New Beginnings & Transformation

What better than to practice New Beginnings? Reinventing ourselves with the stories we tell ourselves is something we do throughout our lives. We often take the stories of others, those around us, in whom we have placed our confidence. And so stories are viral. They get around. Some to everyone, some to few, some to no one but the teller.

Transformation is the process of engaging in new beginnings. It is a process we often enjoy, but just as often do not, and much depends on our age in life. New beginnings of course come with the most frequency to the young. And so the young should be aware of this and engage in the process with understanding. To constantly think when one is young they have learned enough, or have a great understanding, would benefit to consider that perhaps their facts are misplaced, or perhaps along the way they were lied to. And so as life goes on we form new opinions out of old. And life transforms us.

Stories are the vehicle we use to make sense of our transformations. We have stories going on in our minds all the time. These stories we tell ourselves we also tell to one another. We even go so far as to invent stories just so that we can tell them to our friends, or share our experiences with others through fiction. As a kind of alias, least our imperfections be presented as such.

The process of shamanism seems to me to be one of exploring the other world. With an animal guide at ones side moving through the unheralded world between the worlds where the invisible creatures roam. To engage in that world. It is from this place, this divine realm, from these places beyond the veil that we derive our most ancient stories. The stories which have come up through time and never ceased to haunt our imaginations. Beowulf. Gilgimesh and Enkidu. Arthur.

From the depths of the ancient stories we have seen continuously replenished generation by generation the themes. Humanity has scarce changed since man first began to till the land. "There is nothing new under the sun". And yet, there are New Beginnings.

Role Playing provides New Beginnings. It provides stories. And these stories speak of our transformations. And sometimes they may bring healing. Other times they may bring us sorrow, or laughter, or joy. It all depends on who happens to be playing, the quality of the Gamesmastering, the verve of the players, and an ability to suspect disbelief long enough to experience something new, and transform.