Stories From the Fringe

Hospitality of Thought

Some of the best ideas are born out on the fringe, tendrils of thought twining around in unexpected places, like sometimes when we wake up from a dream and catch those last images that are just forming into thought. Those things might be easily dismissed.

But what if we nurtured them like volunteer plants that come up on their own in the compost every year, out of place and suspect. First of all, what are they doing out there, outside of the garden, behind the shed, on top of the cow dung and dead leaves? And secondly, why are they constantly encroaching on the already strategic plan for my yard?

Yet, over time, those plants unfold, revealing their nature. Their capacity to flourish may surprise us. Sometimes they end up being the strongest plants. If they survive the transplant into the more domesticated garden they bear some pretty amazing fruit with just a little cultivation.

Paying attention to thoughts that show up on the fringe has the potential for bonus productivity. Some leading corporations have recognized the value of fringe thoughts. Some have even incorporated “down time” into the workday for their employees tasked with innovation. Research has confirmed the value of wandering thoughts.

We can tap into this same principle outside of the workplace, where ever we are. And for writers, those thoughts can turn into a bumper crop of stories.

Some of my best, most satisfying writing experiences have come from the fringe. Once in a state somewhere between waking and sleeping, a title for a book came across my consciousness in banner form. I followed up the idea and it became a major book project that was a watermark experience for me. Another time in a sort of stream of consciousness voice memo to myself, an insight came to me about a cultural aspect of a place I was researching. I grabbed the thought, developed it and it became a hinge piece for some work I was doing.

Stories sometimes spring up in our culture in out of the way lives, lives that have been outside of the mainstream, women or ethnic minorities who have been sidelined, neglected children, or any number of would-be storytellers whose voices have been silenced through intimidation, lack of validation or lack of opportunity. Their tendrils of thought spring up outside of the prescribed boundaries.

Those stray tendrils of thought or lose threads of fringe have potential to become the creative raw material and nourishment for the fabric of story. Some of the most powerful stories I’ve heard have come from the refugee women I worked with in a resettlement program. They escaped burning villages, running for their lives with their children, survived war and famine or simply had the courage to get out from under a politically oppressive regime and enter a country where language, custom and institutions were new and strange to them. They persevered until they made a new life. Stories like these move our hearts and encourage us in our own journey.

What if the “fringe” were seen as an ornamental border rather than “not part” of the whole? What if those loose threads of people’s lives were woven into a fabric of such unique brilliance that the larger story begins to shine in remarkable ways?

What fringe thoughts and stories would you like to nurture?

Writing Prompt Word For the Week: Belong