This week Awesome Stories brings you joy, mystery, inspired leadership, and owls.
Reclaim Your Joy
This is another touching post by Rachel Macy Stafford filled with authenticity and vulnerability. In this post on parenting, she talks about losing her joy and seeing the impact on her family. When her husband reflected that she was never happy anymore, she realized it was time to do something. Kind of like with me, when I lost my job, savings, and confidence. Like Rachel, I’ve worked at reclaiming joy and responsibility for my life. Rachel started with the awareness that she needed to stop expecting externals to make her happy, and focus on being happy within. Gradually, she rebuilt her life. The climax of her story is when her mother tells her how great it is to see her granddaughter “ thriving and growing into a content, creative, and nurturing person. We know for a fact the changes we see in her coincide with the changes we have also seen in you.”
The Power of Not Knowing
I enjoyed this article by Maria Popova about Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska. She writes about Wislawa’s inspired poetry that speaks to the power of not knowing and how the certainty that we want can get in the way of learning and growing. In her estimation, inspiration comes from constantly embracing the unknown. She also wisely spoke to the extremes of certainty often leading to tyranny and destruction. Whereas, the phrase “I don’t know” can be a gateway to enrichment, inspiration, wonder and awe. This is a good reminder for me that it’s OK to not know the answers, and instead to embrace the questions, mystery and not knowing. I certainly don’t want to live in an isolated island utopia. How about you?
Inspired Leadership
I wish I had a boss like the one in this story. A nuclear lab was transitioning from weapons to commercial products and hired a consultant company to help them with leadership ideas. The consultants suggested a peer review by all the employees on all the managers. The boss in the story received a horrible review and accepted it. He admitted the problems, posted the reviews, his plans for change, and committed to another open review in 3 months. He also challenged all the other leaders to do the same. The power that used to be only top down was given to everyone, and they took up the challenge with gusto. Innovation, fun, communication and cooperation all surged leading to dramatic changes at the lab and a record number of patents. Kudos to their inspired leadership.
Cute Owls
I don’t usually post pictures or videos of animals, but these photos of owls are just too cute! And I admire the patience and talent of Thailand-based photographer Sompob Sasi-Smit to capture such wonderful images. Owls are very graceful, fierce and often hard to find due to their camouflage and nocturnal nature. He talks about his passion for birds and how hard it is to find owls. He’s taken thousands of photos over many years. Here is an adorable collection of his photos on Bored Panda.
May your week be filled with joy, mystery, inspiration and cuteness!
writing to freedom 
Owls ARE cute!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hoot, hoot! XD
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good morning Brad – The first segment about reclaiming joy…spoke to me in a big way. I often think that it is when we lose a lot…ultimately we can gain much more! Like you, about 12 years ago I lost a lot of material stuff, and had to begin again……At the time, it was daunting, but with 12 years behind me now, i can see that the journey has been a good one and brought me to a much deeper sense of fulfilment and self contentment and understanding. I realised when it happened to me ( a big project I was working on fell through) that I had moved away from Joseph Campbell’s philosophy of ‘following my bliss….’ I was trying to force things, and for me when I do that….it doesn’t work. I think I have learned that lessons now 🙂
I believe that in knowing so little, which is the case for me and most others, there lies the excitement of exploring and learning. For those who think they know everything…life must be very boring.
Wise Boss…..
And beautiful owl images….thank you once again for a superb post. Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend. Janet 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Janet. I appreciate you sharing your story and loss and rebuilding. I hope to look back one day being grateful for my losses and realize they helped me become a deeper, wiser, more loving person.
Hugs and blessings for Mother’s Day… ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – and Happy Mother’s day to you. We celebrate on a different day/month in the UK and so I am always surprised when the American version comes along Janet :)x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. Likewise for me not keeping up with the different days celebrated around the world.
LikeLike
As always, the stories you curate and choose are wonderful. I love owls – and not because they’re “big” right now. It’s because they’re absolutely remarkable creatures. They say that the eagle (or hawk) is the ruler of the day and that the owl is the ruler of the night. For good reason: their stealth, unparalleled vision and ability to do so many incredible things: silent flight, catching prey, turning their heads, and so much more. 🙂
Good stuff here as always!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Cynthia. I’m with you on owls; they’re awesome! XD Happy Mother’s Day!
LikeLike
Wow! Sorry I missed these great stories earlier. I’m on it now. That record number of patents is impressive. All these stories are so important. Thank you for collecting and bringing them to us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome JoAnna. I’m glad you found value in these stories, and thanks for your support. 🙂 I hope you have an inspired week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Anything is Possible! and commented:
I found Brad’s Awesome Stories from a couple weeks ago to be interesting and helpful.The unhappy mom reminds me of the “Ms. Responsible” role I felt driven to uphold 20 years ago. The article on not knowing teaches us the risks of certainty and the power of possibility when we admit we don’t know. The boss who admitted he didn’t know showed courage in asking for feedback from employees. And the owls are beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you JoAnna. I’m glad the stories touched you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Brad. They sure did. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great!
LikeLike
I want to thank you for introducing me to the writings of Maria Popova. This is the second article I’ve read of hers now, and I really enjoy her writing.
LikeLike
You’re most welcome Ka.
LikeLiked by 1 person