Music to Our Ears
Last Wednesday morning, the House teemed with an almost chaotic energy. On one side of the retail space, our silver, metallic blue, and purple Christmas tree sparkled in the sunlight piercing the gaps in the wood blinds. But, across the room, pumpkins, scarecrows, and fall leaves adorned the shelves. Debbie, our operations manager, two volunteers, and all the ladies hustled to convert our usually calm and peaceful space into a bustling holiday cornucopia of Christmas gifts and goodies.
In the midst of all this, we held a workshop.
Rebecca Arendt, Executive Director of The Iris Collective, Katie Hook, the Operations and Production Manager, and Marcin Arendt, a brilliant violinist, visited the House to lead a Six Word Story workshop. The Iris Collective is performing a concert at Sweet LaLa’s on October 22nd to highlight the mission and work of Thistle and Bee, Bluff City Toffee, and us. The musical selections for the concert are chosen to represent the organizations, so the workshop was designed to help The Iris Collective better understand who we are.
The concept of the Six Word Story may seem odd. It is derived from a genre known as Flash Fiction. Maybe the most famous one is misattributed to Ernest Hemingway and first appeared in print in 1906. The story read:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
The idea is that words have power and a poignant, captivating story can be told by choosing the right words.
To accommodate the abundance of Christmas gifts, the table we normally meet around was occupied, so everyone gathered in the kitchen. A few sat, but most stood, and none of us expected what came next.
Each one was given a card and asked to tell their story in six words. The words could be drafted as a sentence, a phrase, or each could stand apart from the others. Once the stories were written, the author would read her story, and Marcin would retell the story through his violin.
The first story read:
“Again, she failed. She tried again.”
The wise woman who wrote those words explained to the group,
“In spite of your life seeming to be a series of failures, you have to try again…I don’t have the option of just laying down and dying. I’ve got to try again regardless of how I feel.”
Marcin paused for a moment, readied his instrument, and played a series of notes that captured the near resignation of failing over and over, but then it arced with sounds and rhythms of persistence and determination. On cue, a chorus of nodding heads agreed that his interpretation was on point.
Another storyteller wrote:
“Jesus. Poverty. Self-sufficient. Bringing community back.”
The words alone evoked “ahs,” “mmhms,” and “yeses.” Then Marcin played and the tears welled-up in our eyes.
For the next few minutes, the ladies shared their stories with common themes of trusting God, brokenness to redemption, sisterhood, love, peace, and happiness. Marcin captured every sentiment beautifully. The ladies embraced throughout, and we all cried some more.
We’ve written many times about the chaos that often exists in the lives of the women we serve outside of the tranquility and compassion experienced at the House. Murder, addiction, fear, and hopelessness are familiar to every woman that comes to My Cup of Tea.
Metaphorically, the swirl that greeted us at the House that morning, like the “swirl” in the lives of the My Cup of Tea women, consumed our senses and distracted us from our true purpose. But in those few moments spent reflecting on our journeys and listening to the stories of changed lives, each of us was reminded of our blessings and the One who sustains us all.
And that is music to our ears.
“The Lord will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord.” – Isaiah 38:20