A New Year Inspiration: How will your wits guide you in 2024?

Jan 1

The Crow & the Pitcher

In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.

Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.

In a pinch, a good use of our wits may help us out.

~ Æsop

As a child, one of my favorite books was Æsop’s Fables—filled with brilliantly illustrated, captivating animal stories that taught me how to be a good human without finger wagging didacticism.

At the time, I did not know of Æsop’s personal story or the lack thereof. In fact, I had no idea that Æsop was believed to be a figure of legends not of skin and bones.

Gerard Leeu (Publisher), 1486, Antwerp, Belgium

For thousands of years, his life story has been colored by those telling tales about him. He was a 6th BCE Greek slave; a 1st CE advisor to King Croesus; a 1st CE freed Ethiopian slave and riddle solver who irritated the Delphinians with his fables and was forced to leap to his death.

As an adult, I am drawn to the multiple interpretations of the fablist’s life, for it illustrates just how varied one’s life narrative can be depending on who is telling it.

Æsop’s life story emulates the narratives we all hold within and without us. Yet, there is one significant difference: We are neither literary nor historical legends.

Different voices, different narrators, different phases in our lifespan help shape our identity and influence how we come to understand our place in the universe.

In a therapeutic setting, you are invited to explore the woven threads of your life chapters. As the co-founder of Narrative Therapy, David Epston, explained,

Every time we ask a question, we’re generating a possible version of a life.

Through questions and deep dives, you embark upon a healing journey by re-authoring your story through the thinning and thickening of your narrative.

On the first day of a new year around the sun, I invite you to think about your story. Like the crow, you have wits about you that can guide you in times of struggle, distress, and chaos.

In honor of Michael White, Epston’s Narrative partner, I emulate the question he posed to his clients to you:

I was wondering, dear Reader, if I might get to know you through your wonderfulnesses?