Category Archives: Storytelling and Change

Why does the public buy into stories like the Balloon Boy? Why do the media purvey stories that are often not as they are portrayed to be — and the public gets sucked in? Those were questions raised yesterday in a thought-provoking teleconference by Paul Costelllo, director of the Center … Continue reading →

Not all the 20 finalists (out of nearly 1,000 submitted) in Organizing for America’s Health Reform Video Challenge are stories, but some are. Organizing for America is asking the public to vote on the finalists. One downside is that you must rate all 20 videos for your vote to count. … Continue reading →

A convergence of books reminded me of my interest in the genre known as the “business novel.” When Jon Stewart interviewed Jennifer Burns last week, Burns, author of Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, noted that Rand sought to evangelize her message promoting capitalism, individual freedom, … Continue reading →

A Guest Entry for Blog Action Day 09 by Cathryn Wellner Blog Action Day is an annual event on Oct. 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. This year the issue is climate change. The aim is to raise awareness and … Continue reading →

Just a couple of items to add about this year’s Blog Action Day 09 — in addition to Cathryn Wellner’s wonderful guest entry. One of these is related to storytelling; the other not so much: Another story-based initiative regarding global warming is the online anthology, Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories about … Continue reading →

2020 retrospective reflection on this post: During the 2020 racial protests following the murder by police of George Floyd in Minnesota, I learned that The Help is not seen as a particularly helpful anti-racist novel (could be why Oprah didn’t pick it for her book club). I learned that Viola … Continue reading →

A couple of weeks ago, Dave Pollard on the blog How to Save the World quoted his own earlier article in which he said: I am coming to believe that all stories, … [lots of descriptive stuff here trashing various types of stories] … are propaganda. Why? Because stories, Pollard … Continue reading →

My friend, “Jane Bergen” (a pseudonym) has been toying for a while with telling the story of the massive stroke she suffered last year. Even though Jane has had a remarkable recovery, she was afraid of coming off whiney or victim-y.

My gut reaction was that baby boomers need to hear Jane’s story. We are the generation that refuses to get old. The thought of a crippling affliction like a stroke or cancer unhinges us. I am am particularly terrified of anything — like Alzheimer’s — that would impair my cognitive abilities. We need to hear that the ailments and medical traumas we associate with old age can be overcome.

And a week ago Jane sent me a story that is anything but whiney and victim-y. It’s a positive message of hope, recovery, and creating a different — but in some ways, better — life following a health calamity.

Back in May 2008, like the subject herself, I took some heat for blogging about Jill Bolte Taylor, whose TED Talk and book titled A Stroke of Insight, have been criticized for promulgating “bad science.” The controversy came in when Taylor claimed to have experienced an amazing burst of creativity in one side of her brain as a result of her stroke. Putting science aside, Taylor’s message of amazing recovery is very much like Jane’s.

Here’s Jane’s story, one that baby boomers like me need to hear:

Whether Disabled or Not, Keep Your Spirits Up

By Jane Bergen

I am a person to be envied. If you were me, you would be envied too. Why envied? Well:

• I always get the best parking space, right by the door.
• I lost 30 pounds and shop the lower sizes of the racks, wearing clothes that haven’t fit me for 20 years.
• I take nothing for granted and am fueled by gratitude.
• I have no stress and sleep like a baby.
• I am finally “good enough” and have a great self-concept because it is so easy to outdo people’s low estimation of my capabilities.
• I am rich in friends. I have an organized address book that lists 350 people, 30 of whom check in on me regularly.
• People show me their “kind” side every day.
• I have a great marriage. Indeed, husband and friends say they would love me even if I stayed as I was.
• Instead of coming to a funeral, everyone I know has contacted me personally in the last year.
• I am constantly challenged, told how to do it, and it works! I see achievement every day.

Surprise! I am Disabled!

I’m a former recruiter and career coach who became permanently disabled with an out-of-the-blue cerebellar stroke last year.

Nothing I did caused this. I had a birth defect, a darn AVM — tangled plumbing in my head [pictured], that got old and leaked, causing the stroke. Being a disabled person was to be part of my life.

So I could be pissy about this or I could see the bright side. What I’ve learned is that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent what you do with it; that people have busy lives and forget you if you forget them; and that everyone has problems, so why are yours so special? Sincerely being interested in others makes people interested in you. They call and you feel good that you have been of service.

People tend to be nice to you, but some of their behavior may be out of fear. They are afraid of doing the wrong thing or becoming sick like you. Your job is to educate them. It is not your fault you are like this. It is not their fault they don’t know what to do. I explain a deal with my friends. True, I talk funny, I acknowledge. If I talk as well as I can for them and they try as hard as they can to understand, we’ve done our best. No shame! I’ll email or write something down to get my point across. So I don’t stop trying to deal with normal people: they are so affirming when I do the smallest thing because they expect me to be ashamed, blue, and depressed. Well, not! I believe that if you quit trying, you cheat yourself. Be affirmed that your friend cared enough to try to understand, rather than the fact that he or she failed.

Oh yeah, a year ago, they also thought I had cancer, and I might not have the stamina, post-stroke, to endure. I truly thought I was going to die. And I am a baby boomer who turned against the church years ago, having been raised fundamentalist Southern Methodist and having gone to church every week of my life until age 20-something. So I hated the hypocrisy of the church, which talks of God, but was created by Man with all his foibles.

So when I thought I was going to die, well, then I realized that money really doesn’t matter much. I could have won the lottery and it would not have changed a thing. You think about the plight of your fellow human, the suffering that is life, and wonder if you have the stamina to die, and then what? Buddhism promises to provide panaceas for fear of death. But Jesus and all the dogma I was brought up with? What does that have to do with my current world? His message seemed to be “give all your cares to me, and I will suffer for you.” I really wasn’t looking for a scapegoat. My friends, doctors, and husband all wanted me to get better, they expected me to overcome and be happy. Could Jesus help me with that? You think about stuff like this when you think your goose is cooked.

I realized my first life had been all about the usual trials I see my friends going through – seeking food and shelter, suffering through a job to pay for it, not ever having enough money or time to pay for it, struggling to lose weight, stay sexy and young, keep health intact, raise kids, and trying to meet all obligations. The usual rat race. My first life is gone. I had so much, so many gifts, like speech and walking, but I was not happy. I always desired more.

I woke up the morning of the stroke not able to walk. My vision was blurry, and I talked like a drunk, when I could talk. Swallowing was awkward. I was told I had a one in 10 chance of a full recovery (and God willing, I will be that one in 10 yet), that strokes take years to recover from, and I had a 50 percent chance of becoming seriously depressed within one year. One in two people who have strokes become depressed because of changes in lifestyle (no social life and not working), isolation, and financial ruin.

I decided I could beat my body with exercise and doing what therapy told me to do. But fighting my own head — a 50 percent chance? Dear God, my head has such a good imagination about negative things. I was going to have to improve my spirituality to avoid this depression debacle. Truly, in all cases, depression is worse than stroke.

If you have not had a stroke, you are still a candidate for depression. I have learned that these things will help you avoid this all-to-common malady that doctors are so willing to give your pills to cure (don’t do it — it just masks the cause)

Read Jane’s advice on avoiding depression in the extended entry. Continue reading →