An Intention Evolves
I’m going to talk about “The Woman in the Photograph” today. Though the core manuscript is written, my understanding of the journey continues to evolve. Tell me if this sounds clear to you.
When the Berlin Wall fell, all this shocking (yes, it really was) information about my mother’s hidden life landed in my lap. At first I thought my quest was to find out about the woman in the photograph (I had never seen before) and what had made her so different by the time she became my mother. As the years past and the story unfolded, I discovered it was about finding myself. How had I been affected by an era of her life I knew nothing about. Yet I knew in my bones and I carried it with me. I sat at my computer, often weeping with grief long held in my heart, for reasons I didn’t understand.
Then it turned around. People came toward me, strangers, new sources of information, an inheritance, kindness, even a German stranger who not only wanted to help me find what i was looking for, but let me know that my mission was part of his life intention too.
As I began to feel I had come to the end, I knew as much as I needed to make peace, I saw my journey through a bigger lens. No longer just an isolated person who felt cut off and lacked a sense of belonging, I felt part of a bigger community and most revelatory of all, part of a continuity that started long before I was born and will be the legacy I offer to the future. Then the core theme of my story became what is my part in the generational continuum, the piece of history and consciousness that is mine…and in your case, that is yours…to clean up, acknowledge, transform, renew and send forward.
This is a big theme. We think we dropped into a 21st century techno world and the past is not relevant any more. Let ‘s talk about this. Send comments on your experience and suggestions for what you’d like to hear more about.