@bethvogt Sometimes we just don’t know. That’s my takeaway from all the news swirling around Simone Biles. Sometimes we just don’t know the entire story and we need to be okay with that. Simon Biles is an American Olympic gymnast. The GOAT — the Greatest Of All Time. People love her. Love her story. She’s a gymnastics powerhouse and when …
What Do We Do When Our Stories Collide?
Choosing to be Kind and Gracious by @bethvogt Two stories collided the other day – and erupted in kindness and grace. The collision played out on national TV during a morning news show, and so I wonder if most people viewed it as merely news, overlooking the exchange of kindheartedness and graciousness. Allow me to recount the story for you: …
Uprooting Racism from Our Family Tree
Choosing to Love Someone for Who They Are by @bethvogt Last October, my son Josh remarried. His wife is a beautiful young woman named Meagan. I remember months earlier when my husband and I talked with Josh about his relationship with Meagan – about how we knew he was falling in love with her and yes, her three children. We …
In Others’ Words: Imagination Will Take You Everywhere
There was a time when I tried desperately to come up with a new story idea. As the saying goes, I had nothing. I played the writer’s “what if?” mind game while I drove around town. While I moved laundry from the washer to the dryer to the laundry basket. While I grocery shopped. While I loaded the dishwasher. While …
In Others’ Words: How Stories Conquer Fear
So … the robot. I came upon him while walking with my husband and youngest daughter during a a foggy day in Carlsbad, California last summer. Some ingenious artist painted him on the side of a building. And yes, this painting told a story. You can come upon stories in the most unlikely places. We expect them within the covers …
In Others’ Words: Surrounded by Story
More and more, I have come to love story. My life story — and other people’s life stories, too. To be honest, there are times I see someone and, at first, I’m closed to their story. Maybe they seem a little too different from me … and I’m put off. But I’ve learned to say to myself, “This person is …