Toward the Roar

A few weeks ago Challenging Perfection highlighted stepping into and exploring discomfort. I've hear the African fable of "going toward the roar" with the same idea. The fable goes something like this:

When lions hunt, the old slow lion finds a place to hide in the grass and the young agile lions stand ready. When a heard of gazelle (or whatever go by), the old lion roars a ferocious roar. The gazelle run away from the roar and right into the path of the young agile lions.

The moral: When loud ferocious things scares you, run toward them because sometimes that's the safest place to be. Here's a more detailed version of the story.

One of my biggest fears is of messing up and making mistakes. Last week I went toward my fear. I made curtains for a baby's room. I'm a novice at piecing fabric and sewing it together with perfectly matched seams. To give something less than perfect to someone else is something I can't do, and my machine sewing is not something perfect enough to gift.

At the very end of the project, I realized I hadn't anchored the corner seams well enough to keep them from untucking and unraveling. I decided to use these super fancy flower and swirly stitches my sewing machine could make for me. As I sewed, fancy stitches wandered--off the fabric. Instead of ripping it all out and starting over, I made up a story:

Bee Adventurous*

Once there lived a bee

He drank to much honey

and wove his way

through a flock of birds

He came upon some flowers

and stopped to rest

He play with the monkeys

The bee felt better

He wandered through

wide banana leaves

enjoying the sunshine

The bee smiled

He flew through a herd of elephants. 

He was feeling quite well

as he navigated tails and toes

and curling trunks

The bee was finally home 

He ate a bite of honey

and was rocked to sleep

in the breeze that held the hive

that cooled the elephants
that rustled the wide,
wide banana leaves
 that carried the laughter of monkeys

that held the birds
as they soared through the clouds
that carried the scent
of flowers and sweet, sweet honey

This month at the Writersvibe we are highlighting are favorite children's stories. When was the last time you told or read a child a story? Could you read to or spin a tale for someone this week?

*Thank you, Team Whale Rider, for the creative spark!