“Turning the love that grief leaves behind into a piece of beauty that lifts up others, Laura Formeninti shares the life lessons that loving and losing her son has taught her in 21 Olive Trees. These tender and touching fables offer a message of hope to the grieving – that love never dies.”
Understanding animals shows them respect. Doing so illuminates the interdependence between and among species, including humans. This understanding doesn’t come from books or nature films alone. It doesn’t come from a brisk walk through a zoo. The understanding needed grows through the guided exposure to animals’ stories, strengths, threats and survival skills.
The great philosopher, Joseph Campbell, has written about the hero’s journey. He studied ancient myths from all over the world and discovered that they all told the same stories, even though they were a world apart. They told stories about the origin of the world and stories about the stars and love. These stories all had the same structure. And I believe Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey is the story of HSPs (Highly Sensitive Person) and how we can own our power.
As an archeologist and philanthropist, world travel has been my lifeblood and has led serendipitously to the transformation of the lives of orphans and the welfare of abused animals in five countries over the last sixteen years. I met ordinary people who, like me, just wanted to make a difference in this world. In this time of the Coronavirus, the world has shuttered. Suddenly our passions, projects and even our connection with people have been put on hold. How do we keep transforming ourselves and the world from the confines of our four walls? How do any of us continue to do what we’ve always done with such dramatic life changes? How do we find a new normal?
As you can see, Doris is a reluctant hero. She didn’t believe that there were such terrible creatures in the world and that the bad things that the fairies talked about could actually occur. She doubts and doesn’t want to be the one to do something about it because that meant the small fairies living in her huge home would discover it was messier than most, and that her kitchen appliances and artwork were out of date.
12. The End of the Journey This is the final stage of the hero’s journey. She returns home to her Ordinary World a changed woman and will have grown as a person, gained knowledge, faced many terrible dangers and even death but now looks forward to the start of a new life. Her return may […]
Amazing storytelling is crucial when fundraising: good stories inspire. Good stories coming from the heart, that is. Stories that have the power to change what is outdated and no longer works. Stories that live in and for today’s world, and not in the long-gone past. Stories that resonate with the collective consciousness. These are the tales of transformation and of love in action.
