Illumination Writing Challenge

Something Strange Happened

It is funny what you see when you open up your eyes

This story is a response to a writing prompt provided by Infiniti when I asked for challenge ideas on the ILLUMINATION Slack channel. Infiniti is working on a response and I kind of think that hers will be more in the mystical realm.

Mine might be considered mystical by some, but I am doing it in the form of revelations I have experienced over time. I think the idea of, “And then, something strange happened…” just sort of triggered a cascade of ideas in my head. So, this is where I am headed.

I am sure you are familiar with the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In a lot of ways I feel like my life has followed a similar path. In the story, the caterpillar spends time eating various foods, some of which weren’t beneficial and nutritious to the caterpillar, and he developed a stomachache.

My early story is a bit like that. I carried on with life mostly driven by instinct, or equally perhaps, just following the wind and tide of what was going on. I suppose I was laying a foundation for growth but didn’t seem to be doing much growing.

There was a point, however, when I went through a metamorphosis. It was decidedly painful and involved the dissolution of a long marriage and some reconciliation of both myself and my friendship relationships. But that was an awakening of sorts. It allowed me to realize that we are all growing, or at least getting ready to grow.

It was after this metamorphosis that strange things began to occur.

First, I learned the art of asking for help. I call it an art because there is a certain grace that comes with asking for help. It isn’t really a skill, so much as a practice. But I began to learn it and use it. I began to ask for help early on when I first suspected I might need it, and something strange happened…

First off, people listened. That in itself was pretty amazing. But, not only that, but people who I had considered stand-offish or cold tended to be the ones that jumped into assist. It turns out that those people had some similar preconceptions about me as well. As soon as I asked for help, I became more human and more relatable, and they were much more inclined risk getting close. I made a lot of friends by simply asking for help when I need it.

Next, I had a realization about the relationship with my teenage boys. The teenage years are tough, it is a time when kids are becoming adults and there is potential for a lot of conflict during this time.

I realized that if I were in their place, hearing platitudes that were satisfactory evidence for a 7-year-old to change their behavior wasn’t going to cut it. Instead, when issues about house rules and expectations came up, I took the time to explain my position to them rationally as if they were another adult.

I didn’t stop being a parent, but I did become more human. I explained why house rules existed and I admitted that I didn’t have all the answers, but that we would always talk through things rationally and come to an agreement, and then something strange happened…

The push back slowly stopped. And even little things like getting dishes to magically transport themselves from the sink to the dishwasher began to happen without prompting. When sticking points became discussions rather than, “just because”, they tended to iron themselves out.

Next, I found out about the power of saying “yes”. Things I might have wrinkled up my nose at before, or found a convenient excuse to avoid, I began to accept and say “yes”. I accepted invites to get togethers with people I didn’t know well or thought I didn’t want to get to know well.

I volunteered to be a non-profit board member, and with the county Search and Rescue team. I took on “chores” that weren’t super desirable at work, and then something strange happened…

I found myself in wonderful new friendships, gained immediate kudos on the job and got the opportunity to do cool stuff, like hanging 400’ off the side of a cliff. Things happened to me that absolutely wouldn’t have happened before; and they were all good things.

Life isn’t ever as simple as changing from caterpillar to butterfly. I was a pretty boring butterfly for a while, and still had a lot of caterpillar habits and ways of thinking. But knowing that I could change made all the difference.

After that, it still takes a lot of work. You have to make those consistent and persistent choices to accept new situations and allow yourself to change. Sometimes you have to work really hard at it, and sometimes you don’t see immediate positive results. Sometimes things kind of suck initially.

But, if you accept the fact that you can change, and then make the effort to do so, I guarantee you that something strange will happen…

Thank you Infiniti for the prompt. Let’s see what Eli Snow, Daniel G. Clark, Tree Langdon ♾️, Eashan Reddy Kotha, Paroma Sen, Keno Ogbo, James G Brennan, Uchechi Obasi, P.G. Barnett, Charles Roast, Sherry McGuinn, Joe Luca, Rasheed Hooda, , B. A. Cumberlidge., Paul Myers MBA, and Holly Jahangiri have to say about a time when things were going a particular way, and then something strange happened…

If you like this, you might like some of my other recent writing, including my July daily roundup of writing challenges such as this one:

And a recent response prior to a challenge:

And this blast from the past:

Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.