Stories That Start with a Kitten

"Sometimes stories start with a bang, and sometimes stories start with a whisper, and sometimes stories start with a car chase or a fist fight or someone being born or someone dying. Sometimes stories start with a kitten. I mean, the funny thing about stories is that they don't really start or stop at all...It's just the telling that starts or stops."

This is the opening paragraph in the new book, Coyote Lost and Found, by Dan Gemeinhart, which is due out March 5th. I feel this is not only a great opening paragraph, but it also describes my relationship with slicing. 

As I get ready to jump into the March challenge in just a few weeks, I realize another year has gone by, and I have let my practice of slicing fall away. I always make a goal to continue slicing after I turn the page on my calendar, but for several years, I have fallen short.

But do my stories really start on March 1st and end on March 31st? If Coyote is right, then my stories haven't stopped...only my telling of them has.

My life right now is full of stories, but stories that are hard to share, and honestly, are quite depressing. I need to find those stories that "start with a kitten," that start with a little happiness.

It's time to find those stories hiding in my ordinary; it's time to start slicing again.

 

 Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating a space to share our stories.