Stephen Kiesling's blog

I recently led a workshop for novice travel writers at Rancho Encantado Eco-Resort in Laguna Bacalar, Mexico. A writer interviewed about the experience and posted his article at http://travel-writing.suite101.com/article.cfm/interview_with_editorinchief_stephen_kiesling

 

In the last few days where the economic news is all anxiety and fear, it is really wonderful to get little reminders to shift gears. Today I got this nice note from our Body Practice columnist, Jennifer Derryberry Mann, that shifted me out of stress and back to gratitude.

"I just got off the phone with Jon Schreiber, who is the director of the Breema Center, and even though I haven't physically experienced Breema, I feel as though I've just had a good session of bodywork. That call brought to mind some other wonderful conversations I've had over the years as I've talked to people about their body practices. It feels really great to think back to specific conversations where someone shared a personal story or an a-ha moment or a simple truth, and to realize that I had a better, happier, more meaningful day because I got to talk with that person. And I thought how cool and rare and just truly special it is to get to do work like that. I'm grateful.

Maybe now is a time to remember something you are truly grateful for, and pass it on

On Saturday I married an old sweetheart - to a wonderful man named John. I was the minister, a first for me. Carolyn has been a close friend since we dated in college. She and I danced together after the rehearsal dinner, the last dance of her single life. The song was "You Can't Hurry Love" and I know that Carolyn has spent many years preparing for her wedding day. The day and the setting in Sausalito, California, were spectacularly beautiful. And the couple was ready.  They had written their own vows, they had me ordained for the occasion, and gave me a good outline of what they wanted in their ceremony. I asked them during the course of the wedding, just before their vows, if they knew in their heads, their hearts and their guts that they were in exactly the right place - and they said they were. Without any hesitation.  Their feelings of love and acceptance and joy were palpable.

As a child I gave some thought to becoming a priest, but I have long since realized that I don't aim to preach to anyone, so I was nervous about stepping into the role of minister. And it was wonderful! The couple and the assembled family and friends provided the love. My role, I realized, was to help weave that love into a story that allowed the couple to say aloud what they needed to say to themselves, to each other, and to their community. Being a minister I realized is much like being a magazine editor. It is process of helping people to articulate their own stories. I have been writing professionally for thirty years and I still need an editor on some stories - just as I need my group of spiritual advisors on parts of my own life story. It seems to me that the goal in all of this is to try and help each other become more true to ourselves.