Hello to you listening in Hamburg, Germany!

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

We are living in a time of historic upheaval. But what if this currently confusing, chaotic, confounding, cultural churn is stumbling toward change that reveals the hidden roots of social injustice for what they are so that we can reconfigure for good?

How easily the safeguards can be leaped. And they have been. We can clutch our pearls and bemoan the times we live in; or, we can invite our feelings of hopelessness to give way to action, to repair, restore, and renew out of the ashes of the old ways. We are responsible for making change because we’re the only “sentient force” that can.

Question: What one small grand gesture are you committed to take on behalf of what you love and care for?

These words from the Irish poet Seamus Heaney may motivate and sustain you wherever your feet touch the ground, whatever progress you are intent on making today.

“History says, Don’t hope

On this side of the grave...

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up

And hope and history rhyme.” [“The Cure at Troy” Seamus Heaney]

BONUS: Seamus Heaney reads his poem, The Cure at Troy

The Cure at Troy (full text)

"Human beings suffer

They torture one another,

They get hurt and get hard.

No poem or play or song

Can fully right a wrong

Inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols

Beat on their bars together.

A hunger-striker’s father

Stands in the graveyard dumb.

The police widow in veils

Faints at the funeral home.

History says, Don’t hope

On this side of the grave…

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change

On the far side of revenge.

Believe that a further shore

Is reachable from here.

Believe in miracles

And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing:

The utter, self-revealing

Double-take of feeling.

If there’s fire on the mountain

Or lightning and storm

And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing

The outcry and the birth-cry

Of new life at its term.

It means once in a lifetime

That justice can rise up

And hope and history rhyme. [From "The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes"]

You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.

ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Ellsworth, Maine!

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

Long ago in China there were cities surrounded with towering walls and magnificent gates. The gates let people in and out of the city but more importantly the gate was the place where the soul of the city resided. How do you build such a gate?

People would collect the bleached bones of warriors from the old battlefields and carry them back to the city where they were sealed inside the newly constructed gate. The hope was that the long dead warriors would protect the city in exchange for being remembered. When the gate was finished it was sprinkled with the blood of a specially chosen animal because it was believed that adding blood to the dead bones would bring the souls of the warriors back to life. [Inspired by Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami published 2001 - pages 15 to 16]

Writing your story is much like this. To begin gather together the bones of the story for shape and structure. But a story is organic; it needs a soul to live and breathe. Invoke the "sorcery of stories" to link the world of your words with the world of your imagination and you’ll create the soul of your story.

Story Prompt: Where might the soul of your story reside? What will bring it to life? Write that story! And tell it out loud!

Practical Tip: The magic of stories is also in the sharing. If you wish share your story with someone or something. All that matters is you have a story.

You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.

Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Hello to you listening in Cartegena, Columbia, South America!

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.

Perhaps like me you have walked a long road to find out how to use your voice to shine a light into the world that would be vastly incomplete without you. Perhaps you might still feel self-conscious about using the power of your voice.

Hear me when I say this: it’s your time! You did not come to Earth to be quiet. Set aside your limiting beliefs. They are of no use to you! The world needs what you have to give. If what you have to give is a cup of water would you deny it to a world that is thirsty? Of course not!

The more you get to the heart of your message and the message of your heart the more likely it is that you will speak your truth, live your truth, and the world will be less thirsty.

CTA: You can always read another "How To" book; but how much more fun, engaging and memorable would it be if you and I could chat about how you can get to the heart of your message to connect with, engage and influence your audience. If you are curious email me at Quarter Moon Story Arts to set up a Discovery Chat. Let’s get to the heart of your message!

You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.

Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.