In the closing session yesterday, The Reinvention Summit: A Virtual Summit on the Future of Storytelling organizer Michael Margolis asked participants to think about their post-Summit intentions.
My own are probably not yet fully formed, but I wanted to write something while the Summit is fresh in my mind.
When I relaunched this blog in 2008, my intention was to reinvent myself (and this is embarrassingly bombastic) as a World Famous Blogger. I had just reluctantly left teaching (when it became clear to me that the typical career path for college professors was probably not open to me). Almost three years later, I feel I have to a great extent attained the goals of that reinvention. I’m not “world famous” in any universal sense, but I am known and appreciated in the world that counts to me — the storytelling world. And I’m gratified that, especially in the last few months, readership numbers for A Storied Career have achieved a very nice level.
But I think I may be unique among folks who blog about storytelling in that I’m not a practitioner. Most storytelling bloggers do so, in part, as an adjunct and/or promotional tool for their story practices. I do not make a living as a World Famous Blogger, yet this blog — and the world of storytelling — is my passion. I’ve probably stated more than once that I make about $1.39 a month from the advertising on this blog. My main gig is as associate publisher and creative director of QuintCareers. I’ve been writing and teaching about job search and careers for 20 years now, and I still have a passion for some of that world, but not like I have a passion for storytelling.
So, in an ideal world, my post-Summit intention would be to make a living from my storytelling passion and to integrate storytelling into a reinvented teaching career. I can, of course, teach to a great extent through writing and blogging. But I’d still like the one-on-one contact with students that I have so enjoyed. I live in a place remote enough so that virtual teaching may be my best option.
Other obstacles include my extreme shyness and phone phobia, but I have shown that I can rise above, having, for example, presented a well-received teleseminar (by phone) last year for Worldwide Story Work. I also organized and will lead a storytelling track at a career conference in 2011. I’ve started to garner some invitations to talk at conferences about storytelling in the job search. I’m also interested in the ideas of storytelling for identity construction and the change-your-story/change-your-life concept (and lots more storytelling applications, but others can probably teach and write about those better than I can). I’m learning from entities like Toastmasters and Nancy Duarte to be a better presenter.
So there you have it. My Reinvention Intention. And even though I tend to be a bit of a lone wolf, I want the tribe by my side for my next reinvention.
Brava! Thanks for sharing. I am inspired. I will write a similar post in my blog, or should I since my boss reads it.
As to the online teaching, let’s stay in touch on this as I am a professor looking to make a similar transition.
Thanks, Craig. I hope you do write about your intentions. If you’re not friends with your boss on Facebook, you might consider writing your blog entry as a Facebook note.
Reading this post made me to click through to your phobia post since I am kind of interested on phone phobia cures.
Reading that post made me want to ask if your phobia of the phone was genetically inherited since you mentioned your father having the some phobia?
That is a really interesting question. I never knew my dad was phone-phobic when he was living; my stepmother told me after he died. I am really interested in the nature vs. nurture question based on several similar scenarios in my life. For example: I loathe playing games. So does my mother, but I never knew that growing up. In addition to not knowing about my dad’s phone phobia, I didn’t know his favorite color was red (also my favorite) and that he detested small talk (as I do). It’s hard to see how any of these traits could be learned behavior when I didn’t know my parents had these traits. I guess it’s possible that I learned the behaviors because my parents subtly taught me. But it also seems possible that the traits are genetic.
I’m interested that you offer a phone-phobia cure and will check it out. In recent years, I have felt I didn’t want to be cured. Most of the time, it’s easy to work around the phobia. I don’t like talking on the phone much (probably ties in with the loathing of small talk). But I wouldn’t rule out seeking the cure.
Thanks so much for stopping by to comment!