Stone Soup
Stone Soup is a story about generosity and community, and maybe gullibility, but also a story about magic, and how small increments can lead to miraculous results.
The Stone Soup story has several variations. A stranger comes to a village. Sometimes he's a con artist bilking the rubes. Sometimes he's a sage who convinces a stingy community to share. He claims to be able to make soup from a stone. He asks for a stone, a cooking pot, and water. Now all he needs to make the soup a bit more flavorful is... a carrot, some parsley, an onion, a potato, a side of beef, etc.
Stone Soup is a story about generosity and community, and maybe gullibility, but also a story about magic, and how small increments can lead to miraculous results.
I use the Stone Soup Method to work toward my visions. Like any clever con, I run the Long Game. What will trick me into playing? No matter how many times I've fallen for it, I remain easily fooled.
All I have to do, I tell myself, is take one tiny step.
Then another one. Then another one.
All I have to do is sit at my desk.
All I have to do is scribble my thoughts for a couple of hours.
All I have to do is make an outline.
All I have to do is turn the outline into my first draft...
All I have to do is show up.
The Stone Soup Method is founded on routine - the simple harness of discipline that causes the next step to naturally fall into place. It also helps to involve the village: classes, writing groups, feedback, walking companions. However, there might be a risk in getting too comfortable with structure and missing out on surprises.
An alternative technique is the Putting a Message Out to the Universe Method and seeing what shows up. A few years after our beloved dog died, we allowed as how it might be time for another dog to find us.
The universe sent us a cat.
I try to add a little spicy chaos to the soup and look back and forth between nose to the ground and eyes to the sky.
Love the images here -- both the photos and those in the words.