Discovering The Power of Story
It was teacher survival instincts or maybe just human instincts that brought me to the Power of Story!
My 6th graders were struggling with adolescence AND academics (some of them with abusive homes).
They needed more than just a curriculum, they needed a community!
I started to TELL, (not read but TELL) them traditional stories that conveyed universal life lessons.
When I TOLD my students stories, something remarkable happened!
- Time stood still
- The classroom walls vanished
- Their most pressing issues disappeared
- They stopped talking and actively listened!
- They were inspired to tell their own stories
When my students started to TELL their stories, a transformation occurred in my classroom. Not only did their writing improve, but they developed a deep sense of empathy for each other and a better understanding of themselves. The Turning Points Narrative Process was born in that 6th grade classroom.
I left my teaching job that year, but my consulting work continues to be propelled by the Power of Story to defines us, connects us, and allow us to communicate our experiences, beliefs, and desires to each other.
In a fast-paced and quickly changing world filled with the distraction of electronic media, STORY still has the power to educate, inspire, and transform our lives!
Here’s Why!
- Storytelling is our universal human language.
- We think, learn, and retain information in narrative images that we translate into meaning.
- We remember information better if there is a clear beginning, middle and end.
- Our lives consist of a continuum of stories based on our experiences, memories, and perceptions.
- 50% of the stories we tell about our past contain truth, but are not entirely true.
- Telling and listening to personal stories helps clarify and validate our life experiences.
So, lately I have been spending a considerable amount of time visualizing and intending future events that I would like to see materialize in my life (with some success, I might add) and I have started to think about STORY in new ways and here is what I’d like you to ponder.
If we change our perception of events that happened in the past, we can tell new or different stories and change how we think and feel about our life.
If we create the STORY of the future we wish to live, and we tell that story repeatedly to caring and active listeners, that story could eventually become reality.
Let me know what you think!
