This World is Made of Stories

Storyteller and mythologist, Michael Meade explains how this world is made of stories. Michael is the founder and director of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural healing through story, mythology, and poetry via work with at-risk youth, veterans, gang youth, prisoners, the homeless, and the culture at large.

Everything is a Remix

Copy → Transform → Combine

I just discovered this great miniseries on Vimeo called Everything is a Remix by New York-based filmmaker, Kirby Ferguson. The first three episodes are below. He’s planning a fourth due out October of 2011. See his website for that… EverythingIsARemix.info

Part 1: Some of your favorite Led Zeppelin songs weren’t Led Zeppelin songs at all.

Part 2: Watch how movie makers borrow ideas from other previously made films.

Part 3: Copying, transforming, and varying. Learn about Apple and the first home computers ever made.

Are you telling an original story? Does it really matter? Maybe if you own the IP and copyright…

Infographic: Storytelling is Not Just for Campfires

I’ve begun to search the web for storytelling infographics. This one is from Fathom Business Events and it explains why storytelling is a powerful business tool.

Mouse over the image to see it full size.

Infographic: Storytelling vs. Corporate Speak

I love infographics. They’re fun, friendly, and they just want to be shared. Because they’re a stand along file they’re easily passed around via email and blogs. Why aren’t we all making them? From The Hoffman Agency comes the following…

Is Live Storytelling the Only True Form of Storytelling?

Recently, Sean Buvala (@storyteller on Twitter) tweeted,

“If it’s not live, people to people, it’s not storytelling. It’s one of many other amazing and equal arts that use story.”

Sean has been a storytelling professional for over two decades. He lives this stuff. He created the website Storyteller.net before the web ever thought about storytelling. I respect and value his work immensely. However, I disagree with his stance.

He’s not alone. I have encountered many storytellers—all live performing stand-up-in-front-of-an-audience type storytellers—who share the sentiment that performative storytelling is the only true storytelling. (I once met a famous performance storyteller with the initials DW who told me that the Moth brand of first person storytelling was not real storytelling.) 

If it’s not live, people to people, it’s not storytelling. It’s one of many other amazing and equal arts that use story.

I am a bass player. When I was in my 20s I played with a band and we got a gig in New York City. The band that went on before us played super intense heavy metal music. They stood in place staring at their hands with their speakers shaking the walls behind them. Not only did they play their songs with precision, they also brought with them their own giant light show. However, despite all the hoopla, they failed to win the audience.

After their set, one of the members said to his band mates, “What’s wrong with this audience? These people don’t know real music when they hear it.”

Whenever someone says that something outside of their mindset is not the real deal, they are usually a purveyor of, or practitioner of, what they consider real. I’m no different. I think that having an open standpoint is more advantageous than compartmentalizing. There are amazing insights to learn when we look at disparate topics (or just about everything) as forms of storytelling.

Live storytelling is only one of many storytelling forms.

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