“If you are a dreamer, come in⁠.

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar⁠,

A hoper, a pray-er, a magic-bean-buyer⁠…

If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire⁠

For we have some flax golden tales to spin⁠.

Come in! ⁠

Come in!”⁠

– Shel Silverstein.⁠

I have the gate 11, the gate of ideas, in my Human Design chart. When I’m with someone who has the gate 56, the gate of storytelling – it’s either magical or painful.

You see, the gate 56 is a projected channel, so it has to be invited to speak. If someone starts storytelling but I haven’t asked them, I feel trapped into listening (my open solar plexus means I tend to avoid confrontations!), and I end up feeling annoyed that I can’t get a word in edgeways with my own ideas I’d like to contribute.

When I ask someone their story it means I have energy for them at that time and I’m genuinely interested in hearing what they can tell them.

In this case it’s totally different. When someone with the gate 56 waits for an invitation to tell their story (and obviously this doesn’t have to be a formal invitation; it can include someone showing their active interest in the conversation) – well, it’s a whole different story!

And if they ask me for my ideas as well (gate 11 also needs to be invited), the experience can be magical!

My ideas and interest feeds into the person’s storytelling. They give me space to contribute and in turn I ask them to speak more. Together, we create the channel of curiosity, and arrive at a deeper understanding of the story and the ideas it encompasses together.

So if you have a story, this is your invitation!

Come sit by the fire. Come in, come in!