The OTHER Side of the Story

Oh what fun it was performing under the beautiful oaks of the West Baton Rouge Museum last Friday with the Florida Street Blowhards during the monthly "Historical Happy Hour" series.
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Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us for this show!

Last weekend I also had an opportunity to play solo during Sunday brunch at The Gloriette restaurant inside the Southern Hotel in Covington, LA. What a beautiful space it is, and I even ran into my high school physics teacher (one of those rare people who made class fun with toy rollercoaster models to learn from and a field trip to Jazzland to see physics at work in the real world).

In addition to prepping full-speed for the Summer Swing show June 9th at the Manship Theater, it's also time to draft a second speech for the Toastmasters International Speech Competition in case I make it past the Regional Round. This is the first international level of the contest and each contestant is required to use a different speech at finals. Is my speech up against some tough competition? Definitely! Could I lose in this next round? Of course! But if you prepare for the BEST outcome like you prepare for the worst, then you're always ready when opportunity strikes :)

Getting back into story mode has allowed me to dig through many fond memories and reminisce. But what has been most interesting is something one of my coaches pointed out last week as I was relaying one favorite story involving my youngest sister: "Have you ever asked what this event looked like/felt like from HER PERSPECTIVE?"

Truthfully, I had not.

I had assumed plenty of things. She was a kid back then--would she even remember much of it?

But I had never directly asked her to share with me her version of the story with me.
So last weekend, I changed that.

And boy was I surprised.

As my coach suspected, the "other side" of the story revealed several key points and motivations I had never thought of. Adding my sister's perspective helped me better understand her as a person. It also made the story richer, more meaningful, and more complete.
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Do you have a favorite personal story involving others that you've never dug a little deeper into? It may be worth asking a question or two of those involved to find out their perspective. In the process, you may uncover something that helps you better understand them too!
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With gratitude,
Ashley
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