Here I am sitting waiting to catch the ferry from picton to wellington. Its been a busy few days, first running a planning forum in greymouth and then hanging out with friends on the westcoast.

Taking stock of the last couple of days, a few things have stood out, firstly the amazing stories I have heard from travelers and friends about where they have come from, how they arrived at this point in time, and where they are heading.

Lately I have been reading a lot about the power of stories and how they define, shape, and inform our lives.

Talking to various people, and listening to their stories made me realise that we are all part of the stories of the people around us. For example after listening and sharing my story with others, I was hit by a profound thought. When the conversations are over and people go their own ways, their stories have new characters. It may seem that meeting people fleetingly has little significance, but here's the thing, they go home with you now part of their unfolding story, and they part of yours.

A thought..who are all the people who have come into your life, fleetingly, and have been lost in the noise of your life story? If you were to look back, what gems, or hidden stories are waiting to be refound? And what can be learnt from revisiting those moments.

Just a thought while I wait to get back to the main part of my story.


Gino Maresca

Interested in the power of stories? Check out the work of Micheal Meade at  http://www.mosaicvoices.org 

Mosaic Multicultural Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. As a network of artists, healers, social activists, and community builders. Mosaic formed to create cross-cultural alliances, creative mentoring relationships, and educational projects. Mosaic actively seeks to encourage greater understanding between people with diverse and divergent backgrounds and experiences. Projects include mentoring youth and developing elders, finding common ground between those in opposition, and shaping community events that unite people of various cultural and spiritual backgrounds. Mosaic means putting essential pieces together; shaping new social forms from separate, divided, even estranged parts. The creative process of finding, fitting, and weaving together divergent, yet necessary elements of a diverse culture involves making new social fabrics from existing ethnic, spiritual, psychological, and political threads.