In Web and social-media time, it feels like Jennifer Warwick and I have been friends for ages and ages. It’s really been only since 2004, but she’s one of my “oldest” virtual friends, meaning that I have all sorts of warm feelings and admiration for her even though we’ve never … Continue reading
Category Archives: Storytelling and Change
From Poverty Porn to Humanitarian Storytelling
Last fall, my Facebook friend Liz Massey of the blog Write Livelihood interviewed Roger Burks, a pioneer of what he calls “humanitarian storytelling.” The interview, Roger Burks, his company Pictographers, and Burks’ pioneering work in humanitarian storytelling all impressed me. I had especially not consider the negative and exploitative effect … Continue reading
12-Step Storytelling
As I read a piece by “Jennifer” on “the lost art of storytelling” (which I don’t believe is actually lost), it dawned on me that storytelling is a mainstay of 12-step groups. I have been sober for 26 years, after 10 years of problem drinking in my 20s, but I … Continue reading
Recession Stories: Told and Sought
Three items today relating to stories about our tough economy: CNNMoney.com is running a series this week called “Stories from the Recession’s Frontline,” using Rhode Island (“a tiny state with big problems”) as the backdrop for these troubling narratives: We will tell the stories of the jobless returning to school … Continue reading
Story Prompts for Transmitting Values
Dr. Paul White recently wrote at length about using stories to transfer values from one family member to another (he wrote the post over the Christmas holidays, suggesting that period as a particularly good time to undertake this values transfer.) Eventually White concludes: An excellent way to share important principles … Continue reading
Will Obama Tell a Sticky Story Tuesday?
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by brothers Dan and Chip Heath is not exactly news; the book came out in 2007. But it’s worth revisiting on the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration as US president, in part because the Heath’s most frequently cited example of … Continue reading
Mental-Health Survivor Stories Sought
Marjorie Lloyd is interested in survivor stories of people who have experienced mental illness and their careers. On Worldwide Story Work, she writes: My research is on how to involve people more in their mental health care and consequent empowerment. There are few survivor stories in mental health, and so … Continue reading
Whose Story Would You Like to Hear? Suggest 3 Respected Luminaries for ‘America Remembers’ Campaign
Sarah McCue is a force of nature who is involved in several projects aiming at making the world a better place. One is The Remembering Site, a non-profit initiative that McCue co-founded with D.G. Fulford and launched in 2004 “to make it easy for anyone, anywhere to write, share and … Continue reading
Two New Discoveries for the New Year
Regular readers must tire of my constantly expressing my astonishment at making new storytelling discoveries. After searching for story material on the Web for four years — partly for this blog and partly for my PhD program — I would have thought I would have found it all. Yes, of … Continue reading
Tokoni Is Collecting Resolution Stories
Story site Tokoni is soliciting stories about New Year’s resolutions: Share your New Year’s Resolutions–both this year and stories from years past. What are your goals this year? Has the economy impacted your intentions? What unique or funny vows have you made in years past? What’s one resolution you’ve actually … Continue reading