Hi Campfire Crew!

Connie here, Season 16 Campfire fellow. I was drawn to the Campfire storytelling process because my creative energy needed a spark. You see, I grew up in a family of professional artists who saw success as devoting yourself to your passion and prioritizing time for creative pursuits. I’m deeply passionate about my day job as an eating disorder therapist, but it also involves a lot of containing my own reactions to make space for others…not to mention paperwork, emails, and faxing. You know, things that don’t exactly scream “Express yourself!”

I’ve needed a bit of coaxing from Sam (my Season 16 partner), Steven, and Jess to step outside the comfortable, practiced role of listener and to share my own experiences. I’m still working on that vulnerability edge as I hone my answer to our season question: How do you know when you’ve outgrown a container?

As a houseplant devotee and amateur gardener, I’ve turned to my plants for inspiration. A container offers them structure and holds the nutrients that support life. Yet, leave them in the same pot for too long and they become root-bound, wrapping up around themselves and wilting. I think similarly of past containers in my own life: They’ve offered me structure I used to grow, until I expanded so much that I was left with the choice to shrink myself or find a new home.

What are your containers? What has it meant to outgrow them? And how have you known? I hope you’ll bring your own thoughts about these questions to my Campfire on April 23rd, where we’ll create our own, unique space that just might hold some answers.

See you there,
Connie