Storytelling is hardwired in human beings. It has been going on since we sat around communal fires sharing achievements and challenges, stories of the hunt -- of battles won and lost. In sharing stories, we transmit history, meaning, and our place in the universal scheme of things. Stories transmit values -- what is most important -- and expected behaviors. They caution, create identity – personal, family, clan and country -- and they reduce or eliminate the damage of trauma. In indigenous traditions we find effective means for dealing with trauma. Telling our stories is an act of healing and above all, sharing our stories creates community and thus, belonging.
In this workshop we take our natural propensity to tell and listen to stories as the means to bridge difference, to work through conflict, to create a diverse community in which all stories have a place to live. We tell and we write. As people share stories across difference, they realize that everyone has the same baskic desires and needs -- though the challenges vary. We learn that each of our personal stories is, at base, the human story.
Each of our lives is a page in a sacred text
that only exists becuase each of us adds a page.
By exchanging stories, and being present to other people’s stories, workshop members create a rich and textured tapestry that belongs to the community they have become. Isolation is bridged through connection. Nothing creates connection and community better than sharing our personal stories.
As we close this workshop, members often create a performance of their work together. Additionally, they often bring their collective story to a public venue -- a process that continues to be deeply moving, healing and powerful.
