Pretend it's a story...
Recently, my husband and I were walking along a familiar road by the sea where our children (now adults) spent countless summers and holidays during their youth. Having celebrated a milestone birthday this past November I often muse about the preceding years. I told my husband, one great thing about all the years we have spent here is the memorabilia and history we are leaving our kids.
Now that I think about it — we have bequeathed them stories. Memories might be little snapshots lodged in time but stories have a cinematic quality emerging from micro fuzzy-trace theories like perspective and culture. The breakfast you had that morning combined with the quality of sleep or your mood can alter the script.
Not by coincidence the promise of story has circled back into my professional role as a geospatial analyst, author, and speaker. I only have to think about reading the story of Picasso’s Guernica in my local paper. It was scheduled to be returned to Madrid. Although it had been a train ride away in NYC, it was going to be well out of my reach.
Years later as I stood in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid staring at the massive painting I wept. The ability to bridge the gap of wonder and find myself invited to Madrid in a professional capacity is more than teenage Bonny was able to imagine.
We bring our entire selves to each experience — day in and day out.
How many of us hold stories — many of which are not shared or explored?
I discovered a wonderful book, Combining* by Nora Bateson. I am reminded of the phrase, the map is not the territory. I will refrain from telling you what to think about the concept as a map (what do you think?) but she uses an easier to understand explanation. A menu is not the food. It lists what is available but obviously you can’t eat or smell it.
An important lesson in all of this? In the book, Bateson does an incredible job deciphering what she means by, "The shape of the response needs to meet (not match) the shape of the trouble"
Basically saying you can’t solve the problem with the same thinking that created it.
Continually in search of examples in storytelling, I was delighted to discover Fran’s short video about story. She is a master of contextualizing experiences.
If you live in NYC or even NYC adjacent like I was growing up, her stories are magic.
Picking a favorite is for children…
*Amazon Associates receive a few pennies through links.
"The shape of the response needs to meet (not match) the shape of the trouble" – Nora Bateson, President of the International Bateson Institute, Sweden