"The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.”
(Michael Margolis)
In the recent “Tell Me a Story” blog series, I mentioned that storytelling has been used for multiple millenia in cultures around the globe to teach, to connect and to re-pair people with themselves and their communities. Stories are a healing art.
Here in the US, we are currently in the part of the election cycle where politicians, pundits and broadcasters talk at us day and night. Their intent is most often to alarm us into action, preferably getting us in their camp to garner our votes. All of this fear wears us out! (Click here for a blog on trading fear for empowerment.)
As a counterbalance to all of the Words Words Words, I am going to spend the next few blogs telling you some stories. It might seem counterintuitive to offer more words, but understand the difference: The words coming at us in the public sphere are a monologue. In storytelling, we create a dialogue in the spaces in between words and in between giver and receiver. I’m not interested in telling you what to think. Instead, I will be using story to invite you into your own thoughts, inspired by whatever comes up for you as you listen.
I will give each story to you in three forms so that you can choose whatever serves you best. I will write them, give you a video presentation of each, and also offer an audio version on SoundCloud. I hope you find something useful in each one.
I’m looking forward to meeting you in the spaces between the words. “VV.”