49: Christina Baldwin: The Life Purpose of a Spiritual Storyteller

Christina Baldwin discusses the power of storytelling, journaling and holding circle (The Circle Way Process); the story of how her influential book, The Seven Whispers, was birthed, and living the unconventional life.

 “Let's be a community. Let's know one another. Let's tell one another enough true story about who we are that we break the pattern. We have a synergistic energy that makes us dynamic and powerful.”– Christina Baldwin

About Christina Baldwin

Christina Baldwin is a writer, wanderer, teacher on the trail of community and story; she is co-founder, with Ann Linnea, of PeerSpirit,Inc. and The Circle Way Process, bringing modern structure and application to the human heritage of circle. Christina is the author of 7 books, including (with Ann) The Circle Way, A Leader in Every Chair; Storycatcher; Life’s Companion; Calling the Circle; and The Seven Whispers, Spiritual Practice for Times Like These. She works cross-culturally and internationally instilling circle process wherever it can flourish and in the Art of Hosting network.

....In this show….

Christina Baldwin's Life Purpose

• To share stories and help people realize that we can take action between the borders of our lives and the bigger story.

Life Purpose Ah-Ha Moments

• As a 10 year old in the 4th grade, Christina Baldwin read two stories in the paper about wheat surplus in America and starvation in India. She shared her idea about sending the surplus wheat to India to her father, who explains to her that "that's not how the world works". Christina Baldwin's heart broke when she was told that wheat was pushed into the sea, but then decided at this early age that she wanted a world where these kinds of events didn't happen anymore.

Major Life Events that Hinted at Your Life Purpose

• In high school, Christina Baldwin was moved by the diary of Anne Frank. She learned from Anne Frank's life that even if you don't survive, your story can. Because this was during the time of  the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and threats of WWIII, Christina Baldwin took her own diary, Anne Frank's diary, a couple of Life Magazines, Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Bible, and buried it in a bank box in the woods. This was a moment she linked her own life to the larger story.  She knew then that her life's work was going to be to save the story and to help everyone live their true story.
• In college, Christina Baldwin took a course called "Man And His World", which taught about peace activism and feminism. She then became a different kind of woman than how she had been raised and what she saw in the rest of the world. She carried her new sense of feminism into her literature course, in which her professor challenged her to relate each novel to feminism. This gave Christina Baldwin the ability to look at the world through a lens without being consumed by it.
• At the age of 30, Christina Baldwin went to a writers conference and was given a 15 minute time slot to talk about the importance of journaling. She offered to speak more about the subject after the prevention in a conference room, and forty women showed up. The organizer of the conference encouraged Christina Baldwin to write a book about journaling. This lead Christina to write her first book "One to One: Self-Understanding Through Journal Writing." This topic was so new, that the Library of Congress created a new category for it.

Spiritual Belief

• "Yes"  (Listen for details)
• Raised in a liberal and loving aspect of Protestant Christianity and thinks of Jesus as a profound teacher and healer
• Considers herself to be "Episcopagan"
• We show up with aspects of the divine radiating out of ourselves over and over again.
• Defines God as "what happens in the space between. God is what is happening between the whirling atoms that create this whole universe. God is what is happening in the space between you and me when we are in heart space. God is when I really see creation and am moved to tears by beauty and courage."

Recommended Personal Growth Resource or Practice

• Journal. Make time to wonder about yourself and reflect on why things are the way they are.
• Walk in nature.

Christina Baldwin's Wisdom on Igniting Life Purpose and Personal Growth

"There's a poem by William Stafford called 'The Way It Is' that begins, 

'There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.'

There is a thread, a narrative thread, that we're holding in ours lives. If we hold on to that thread, sometimes the story shatters, terrible things happen, surprises happen and we have to surrender to them. But as long as you hold to this thread, you're going to be okay."

Interview Links and Special Offers from this Episode

• Christina Baldwin's website
  • Find the "Resource" section for a Circle Guideline
• Christina Baldwin books mentioned in the podcast
  • The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These
  • The Circle Way: A Leader In Every Chair
  • Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story
  • One to One: Self-Understanding through Journal Writing
  • Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest
  • Calling The Circle: The First and Future Culture

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