The Stories We Could Tell

In a recent Dancing Heart™ session after  warming up and dancing together, we created space where each person was able to share a favorite memory with the group. For some it was their first Dancing Heart™ and they were hesitant. Eventually each of us were able to share a meaningful recollection from our lives.

The sharing among people who didn’t  know each other  well was prepared for  by  patient, accepting attention for each person.  We went around the circle  saying each person’s name three times while carrying a steady rhythm together. After the storytelling one participant said to a friend  ”I was so surprised I was able to speak that out.”

One story involved a boy and his older brother.  ”Let’s go ask mom for some money” one of them said.

They went to Mom and pleaded for money and she said, “Here’s a dime, go get yourselves each a nickel ice cream cone.”

At the ice cream shop the older brother ordered just ONE dime ice cream cone.

The younger brother sputtered, “you were supposed to get TWO nickel cones!”

“Yeah”, the older brother said, “but I’m the one who had the dime”.

The younger brother went outside, eyes cast down over the injustice of it all.  Suddenly he saw A DIME!

Quick as a wink, he went in and got his own dime cone which tasted especially delicious, like a gift from the universe, after such a betrayal from his big brother.

They went home with their dime cones and Mom noticed something unusual had happened.

“How come you both have dime cones when I only sent one dime?” she asked.

The younger brother told what had happened and Mom said “So that’s how it is!” and  grabbed the dime cone from the older brother to help him think about what he had done.

For the younger brother, this correction of injustice made the remaining dime cone taste even sweeter to the point where he remembers it clearly even now.

Years later, the older brother became  manager of the neighborhood  ice cream shop and any rivalry feelings between them about ice cream were washed away in abundance.

This story had resonance for everyone in  the witnessing circle.

Peter~

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