Category: Power of Storytelling

  • Story Slams Making Waves (Part 3) – Diving In Head First

    Story Slams Making Waves (Part 3) – Diving In Head First

    It was my first-ever story slam! Not sure if “wow” or “hm” is my primary response…Wow. Hm. That was the gist of my Facebook post that night after I got home; and I started planning a 3-part blog series reflecting on story slams. Then… OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH!!! I just got home…

  • “The Talk”…All Our Stories, Black/White/Brown/Red, After Ferguson

    “The Talk”…All Our Stories, Black/White/Brown/Red, After Ferguson

    We NEED to tell OUR stories. And we NEED to hear OTHERS’ stories. I know the teeniest-weeniest bit about “having The Talk” with my sons. I’m not talking about the birds’n’bees – I mean the one that African-American parents have with their children about being very, very careful if interacting…

  • “People Just Want More Booty” (and she wasn’t talking about pirates…)

    “People Just Want More Booty” (and she wasn’t talking about pirates…)

    Seriously? SERIOUSLY??!? [I was planning to publish Part 2 of my blog series “Story Slams Making Waves – What’s the Story, Anyway?!” – but find I must take a different direction today…] The stories we tell about women and girls:

  • Story Slams Making Waves – What’s the Story, Anyway?! (Part 1)

    Story Slams Making Waves – What’s the Story, Anyway?! (Part 1)

    “Like moths to a flame: People flock to hear personal sagas” – Denver Post, October 17, 2014. It was exciting to see a nice, big feature article in the Denver newspaper about storytelling! I read it eagerly… But…but…but…I confess to you: Eagerness gave way to puzzlement, puzzlement gave way to…

  • Titanic Connections

    Titanic Connections

    Titanic: “of exceptional strength, size or power.” My friend Richard and I were enjoying a rare visit together, sharing breakfast in my home, me happily hosting him as he was in Boulder for a professional visit. The coffee was hot, the bread made great toast, especially covered as it was…

  • Nana Tells Stories…

    Nana Tells Stories…

    We sat cross-legged on the backyard sidewalk, under the fig tree, face to face. I’d read loads of books to her in her first 3 years, learning how to hold one up to my laptop’s camera in Colorado for her to see the pictures in California, then pull it back…

  • Meaning-Making

    Meaning-Making

    “Story allows us to make information productive. Without Story, information is nothing but a lot of bricks lying about waiting for someone to make constructive use of them.” – Aidan Chambers STORIES MAKE MEANING FOR US That’s what stories do.  And that’s why humans tell stories.

  • Hands – “Creating the universe in the palm of the storyteller’s hand”

    Hands – “Creating the universe in the palm of the storyteller’s hand”

    “Behold the hands… …how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides,

  • Faeroy – my family’s tiny Norwegian island

    Faeroy – my family’s tiny Norwegian island

    “What’s your favorite story to tell?” – One of the most common questions asked me during Q&A sessions over the years. I used to demur about how I love ALL my stories; that’s why I tell them. But…a favorite one has indeed emerged in recent years:

  • Part 2 – 5 Reasons Why We Need Storytelling in Schools

    Part 2 – 5 Reasons Why We Need Storytelling in Schools

    “Story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives in a world that often defies logic.” (Jim Trelease) Swap the words “poetry/poem/poet” with “storytelling/story/storyteller” as I did in last week’s blog about the first 3 reasons