Essays about life in exactly 99 words.
Why precisely 99 words? Many of our daily experiences may seem ordinary or even trivial. But if we boil them down to their essential ingredients, we can often remix them into new recipes that can be applied in unexpected situations.
Think of these stories as exotic seeds for critical reflection. Then use them to spice your own quotidian experiences and add meaning to your life. When you reach a profound conclusion, please share it with us so we can be enriched too!
| Choose a Story | |
| Deficit or Asset | Room to Wiggle |
| How Big is Home? | Heartfelt Giving |
| Faster Than... | The Trivial Things |
| Crash Friendships | Tired of Retirement |
| Always in Crisis | Location, Location, Location |
Devon is a boy with autism. His biggest problem is that he reads and spells out every road sign on car trips. His parents dreaded driving. They could not abide his annoying habit - until they took a wrong turn onto a back street in Boston. It was Devon who saved them by reciting every street they had driven through.
Who would have thought: a different situation and Devon's deficit became an asset. Now he takes the copilot's seat for every road trip.
Sometimes a person's problem is really a gift if we give them the opportunity.
Driving across the New York interstate a car approached from behind. With lights flashing and horn blaring, a middle aged couple smiled and waved enthusiastically as they sped past. "Hey, what's up," I thought. Then I noticed their license plate: Nebraska, just like mine but a county across the state I'd never visited. I waved and smiled emphatically.
The three of us had yet to meet but here, a thousand miles from home, we were neighbors, even friends. We could exchange gossip at a diner!
The farther you are from home, the bigger home becomes.
Standing in line at the Batman Rollercoaster for 45 minutes, we were hot, sweaty, and brain numb listening to the Joker's theme song over and over. A few people began to leave. What was happening? Should we stay in line, get a return on our time investment? Should we leave and cut our losses?
"It'll be closed for hours," my daughter speculated. That was it. Instantly we were at the tail of a long line in the opposite direction as her words spread and people began to leave.
Our rumors and reputation spread faster than our actions!
I was zooming down the highway on the way to an appointment. I'd borrowed my wife's car, a bright green VW Beetle. Coming toward me was the identical car. In the brief moment as we passed, I could see the passengers smiling and waving. We were friends in that instant!
Now, this never happens when I drive my old Subaru! Yet people seem desperate to discover something in common. They'll grab the slimmest thread of shared interest and begin weaving a stronger relationship.
Perhaps we can use this strategy more often to create friendships; build our communities.
At a local social service agency, each case manager worked with up to ninety clients solving problems and dealing with difficult situations on a daily basis. Their supervisors dashed from one disaster to the next while juggling meetings and paperwork. Everyone wore a cell phone. The most common comment was, "I'm in crisis!"
One summer, most everyone took a week off to attend a workshop out of town. During that time, not a single client phoned with an earth shattering problem. Somehow they took care of themselves.
I've often wondered who really created all the emergencies.
The steam room at the "Y" has just one switch: on or off. Flip the switch and wait. Is it really on? Something must be happening deep inside the plumbing guts of the health club but you don't know what until a spray of steam shoots into the small room. That's when you know it's "on."
A binary system is OK for computers, but in real life there is wiggle room. A lot can happen between on and off, left and right, liberal and conservative.
How often do we needlessly confine ourselves to only two options?
You might assume that Generous Street in Brattleboro, Vermont would be broad and long with prosperous businesses and large, stately homes. In fact, it's probably the shortest in town, just one block long. Only eight modest houses line this dead end street.
Some may think Generous Street is misnamed but I don't agree. Generosity can come from skimming off one's excess wealth. However, it can also come from a big heart, a spirit of abundance, a realization that I have enough for both myself and to share.
We don't have to let our resources dictate our generosity.
One time I was reprimanded for leaving the meeting room at work in disarray. It was true I'd neglected to clean up the coffee cups but the criticism seemed a bit over the top.
Later that day I was sweeping the deck at home. The best technique was to let the dirt, dust, and dead bugs drop through the spaces between the wooden floorboards. Usually "falling through the cracks" means someone got hurt. The system didn't work.
But sometimes we should use the cracks more: to sift the insignificant things out of our lives and relationships.
For years, Mitchell had a successful business selling shoes in our small town. He had a reputation for personable service and quality products. He thrived on the regular contact with all types of customers as well as business and community leaders.
At retirement, he moved with his wife to their northern Minnesota lake home where Mitchell spent his days fishing and, literally, losing his mind. He became listless, irritable, forgetful. Dementia set in. When he took a part-time job selling cars, his usual alert, vibrant self returned immediately.
If you've got a purpose, you've got life.
When we built our home under a stand of Vermont maple trees, we were determined to keep the property as wooded as possible. Instead of planting a lawn, we seeded the area close to the house with wildflowers and perennials. The rest we left natural.
Wild blackberries sprang up quickly: whip-like strands with thorns like claws and bitter, tiny fruit. Fortunately, they were shaded out by a dense growth of ferns. But in the lupine beds, those same ferns are crowding out the flowers we've planted.
What's a weed; what's not? Depends on where it grows!
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