What the World Needs Now: Stories

What the World Needs Now: Stories Lynn Schweikart Barry Lopez, who passed away from prostate cancer on Christmas Day, 2020, wrote in his book, Crow and Weasel, “If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.” It’s been a year since the pandemic upended our lives. Gigs have been cancelled. Venues shuttered. Friends and colleagues lost. As our world has been buffeted by economic dislocation and political, social justice, and climate-related crises, many of the cherished ideals and assumptions that had long sustained us seemed illusory.  Yet as in Pandora’s box, hope remains. Storytelling—our craft, our profession, our passion—has been proven to be more essential than ever. Stories have come. Stories have been cared for; given away. You don’t have to look further than our own NEST experience: Sharing the Fire was cancelled; yet NEST has helped to spread story sparks far and wide. The Worldwide Virtual Storytelling Guild introduced us to the possibilities that come from expanding our reach into the virtual world.   Through our newly launched FLY program—Folktales, Life Tales, Youth—experienced storytellers are connecting with and inspiring a new generation of tellers. In record time, we pulled together and pulled off NEST Fest, an online celebration of storytelling that brought the NEST community together with storytellers from around the world.  NEST members and the storytelling community at large responded with online education, collaboration, and sharing.  Yet this is not a time to rest on our laurels. Our country entered 2021 in a state of civil unrest, if not outright civil war. How do we heal the fissures in our communities? How can we bind our wounds and begin to move forward together to create a world that nurtures us all? I have a one-word suggestion: stories. Rational arguments, no matter how wisely or passionately argued, do not have the power to change hearts and minds. Only story can do that. And so as storytellers, we must work even harder to unearth, create, and spread the kinds of stories that provide meaning and direction, that reveal our deepest truths as people sharing a nation and a planet. It’s about changing the world by changing the stories. Jungian analyst and storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estés writes: “Stories set the inner life into motion, and this is particularly important where the inner life is frightened, wedged, or cornered. Story greases the hoists and pulleys, it causes adrenaline to surge, shows us the way out, down, or up, and for our trouble, cuts for us fine wide doors in previously blank walls, openings that lead to the dreamland, that lead to love and learning, that lead us back to our own real lives.”1 If ever there was a time that calls for the power of storytelling and storytellers, this is it. So let’s continue care for the stories that find us. And let’s keep looking for the many places where our stories are needed and give them away. At NEST, we’ll do everything in our power to help you. And please, we’d love your feedback as to how we can all move forward together with this initiative. How are you helping? What more would you like to do? Please add your ideas to the comments, or email Deb Roe at nestorytelling@gmail.com.   Thanks! Lynn Schweikart NEST President   Lynn has been a member of the NEST Board of Directors since 2013, becoming president in 2020. She is also a marketing communications specialist, copywriter, and sole proprietor of LKS Creative Counsel.  She uses stories and storytelling to help clients develop brands and content that engages, informs, and inspires.   [1] Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype (Ballantine Books: 1992)

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Using Stories at Home for Character Education

Using Stories at Home for Character Education ©Heather Forest 2020 Stories are a powerful form of metaphor. Images and action in a story, along with the wise or foolish choices characters make can be like seeds of thought that take root in the heart and mind of a young listener and can blossom over time into new ways of seeing, feeling, and understanding. As a young mother I discovered the power of stories to make a point with my own children when they were just toddlers. Although I nourished my children on a daily dose of traditional tales from around the world, they always asked for Jama and Reema stories at bedtime.   The Jama and Reema stories were ones I improvised at their bedside and were always based on what had actually happened during the day. The boy and girl who starred in these stories were uncannily like my two children Lucas and Laurel. If something went awry during the day and either of them exhibited an unsavory character trait like bullying, greediness, or being physically aggressive, the offending episode would undoubtedly be recounted in the bedtime story adventures of Jama and Reema. I always took the liberty of having the stories I told about Jama and Reema resolve in ways that I would have preferred had happened that day in real life.   The story character Jama came into our household when my son Lucas, who is now a grown man of thirty seven, was two and a half years old. I fondly recall the story of “The Blue Bike.” My husband and I took Lucas to the local bike shop to buy a tricycle. Lucas fell in love with the floor model and quickly figured out how to ride it across the floor. “I want this one!” he blurted.    We said we would buy it for him and he pushed it to the counter.  The sales person brought out a big cardboard box. We paid the bill, my husband picked up the box, and we turned to leave. I took Lucas by the hand and attempted to guide him out of the store. Lucas pulled away from me, threw himself on the floor and had his first full-out tantrum. “I want the blue bike!” he screamed, kicking and flailing on the floor.    Embarrassed at the noise he was making I tried to comfort him saying that we DID buy him the bike and it was in the cardboard box Dad was carrying. Lucas looked at the blue tricycle he’d left by the counter and wailed. “No you didn’t! It’s still over there!”    We managed to get both Lucas and the cardboard box into the car without resolving his confusion. I tried to calm him in his car seat by insisting over and over that there was a blue bike in the box that was exactly like the blue bike in the store.  But the tantrum continued all the way home and into the kitchen of our house where I opened the box to show him the blue bike. The bike in the box required assembly. When Lucas saw it in pieces, he screamed, “It’s broken!!!!”   We quickly assembled it and soon a smiling child rode a new blue bike around the kitchen. That night as I dressed him for bed in blue pajamas, Jama came into being. I told Lucas all about a little boy named “Jama” who went to a bike store with his parents and didn’t know that the bike in the box needed to be screwed together,. “Just like me?” Lucas said incredulously. “Just like you!!” We laughed about silly Jama.   When Lucas’ baby sister was born, Jama got a baby sister too.  “And do you know her name?” I asked.  “Reema!” Lucas said.  “That’s right! How did you know?” I said.    From then on we had Jama and Reema stories. When Lucas was jealous and had a difficult time sharing me with the new baby, Jama had the same problem. Jama learned to share his toys with Reema at the same time Lucas learned to share his toys with his sister Laurel. “Just like Me!??” was Lucas’ favorite response to each story about Jama.   When Lucas turned three he became diabetic. As I held my sick child in the hospital when he was first diagnosed, the doctors and nurses buzzed around us teaching us how to prick his tiny fingers for blood samples and how to give him three insulin shots a day. That first night as I sat beside his hospital bed wondering how we would cope with our new medical reality and our expanded parenting responsibilities I said. “Guess who just got diabetes!”  “Jama?” Lucas asked.  “Yes!” I said. “He was scared but now he’s brave. And he couldn’t pronounce glucometer.” “Just like me??” Lucas said. “Just like you,” I replied and hugged him tightly.  “I love Jama,” Lucas said. “So do I,” I said. Heather Forest is a storyteller, musician, award-winning recording artist, mother, farmer, and respected member of the international storytelling community. She lives on Long island, NY.

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Amanda Gorman and the Magic of Youth Spoken Word Art

Amanda Gorman and the Magic of Youth Spoken Word Art © Paula Weiss 2021, Director, Children at the Well   On January 20, 2021 our nation welcomed Amanda Gorman…

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The Delightful Marriage of Old World Storytelling and New Technology

The Delightful Marriage of Old World Storytelling and New Technology © Misty Mator Normally I would start a blog for January with…

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Inviting Storytelling into Your Homeschool or Classroom

Inviting Storytelling into Your Homeschool or Classroom By Karen Chace © 2020 www.storybug.net   “Storytelling has demonstrable, measurable, positive, and irreplaceable value in teaching.” Roger C. Schank, “Every Curriculum Tells a Story” Every storyteller knows how effective stories are in the classroom, complementing every aspect of the core curriculum and learning style. As a teaching artist and professional storyteller, I have taught over 700 children the art of Oral Tradition for the past eighteen years and witnessed firsthand how valuable it is for my students. It has augmented their learning in a variety of ways:   improved their writing skills enhanced their vocabulary increased their cultural knowledge sparked their imaginations strengthened their self-confidence developed positive interaction with their peers   Many of my students continue to use story and storytelling in many areas of their classroom work, in elementary, high school, college and into the business arena. It is a lifelong skill that will always serve them well. Whether a child is learning remotely this year or has returned to the classroom, I hope you will consider merging storytelling into your activities, both to enlighten and entertain. To assist you I have compiled a variety of resources; while it is not an exhaustive list it is a useful starting point. You will find information and lesson plans on the following subjects, including articles, interviews, books and more. Here is an overview of the topics covered in this piece:   Aesop Fables American Folklore Animal Fables Art Drama English Language Arts Fairytales Folktales Fractured Fairytales Icebreakers Lapsit Resources Legends Lesson Plans Math Myths Science Social Studies  STEAM Storytelling in the Core Curriculum Trickster Tales World Cultures Worksheets Writing Prompts   CURRICULUM RESOURCES ABC Teach - Several ideas and links for story writing prompts on a variety of subjects and age levels. https://tinyurl.com/y6f4qru4 Aesop and Ananse: Animal Fables and Trickster Tales – These lesson plans students will help students “become familiar with fables and trickster tales from different cultural traditions…” https://tinyurl.com/yyegaq49   Dragons and Fairy Tales in Science Class – “Using stories as a hook to grab students’ attention leads them to deep engagement with scientific concepts.” https://tinyurl.com/y262a3dc   Education World.com - Lesson plans on Ten Characters from American Folklore, Pecos Bill, Daniel Boone, Johnny Appleseed, and more. https://tinyurl.com/y2shvltg    Exploring World Cultures Through Folk Tales - Students will gain an appreciation of other cultures as they read and research folktales from around the world and present their story and research to the class. https://tinyurl.com/2358m7y   Fables and Trickster Tales Around the World - Lesson plans, information and stories, everything you need to introduce your students to those globe-trotting tricksters, Anansi, Brer Rabbit, Fox, and Rabbit. https://tinyurl.com/y42mfzmt    Fractured Fairytales – “This interactive tool gives students a choice of three fairy tales to read. They are then guided to choose a variety of changes, which they use to compose a fractured fairy tale to print off and illustrate. Useful for teaching point of view, setting, plot, as well as fairy tale conventions …this tool encourages students to use their imaginations and the writing process at the same time.” https://tinyurl.com/ybohlo7   Learning Math by Seeing It as a Story–  “An English teacher trigonometry asked students to explain an equation to a child and to turn discrete problems into a story.” https://tinyurl.com/y5tquptx     MathsThroughstories.org – This site offers book, lesson plans, how-to books, research articles and more to combine math and story! https://tinyurl.com/y22cm98p   Once Upon a Time - Lessons for teaching about fables, fairytales, folktales, legends, myths, and tall tales.   https://tinyurl.com/yy4qfjd2  Story Elements Alive! English Language Arts – “After working collaboratively, students engage in independent activities such as completing a character map; a setting illustration; a problem/solution chart; a beginning, middle, and ending activity; and a story map.” https://tinyurl.com/y3p3fs24 Storytelling and the Common Core Standards - If you are seeking information on how storytelling connects with the Common Core, YES (Youth, Education and Storytellers) offers a comprehensive, downloadable document full of information to make your case.  https://tinyurl.com/yygn323w   Storytelling and Drama – Carol Read shares how to “incorporate story-based lessons and drama activities into the English-language classroom.” https://tinyurl.com/y3a2etz4    Storytelling in the Social Studies Classroom – “Students tell their own stories and explore the stories of other Americans. Hearing and telling these stories helps students realize that social studies is not simply the study of history, but an exploration of real people and their lives.” https://tinyurl.com/334lftt    ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS   Developing Student Storytelling Skills to Set Up Future Career Success – “Anthropologists have long understood that storytelling helps us engage with others, share emotions and find common ground through personal experiences. It’s a part of our makeup as humans.” https://tinyurl.com/y39yty6v    National Council Teachers of English: Teaching Storytelling Position Statement “Story is the best vehicle for passing on factual information. Historical figures and events linger in children’s minds when communicated by way of a narrative. The facts about how plants and animals develop, how numbers work, or how government policy influences history—any topic, for that matter—can be incorporated into story form…”  https://tinyurl.com/y69cl8z6    Storytelling in the First Three Years – An important article from The National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families.  In part it states, “The richer the repertoire of storytelling styles a child is exposed to, the more possibilities for that child to develop his or her own powerful narrative voice…” There are additional resources on literacy, play, brain development and more. https://tinyurl.com/y2t8srpp   Storytelling, Story Acting and Literacy in the Boston Public Schools – Fascinating interview about the program, Boston Listens, “based on Vivian Paley’s innovative storytelling and story-acting approach.” https://tinyurl.com/yyesquqj    Twelve Way to Integrate Storytelling in the Classroom – “Storytelling is a powerful method of communication… Following a character on a journey of exploration, empathizing with the character’s problem, yearning for a solution, and reveling in the outcome helps to shape our mental state.” https://tinyurl.com/y5eqz8fq   BOOKS TO COMPLEMENT THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM   Easy to Read Folktale Plays to Teach Conflict Resolution https://tinyurl.com/y3bdgqya    Science Through Storytelling: Strategies for the K-5 Classroom https://tinyurl.com/y35o2xht    The Storytelling Classroom- Applications Across the Curriculum https://tinyurl.com/y2x3gmen Raising Voices: Creating Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes https://tinyurl.com/y5bdjn2v Story by Story: Creating a School Storytelling Troupe & Making the Common Core Exciting https://tinyurl.com/y36udemo    Super Simple Storytelling: A Can-Do Guide for Every Classroom, Every Day https://tinyurl.com/y39tz7b3   Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling https://tinyurl.com/y5wtr3np    Write Right: Creative Storytelling Techniques https://tinyurl.com/y2bawbyd   STORIES Looking for stories to share with your children? These three websites will lead the way.   Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts – By far one of the most comprehensive sites on folklore and mythology from around the world.  The tales are numerous and grouped alphabetically by genre.  https://tinyurl.com/3301     Storybee – A terrific website with a wide-variety of storytellers sharing tales from around the world to entertain and enlighten your students. https://tinyurl.com/nwfu3k    Storybug Blog – This is my own blog where you will find thousands of stories on almost any culture, theme, subject, and holiday.  https://tinyurl.com/23c6dq3   SOMETHING EXTRA Drama Source – This UK site was created for drama teachers but there are games, strategies and lesson plans for parents and teachers alike. https://tinyurl.com/y6d4cchg Education World.com - Fourteen icebreakers to make the first day of school run smooth as silk. They would be fun to use throughout the year as well.  https://tinyurl.com/y6ezo7pz    Learning Together: Educational Resources – Art, Music, Math and More – This is a blog filled with resources I put together when we first moved into remote learning. Lots of terrific information here. https://tinyurl.com/y2xzls74    Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and web links may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.    This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

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Worldwide Virtual Storytelling Guild

  Worldwide Virtual Storytelling Guild Contributed by Jim Brulé The Worldwide Virtual Storytelling Guild (WVSG) was launched by Hope Lewis and Cris Riedel two years ago - long before the time of Covid, and in the earliest days of Zoom and storytelling. It was originally conceived as an opportunity to give storytellers in the more remote quarters of the Northeast a chance to build community, and it saw a good, positive response early on. It wasn’t long before it found its ranks swelling beyond the geographic region, and climbing rapidly in number, and so it added the “Worldwide” qualifier to its name. The main purpose of the WVSG is to provide storytellers with a “guild” environment in which to work on stories, old and new, rather than act as a performance space. We usually schedule 5-6 storytellers per 90-minute session, which allows for each to tell for up to 10 minutes and have time for substantive feedback. Often storytellers will come with questions that they want the others to address, but frequently they just seek constructive critiques. Members of WVSG come literally from around the globe and every continent except Antarctica (so far!). There are three online gatherings per month: the zoom links can always be found here: https://www.nestorytelling.org/invite-to-next-vsg-meeting/. Recordings of each meeting are distributed among the membership. Storytellers for WVSG are routinely booked at least one, usually two months in advance.  Its growth has continued in every dimension - the number of members, the events it sponsors, and the presence it has. Currently, there are over 500 members of its Facebook page, and nearly an identical number on its mailing list (generously supported by Jo Radner and American University). The Facebook presence is lively, but the real work occurs in the thrice-monthly meetings, where each attendee has the chance to experience the stories through their own unique lenses, and offer support and assistance. WVSG’s first major international event was co-hosting “Tales from the Longhouse” with FEAST - Federation of Asian Storytellers - in a multi-hour event that featured eight storytellers sharing indigenous stories from the East and West. Another special performance evening was recently held for tellers from the Indian subcontinent. We expect to continue this practice on a quarterly basis going forward. We invite all storytellers to join us, no matter whether you are a beginner or a “well-seasoned” veteran - we all have a lot to learn by telling to an attentive audience who wants to help us grow.  Please join us!     Jim Brulé is a Maggid - a transformational storyteller. His stories and students span the globe; his online storytelling school has been operating for years. Jim is a board member and immediate past-president of Northeast Storytelling and serves on the board of Artists Standing Strong Together.

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Those We Cannot See

Those We Cannot See ©Madelyn Folino 2020 My cousin, Archie, died in late March. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know for sure whether his death at home in Manhattan was due to Covid-19 or not. Having been born on the day of the 1929 stock market crash, he had a sense of history and a quirky sense of humor, too, so I think he wouldn’t have minded being part of another historic event – a worldwide pandemic.  Archie was an Ivy Leaguer, an Army vet of the Cold War era and had been the superintendent of a large, urban school district when only his in 20s. He went on to become a college administrator and a Dean of Students for four decades. After retirement, he became an actor and found roles in several feature films, a Madonna video and an episode of Law & Order: SVU. He loved every minute of acting and was proud to be listed in the IMDb.  He was also a closeted gay man for most of his life, longing for a partner “who looks like Ronald Colman – is that too much to ask?” He loved Broadway shows, New York, fashion, family stories, gardening and dogs. He could strike up a conversation with anyone, making a big fuss about a dog being walked or a fine display of homegrown flowers. He never forgot a name and always remembered to inquire for news of friends and neighbors he had met while visiting family. He followed my children’s college careers with interest and would often exclaim “You’re so lucky! None of your children are drug addicts or homeless!” To my objections that this was rather a low bar, he would shudder and say “Oh, you have no idea of what I’ve seen.”  Archie cared about his community and served as a Democratic committee member in his Chelsea neighborhood. He showered gifts on us younger cousins and throughout his long life, paid K-12 parochial school tuition for a succession of minority students. He was buried next to his beloved older sister and best friend, Floss, in their New Jersey hometown. She had secretly converted to Judaism for one of her marriages and so, in solidarity, Archie, a Scotch Presbyterian, arranged for a Reform Rabbi to preside over his funeral. His wasn’t the first Jewish funeral I had attended, but it was the first via live streaming from a Protestant cemetery on Passover eve. As always, my cousin showed how to bring people together in surprising style and with love.  This has surely been a season of death and we are very conscious of “those we cannot see,” a Haitian Creole phrase for the invisible departed who yet are so much in our memories and on our minds. In my county, an hour north of New York City, 500 people have died, among them my former boss’ husband and son, a married couple who were high school classmates of my husband, three family members of my Latina coworker and numerous elders. I’ve learned to keep a selection of condolence cards on hand and to dread emails headed Sad News.  I’ve always been a devout reader of obituaries since my early career as an EKG technician. I saw many patients die over my eleven years in that job and eagerly turned to their obituaries to complete my sense of each person by learning about their lives, families, education, jobs, religion, hobbies, pets, favorite clubs and charities - all the details offered to understand their place in the community and not just to remember them for the deaths I had witnessed. Well-written obituaries can be minor masterpieces to sum up a life. Recently, I’ve been collecting memorable quotes that appeal to me: Among Fred’s chief mourners will be Anheuser-Busch. It breaks our hearts that she’ll no longer be in the world with us. He was a rare find and so much harder to lose than we ever could have imagined. She was a friend of Bill’s for over thirty years. He loved golf and his family – in that order. He had become an incredible person! (about a 13-year old) She was born February 25, 1909 in Plattsburgh, NY.  What intriguing snapshots obituaries are, illuminating glances into lives lived and lost and promising material for storytelling, too. Over a year ago, I had challenged my storytelling guild members to tell the story of someone they didn’t know by choosing a current obituary. It was an interesting exercise and it reminds me now, again, of all that we have lost with the passing of “those we cannot see.”  As storytellers, like everyone else, we may be casting around, trying to figure out how to negotiate this coronavirus world of new rules and social isolation, but there’s fertile ground for our art in reclaiming the stories of those who have perished. It’s important work, whether we do it for family, friends or strangers. We have the skills to organize anecdotes and facts into meaningful narratives that can be treasured stories for humanity and history. No one’s really gone until their story is no longer told, right? Every time I write a letter of condolence, I include memories of the lost one and my hope that families and friends will tell stories of remembrance about them. What history, accomplishments and revealing nuggets of personality are preserved when we make the effort to save these stories! I’m quite sure my obituary someday will say something like “It absolutely killed her not to proofread this.” So, NEST sisters and brothers, I challenge you to use your art to make stories of beauty out of the terrible times of 2020. Let’s get together and swap them when next we meet.    Madelyn Folino is a storyteller and library director from Orange County, NY. She was co-chair of Sharing the Fire in 2019, as well as the 2020 conference which exists in suspended animation waiting to be awakened. She tells many stories of “those we cannot see.”

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What the World Needs: A Circle of “Active Disenchanters”

What the World Needs:  A Circle of “Active Disenchanters” ©Andy Davis 2020 Saturday, November 14 at 3pm Andy is moderating a NEST Fest on-line panel on “Using Storytelling for Social Justice (https://www.nestorytelling.org/using-storytelling-for-social-justice/). What follows are his ruminations on framing that discussion.   In times like these it seems inevitable for creatively engaged humans to look inward, to scrutinize why we do what we do. Are the tools I wield and the ends I pursue what the world needs right now?   The 20th century theologian Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.” I’ve wrestled with that quote. I love it, but…but how can we not ask what the world needs? Thurman was a wise and strategic civil rights activist. He was one of those most responsible for bringing Gandhian nonviolence to the Black Freedom Movement in this country. He can’t really have meant for us not to ask what the world needs, can he?   Remembering that he was a theologian helps break the cipher. By “what makes you come alive,” he was getting at what most connects you to the “Life Force” in capital letters, the generative power at the heart of all we know. If storytelling is what makes you come alive, you might resonate with our ancestor Brother Blue’s response when asked once to define storytelling. He said “It’s God speaking to God about God.”   But we’re not talking here about solitary mysticism. Someone once said that the artist must draw out of their soul the correct image of the world, and use this image to band their brothers and sisters together. It’s about bringing our siblings into the circle.   But not just our contemporaries, even. Rhode Island teller Valerie Tutson has a seminal story that has stuck with me for years about her student days at Brown. One of her professors was George Houston Bass, the playwright and director who also happened to be literary executor to Langston Hughes. During one class Professor Bass wanted to make a point about bringing the ancestors into the circle, so he pulled up another chair, carefully removed an urn from his bag, and gave it the empty seat: Langston Hughes’s mortal remains! The great poet eventually found a more settled resting place, in Harlem, beneath a cosmogram in the tiles of the polished terrazzo floor of the atrium of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Another circle.   This week, I was rereading a chapter of Lewis Hyde’s Trickster Makes This World, and a phrase jumped out at me. He was referring to Frederick Douglass’s transformation from someone who was merely free and merely literate to the iconic, magic-making, transformational figure he became. Hyde writes that Douglass had to be willing to speak and write in public, which enabled him to become “the active disenchanter of his master’s world.”   “Active disenchanters.” That is what we can aspire to be. But we disenchant by weaving a different spell, enthralling our audiences with the possibility of centering the world on other values, those of our forebears, heroes personal, historical and folkloric. Values that center the earth and non-human creatures, and our children’s children’s children, who are waiting to take their part in the great eternal becoming.    Magic this powerful begins by tracing a circle, widening it, and drawing the people in.   Andy Davis has entertained audiences as far afield as Paris, Bamako, and San Diego. He lives with his wife and daughter at the foot of Mt. Chocorua, in the southeastern corner of the White Mountains, where he co-directs the World Fellowship Center, a peace and justice oriented camp and retreat center. His most treasured possessions are his bicycle and his tenor ukulele.

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Oars in the Water- Healing Storytelling Alliance (HSA) Deepens Relationships Virtually in the time of Covid

Oars in the Water- Healing Storytelling Alliance (HSA) Deepens Relationships Virtually in the time of Covid ©Joe Doolittle In early April 2020, one month into the reality of the Covid Pandemic, leaders of the Healing Storytelling Alliance (HSA) held a conference call. HSA is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the National Storytelling Alliance (NSN) and includes about 200 storytellers. The eleven of us, a bit shaken and stirred, and feeling a bit isolated by Covid and sheltering in place, were connecting to review what we might do to bring solace and some understanding to folks as they encountered the virus or its effect.    We took a quick inventory of HSA’s assets: a membership, a rich and informative web-site (www.healingstory.org); an active list-serve and positive experience in teleconferences and presentations. We also noted our liabilities; limited finances, stretched volunteer leadership and the future unknown impact of the virus.  Fortunately, enthusiasm and simplicity were the distillate of the conversation; enthusiasm to meet and share our own needs for connection using story; and an approach that wasn’t too intricate.    Fortunately, one of our members, Lani Petersen is proficient in Zoom technology in her other profession and offered her expertise and Zoom account. Someone remarked,” Why don’t we try to just deepen our relationship with the storytelling community by sharing stories?  Let’s build a more supportive community through HSA!”  The conversation continued on our need to focus on how to learn and share what folks are doing to cope and what practices make us thrive? How can we use healing stories to remind us of our strengths, our courage and our resilience through difficult times? We were able to avoid the energy drag of trying to deal with our fears, and isolation, although they were present.    I recall one other meaningful quote “The audience brings a gift of their own. Bearing witness to another’s stories is an act of compassion.” This helped put the focus on the participants, and listening, not only sharing stories.     It was a deep and vibrant conversation. Fortunately, simplicity was an ever-present rhythm and someone finally remarked, “Why don’t we just get folks together?  Help them find some stability and routine? Help them keep their oars in the water and making progress.”    Well the latter remark, got traction and became the theme for the series- “Oars in the Water”.  The theme has been augmented over the series to focus on particular topics, for example “Finding Ground” (stability) and Racism (after the George Floyd killing). A few other key elements for our Zoom production were established: Gatherings would be weekly to create an accessible, routine presence given the social turbulence. Gatherings would be facilitated by Co-hosts from those present and others recruited; with a welcome, some form of “pause”; reflection point and/or keynote story and closing. Gatherings would be 90 minutes’ with the balance of time not taken by facilitators limited to 5 minutes for each person sharing. Gatherings would be “safe space” and not recorded. Participation would be free, and would be open to all, not limited to HSA members.    Between early April and July 2020, HSA worked to fulfill our Aim to connect weekly with other storytellers and to bear witness to experience and stories of vulnerability and resilience during the disruption of Covid, and the tragedy and pain of recurrent racism. Oars in the Water has attracted between 25 and 70 participants each week. Facilitator/hosts rotate and set a “flavor” within evolving themes, establishing the flow and timbre of our time together.  The gathering is not a therapeutic circle, although it has become a healing, supportive, informative, and at times inspiring place to be. Of interest is that what was developed as a safe space for storytelling has grown to include an equal amount of active listening and reflection by participants on the parallel of a story to their own situation, or current events. The opportunity to share reflections has strengthened the community. Feedback and input are welcome. Opportunities for co-hosting or other involvement with HSA are also available. Those interested can also join HSA via our website (www.healingstory.org) for $25 if already a member of NSN, or $35 without. For more information about how to become involved in building a healing storytelling community contact Mike Seliger (Telliger@gmail.com) or Joe Doolittle (aldenjoe@nycap.rr.com )   Alden (Joe) Doolittle Alden (Joe) Doolittle is an award-winning storyteller and producer, based in upstate New York. He has been a member of the Healing Storytelling Alliance for over 10 years. His interest in healing stories, stems from a 30+year career in health care administration, and a 20-year experience as a volunteer chaplain at the Albany (NY) Medical Center. He can be reached here. (518) 588-2801 For information about his story activities, check out this website.www.StoryCircleatProctors.org

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From Paranormal Encounter to Spooky Tale

From Paranormal Encounter to Spooky Tale ©Cynthia Rintye Why tell the same scary stories as everyone else?  You can (and should) create original ghost stories.   When I led ghost tours, guests would share with me their encounters with the paranormal.  These were great anecdotes, but they were not stories.  However, YOU can take a paranormal encounter and craft it into a spooky tale.     Consider an account about seeing a little girl appear out of nowhere.  That is not much to go on, but we are storytellers.  We can create the material needed to transform this encounter into a full-fledged story.     Here are some questions to answer: Did the encounter happen to you or someone else?  Does this ghost want to help or harm, or does she need help? Is she stuck in a loop always repeating the same action, or is she there to deliver a message?  How and where did she die?   Is the focus on her or on the person who sees her?   Let’s make some choices and weave two different stories around this one thread.  Below are outlines using the ABDCE structure. 1   Story One Choices: It happened to you; the ghost is helpful; she delivers a message; it occurs in an old factory; the focus is on her.   Story One ABDCE: Action: You find an online newspaper article and feel drawn to the image of a girl in grimy clothes.  Background: You’ve moved into an old factory that was recently converted into lofts.  Taking a break from unpacking, you research the building’s history on your laptop and find an article about the factory that includes this girl’s picture.   Development: You imagine how the girl’s carefree childhood ended when she was forced to work in horrible conditions as child labor.   Climax: You look up to see the girl from the photo standing in front of you, her eyes imploring, her hand beckoning.  You grab your computer and run, not away from her, but towards her.  A stack of boxes topples onto the place where you had been sitting.  The girl disappears.     Ending:  You open your computer and see that the article describes an industrial accident where one worker, a girl, was killed when heavy boxes fell on her.   You, out loud, thank the girl.   Now, let’s change just two things: the focus of the story and where it happened.   Story Two Choices: It happened to you; the ghost is helpful; she delivers a message; it occurs on a road; the focus in on you. Story Two ABDCE: Attention grabber: “I will never know who she was, but I know she saved my life.” Background: You just broke up with your significant other and drive away in heavy rain, upset and angry.  Development:  Full of despair, you replay the fight and regret all the wrong choices that have brought you here.  You see a little girl standing in the road.  Slamming on the brakes, you jump out of your car to scream at her for being in the way.  But she is not there.   Climax: As you look for the girl, you notice that the road in front of you has washed away, and if the little girl had not stopped you, you would have crashed. Effect: You realize that the mystery girl saved your life, you turn the car around and resolve to turn your life around.   The same paranormal encounter yielded two vastly different stories. So, give it a try.  Take the same encounter and make different choices, or work with the plots outlined above.  Then add the elements that will build a compelling narrative: context, sensory imagery, characterization, emotion, and connection.2 1Anne Lamott writes about the ABDCE storytelling structure in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  She attributes the form to Alice Adams. 2 If my description of how to take a story from plot to narrative seems familiar, it was purely intentional.  My story work is strongly guided by Elizabeth Ellis’ From Plot to Narrative.   Cynthia Rintye is a dynamic and innovative storyteller and musician.  Her album The Veil of Time: Ghost Stories from Atlanta received a 2018 Storytelling World honor.  She lives in Greater Atlanta. She will be delivering a spooky storytelling workshop for NSN on October 31. Check out the NSN website for registration information.

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