It isn’t that they remember the event as much as the story. Another way that childhood memories are formed is when big events in our lives happen, they are remembered because of the emotion around them.
    I love how you see the log cabin square, that you see we don’t have to be the same to be together…

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  4. Liz A Avatar
    Liz A

    always I am learning … how to be my own true self … and how to let the children be their own lived selves

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  5. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    oops that was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, how could I forget!

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  6. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    I look, I examine, I see things from a different vantage point these days…Grace this was a beautiful, eloquent pondering post. Thank you, for what you say are thoughts I’ve considered with my own life with children.

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  7. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    the video is WonderFULL

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    yes. and, though, i was thinking of all this in terms of
    going forward. Of how this moment in time is so much
    True Story and how so easily story can be spun from it.
    To allow space for THEM to live their story of This Moment.
    and then, the Next Moment….it changing because it is
    alive and being LIVED….being Created in their hearts and
    minds as only they can

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    YES! exactly!
    “it isnt that they remember the event as much as the story”
    yes…it’s this….and it goes further….
    to not just events and memories, but stories that define
    who you are. Because you were…..say….bossy when your cousin suddenly appeared in your life and wanted your most loved Yellow bracelet….telling her what she could and could not have
    and then her, responding with pouting and going off to sit alone somewhere looking miserable, manipulative.
    None of this. Sing the Teamwork song as many times a day as needed. Learn how to do the days as they come and BECOME
    whatever…and then become again. to not carry the baggage of bossy/manipulative. This scenario was not overlayed upon them, but because it was relayed to me, i see it as Story.
    I am hypersensitive to that now maybe. So…a story about me would be…old nana, hypersensitive….

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    yes, Liz..this is SUCH a mission…our LIVED selves….

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i am groping…but the thread of possibility is
    pulsing

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  12. Liz A Avatar
    Liz A

    Deb and Grace – I am reading this again and realizing it is so significant … I will be sharing it with my daughters, who have kids ranging from 2 to 9 years old … thank you both

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  13. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    You both might be interested in a method of documentation that is done a lot in New Zealand (I am not sure exactly how common, but my impression is very in ECE) called “learning stories.” It’s done instead of the evaluations we are more familiar with. The teacher/caregiver writes a story about something a child has done/accomplished, something they observed. I feel like this is what is happening for Emrie. 🙂 I also think we are doing it for ourselves as we blog, a way of considering, which I like better than evaluating, what we are doing…

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  14. Joanne in Maine Avatar
    Joanne in Maine

    I wonder now how much of my early years was my own or was it a story someone made up for me…..to make me feel good about myself or to make me feel bad about myself. This post and the comments are valuable. Thank you for this. Even at 75, I think I benefit from understand what “went before…”

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  15. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    THANK YOU Deb for this….THANK YOU…YES….it is Tuesday now, and i am carrying these words with me…and YES…
    to write the story of the day, the time, the Story of it
    this has made such a difference for me…to be encouraged to think this way, DO, this way
    the difference is stunningly Beauty Full and so FULL of
    possibiity

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    these wonderings ….yes….so beyond valuable…make so
    much Possible. Even at 75

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