One Sentence

Fun Fact: I follow multiple blogs. It is a strange hobby of sorts. At current count, there are 71 that I am currently reading via a blog reader app. It started out as following the journey of one family's tragedy. Over time, I have added some professional blogs and some from friends - I even follow one of a USD parent that I don't know, but is really funny. And, of course, most recently I have added two different tumblr blogs. I mean, really, what's not to love about that whole phenomenon.

When it comes down to it, I just really enjoy storytelling. As I read these different posts, I am able to engage with others experiences. I can empathize, I can laugh, I can learn more about difference, and tackle the adaptive work of looking at my world & comparing it to theirs. I feel very fortunate to be a part of so many stories and truly great storytellers.

One of my favorite blogs is called, One Sentence.

"One Sentence is an experiment in brevity. Most of the best stories that we tell from our lives have one really, really good part that make the rest of the boring story worth it.

This is about that one line.

This is about telling the most interesting or poignant story possible in the fewest number of words.

This is about small bite-sized pieces of extraordinary lives and ordinary lives alike... the happy, the sad, the funny, the depressing.

Tell your story."

There is something about the honesty and refreshing clarity that comes from summarizing your story into one sentence. There is a cloud of tags that people can attach to their one sentence. I often find them to be as powerful as the sentence itself. They are a mix of funny and tragic, but each time my blog reader reports a new post I read it first.

I have written several times about being real and authentic with one another. I have tried to educate, lead, coach and model what having vulnerable relationships with one another looks like in the context of fraternity and sorority life. My hearts passion is for each of you to live a life that is fuller, more meaningful and completely genuine. Maybe this idea of "one sentence" to describe us is a way to get there. I have tried and worked at this exercise several times and it is not as easy as I had imagined. I enjoy the detail of life... There is always more than that snapshot moment. 

Here is the closest I have come:

It wasn't until the 5th time that I saw my sorority's initiation ceremony performed before the words really made sense to me.

Can you do it?