Here is the story I told around the campfire at the End of the World festival. Before I get to that, you all should know, strangers are welcomed warmly, there is whiskey, a fabulous bonfire, and story telling at the end of the world. <3
Once
upon a time... there was a woman -- as she was out walking one day, she
saw across a field a tower. She was seized with a desire to climb the
tower, so off she strode across the field.
As
she walked, fear and self doubt joined her. "It's too tall a tower, you
can't do it. Why would you even want to try? Who do you think you are
anyway, climbing a tall tower like that? This isn't your field, you
know. You are probably trespassing." As she walked, and they
harangued, she had a realization that all the gods, the goddesses, the
heroes that walk into battle with fear and mayhem and chaos... they may
not only bring those things with them to aid them in the battle, they
may also be feeling these things in their own hearts. She said to fear
and self doubt, "You can come with me, but you're riding shotgun and you
are to aid and abet MY interests now." They simmered down a little at
that, having been recognized and allowed to accompany her. Now and
again at a bump or a dip in a field they'd pipe up though.
She
reached the tower and went in. At each step she took, she folded a
tiny paper crane (one tiny crane goes on the fire). Each 1:1. Each
team meeting. Each meeting with a boss, with product and program
managers (starting with handfuls of cranes on to the fire), each
presentation, each company meeting, each meeting with directors, each
meeting with vice presidents, each step all the way to the top of the
tower.
At
the top of the tower she stepped out into the air. In the far away
distance she could see another tower. Or maybe it was a mountain, at
this distance it was hard to tell. Between here and there it was only
fog. She couldn't see the bottom of the tower over the edge, nor the
lands that lay between her and the next tower.
And
then the staircase on the inside of the tower started crumbling. As it
fell, she realized she couldn't go back the way she came up. And then
the outside edges of the tower started crumbling. She took a deep
breath and stepped off the edge of the tower (all the rest of the cranes
go on the fire at once). It is unknown whether all the cranes set free
eased her landing with the lightness of their wings, or whether,
untethered, they flew off into the sky. As she hit free fall, she sang her people's daily practice:
At the edge of the world, I gaze at the moon
Light and shadow reflect light and shadow.
My heartbeat is magic, mystery enfolds me,
As I am blessed, I bless the world.
