Category: Power of Storytelling

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

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

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    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

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    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…)

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    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)

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    “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

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    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…

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    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

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    “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”

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    “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

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    “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

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    “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