TRIBES CHANGE TOO

On A Panel With Fellow Bloggers at a SCN Conference

I discovered my first real "tribe" thanks to author Susan Wittig Albert and an organization she founded called Story Circle Network. Their goal is to encourage women to share their stories -- get them out into the world, one way or another -- because they believe every woman has a story to tell.

When we first bought this house it was a weekend place, and we were still living and working in Houston. I knew absolutely nothing about blogs or the internet at the time, but was getting more and more obsessed with writing about our Hill Country adventures in an ever-increasing pile of notebooks. When I moved here full-time, I attended my first Story Circle conference over in Austin, and connected with an amazing group of women who, just like me, were determined to tell their stories. While there, I met a fellow writer who just happened to live here in Wimberley, and she was kind enough to introduce me to that wonderful tribe of creative women that I now refer to as my "Muses".

When Hubby decided I'd be better off writing and sharing those stories via a blog ("A what?"), and  when I then joined one of Story Circle Network's on-line writing groups, I discovered the joy of making connections with like-minded people via the internet, and soon had another "tribe" to inspire and encourage me. I discovered that the internet was also a great way to reconnect with old friends whom I had lost touch with. When one of my high school friends discovered that I was now living in Wimberley, she hooked me up with her best friend from high school, whom I hadn't really known at the time. High School Debbie then introduced me to the world of on-line art classes, which led me down an entirely different creative path, and introduced me to yet another tribe of creative souls.

High School Sarah and High School Debbie

My First Art Studio -- The Kitchenudio

Debbie and I at a Donna Downey Workshop

Then, of course, there was Lucky Star Art Camp -- The Ultimate Tribe!

Our Fearless Leader

And, with every new tribe I became a part of, and was influenced by, I came closer and closer to being the person I am now -- the one I was always meant to be.

Of course, the more I changed, the more this blog changed.