Psyched to meet some storytellers

I'm in NYC tonight for the #140conference - a gathering of hundreds of Twitter folks telling stories about social media, technology, education, and connecting. I'm very excited! I have interests in many of the topics, as I believe all feed into the storytelling strategy I'm about to start drafting - and to my general appreciation of and understanding of storytelling overall. (Plus I get to meet Twitter friends IRL!)

PSFK has a post about a presentation by Jonathan Harris. In it, he talks of Werner Herzog's two ways of viewing reality "accountant's truth" and "ecstatic truth". To Harris, gathering status updates and tweets provides an "accountant's view" of reality. For the storytelling that moves souls and mountains, we need the "ecstatic" - to build on the accountant's view with emotion.

Ideas are bubbling. I think I'll force some retreat time on Thursday, after my great encounters this week, with my whiteboard, colored pencils, and colored paper and see where the bubbles take me.

The wonder of stories

I left ... that afternoon, marveling at how different stories can be, how some stories can make us laugh, while others make us cry. I thought about bedtime stories, which send us off to sleep, and Zen stories, which wake us up with their strange paradoxical twists.

In his book, The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, Joel ben Izzy explores the power and meaning of story. As a travelling storyteller who loses his voice, ben Izzy takes us along on his journey of discovery. A wonderful, quick read - interspersed with classic tales that have a direct relationship to his path.

It's the beauty of stories; whatever you give, you get back more - if you listen.

I am excited to listen and absorb the stories of those around me - and learn from them how to help others build their own.