The Importance of Story

Hope you are off to a good start in 2016. Mine is for sure, with some very interesting projects on my plate for the year.

First, based on the success of the book giveaway I did a few months ago, I am doing another one to start the new year. This time, the books center on ways and themes about making yourself a better person. Here is the link, and make sure to share it with your friends:

http://readwritejd.com/giveaways/new-year-new-you/

Second, for those of you that are into “New Year’s Resolutions” like me, here is something I wrote for this month’s Mindful Matters on taking that next step:

https://www.holstee.com/blogs/mindful-matter/71155077-the-opposite-of-failure

Now for the idea of the week…

IDEA OF THE WEEK…STORY

My reading and listening diet over the past two months have been a serendipitous collision of “things about story”. It is a very curious intersection of Brene’ Brown’s powerhouse book “Rising Strong” (giving a copy away this month in the giveaway), the book and podcast “The Story Grid” by Shawn Coyne that covers a process to write effective stories, and a Brain Pickings tweet about Kurt Vonnegut and the shapes of stories (watch the video!).

Take a listen, read, or view to the things above, and ponder how important story is in life. Sure, story is a key component in books, movies, TV shows, and the like, but story is equally important in every business startup, advertisement, charity, movement, and so forth.

Some stories work for us, and some do not. Why? Is there something missing (like a nice ending for the hero in an action movie) or does something not fit (like an alien appearing in the middle of a romantic comedy)?

And our own lives are stories of their own…

So for this week, try to find the stories in your world and your life. Ponder on which ones work, and which ones do not. The answers are worth exploring…

That’s it for now…