stories

The right place

On Thursday night, we threw a “Sponsor Love” party with the Evelyn Kershaw Salon to show our appreciation to all of our incredible HeartStories GNO Sponsors. It was a delightful evening to mix and mingle, while getting a fabulous conditioning treatment and blow out. (I promise to share all the pics soon!) But these two somehow made it off to the side. They were out of the main room with all the hubbub, in a completely separate, quiet area.

For a party person like me, I kept wanting to fix it.

I wanted to drag that chair into the middle of all the others so Alison could feel all the “sponsor love”. But, of course, things were working out for the best, way beyond my party planning understanding. It turns out that these two needed that quiet room. They were both at the right place, at exactly the right time. They were exactly …

I grew up on a set of books called “ValueTales”. They’re a collection of stories published in the 70’s retelling the stories of famous people from the perspective of a little voice inside their heads, or “invisible friend”. Their little friends are of course, a bit corny, but the stories themselves are solid portrayals of the values built into their character by struggling through the moment by moment decisions of real life. They break down the larger accomplishments of these iconic people, who changed the world, into themes of consistent choices that shaped the people they became and ultimately, the way they impacted the world.

Over the years, those stories randomly pop in my mind as I encounter difficult circumstances.

They filled my little girl head with hope and curiosity and perspective. In the middle of struggles I never knew I’d face, or could even really comprehend, some of these characters and …

by Crystal Gornto Female Social Entrepreneurs Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

I spent a few hours with the gals at Swish Salon last night getting back to my “natural” hair color. While Lindsey was getting me all foiled up, we were chatting with Kerry (pictured above creating a messy bun during a recent GNO) about the history of HeartStories. Kerry owns Swish and has been a fabulous Girls Night Out sponsor for almost a year now. But we came to realize last night, that she’s never heard the story of how it all got started. She certainly hadn’t heard the history of all the struggles and different directions that led to creating the monthly GNO.

As I started to tell her, I felt an old familiar feeling creeping in.

I know its name. It’s shame. I could feel myself recoiling inside as we talked about the first big event in 2014, all the foolish choices I made, and all the reasons it took …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Our Story Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

When was the last time you held the mic for someone while they stabbed you with a Play-Doh dagger?

Been a while?

It’s incredible to me how even sitting alone in a room, a picture can take you back to a moment in time and rouse hilarious laughter. This image does that for me. If you weren’t with us that night, this picture makes no sense. But if you were there, it’s pretty hilarious. We’d split up in groups and each group had to work together to tell a made up ending to a story – using only clay.

Clearly Barbara’s group went with Play-Doh violence for the win.

The bigger picture here, is that it has been a wholelotta years since most of the ladies in that room have touched clay. For most of us, entire decades have passed since we’ve sat down at a table with friends to create a …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Do you remember a specific story from your childhood when you had to talk about something awkward with your family?

I asked that question Thursday night at GNO and the ladies shared hysterical stories with their groups. They then chose a representative to share the “most colorful” story with the whole group. We then had to determine if the person sharing the story was the real person who experienced the incident or whether they were faking the whole thing.

Hilarium ensued.

The stories we heard were real. The names might have been changed to protect the innocent, but the stories weren’t made up. They were hilarious and yet, many of them had never been told before.

Especially not in public.

It was fascinating to see the connections we made with one another when we realized that EVERYONE has awkward stories. Everyone has a past that isn’t perfect. Everyone has awkward moments, enshrined in …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Remembering those who’ve gone before us is always a mixed bag of emotions. Of course we remember the joy, the laughter, and the good times. But inevitably, we also remember the rest; the pain, the suffering, and the loss. The familiar ache of loss burns, when we take the time to remember. We often turn away from that ache as a means of coping. It’s easier to look away, than to look into the face of it.

But today, we say thank you by remembering.

We look at the pictures. We share the stories. We visit cemeteries. We take a pause from our busy lives to enjoy the ones we love, and in that pause, we honor the memories of the ones who gave all for this freedom we enjoy.

Who will you remember today?

I encourage you to share a photo, a story or a memory of someone who gave their life in service of our country. If by …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Love In Action Loving Others The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

A lifetime of little choices

I am strong because

Life’s too short to follow all the rules

Honor them all, by remembering one.