These past 6 years of moving around a lot have introduced me to some new people. If we hang out long enough personal history will come up. For quite a long time I had it in my repertoire of rote sayings that I had no regrets. The last couple of years has seen that being revised. I have more time to revisit events of a lifetime and closer examination, though something I do not advise most of the time, reveals some chinks in that armor. This morning Carrie Newcomer shared a post on her Facebook page it was posted by her colleague Parker Palmer. While some things I have done do merit a level of circumspection even to the level of regret, I think these two observations and her song fit my current thoughts on the matter quite well too.
“Writing a Better Story”
Chorus
I’m writing a new ending
With a better story line
Turn the page and leave the blanks
With a plot that’s less defined.
And though I won’t get back
A day of stolen time
I could go to bed at night
With a better story line
Verse
Leave that what can’t be changed in the past
Let the old house burn down
And the wind scatter the ash
Forgive myself for all the broken glass
For what I didn’t know how to say or ask
Chorus
Verse
Here’s the scene when I lost my map
When the breadcrumbs blew away
And there was no way back
Just the compass of my heart to find the path
Seen only dark, flash to lighting flash
Chorus
Bridge
There are stories shaped like stones
The ones our hearts have always know
The ones we finally call our own
Down where the spirit meets the bone
Verse
I’m ending where another story starts
At the edges I can grow, even when their razor sharp.
I’m grateful for the words that I bookmarked,
Before I really knew, I’d need them for this part
Chorus
Words and Music by Carrie Newcomer
©2019 Carrie Newcomer Music (BMI), BMG Chrysalis
https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-point-of-arrival/1450996218