9/19
Last night I talked with Dr. Tanya Knudsen on the Global Creativity Initiative Podcast about stories and creativity.  (Full disclosure — we were in the same masters program cohort at the Center for Applied Imagination at SUNY Buffalo.) Dr. Knudsen asked me what advice would you give to someone seeking to tap into their creativity in storytelling?

Afterwards, I thought of the ideas that I didn't offer. I'll share those thoughts here.

If you seek to be more creative in your storytelling, find the intersection of your passion, curiosity, and empathy.  Find or create a form that speaks to your soul, and trust your instincts. You might tell stories with words or music, paint or sand, still or moving pictures, singing or sign language, chanting, miming, dancing, reading them out loud or mixing it up. Allow passion to guide you to the form — the one that will set your imagination on fire. Don't underestimate the importance of this. It will sustain your storytelling journey when the going gets rough. And, you can anticipate that the going will get rough. What I mean by that is somewhere along the way, you might lose faith in yourself or the thread of the story. Or, maybe a challenge presents itself that seems insurmountable. The most important response to these feelings is to keep going, stay open, and when all you can see is a brick wall, think of it another way to approach the situation so that new perceptions can buoy your spirit as you step into the unknown. 

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Curiosity leads you to seek not only new ideas, but to move beyond the first inspiring thought to find more raw material. That's what ideas are. Raw material that you can bend, shape, toss around. Ideas invite play. So, play a little and discover where your curiosity takes you. Bring a friend or two or ten along for the ride and see what happens when ideas hang out together for awhile.

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Empathy is the ability to imagine what the other is experiencing and to feel for them. The natural world hardwires humans and other animals to care for our young and our social units. For storytellers, empathy is essential. It expands our capacities to visualize the tapestry of characters who inhabit our stories, and, instead of judging them, even the baddies, loving them for their unique characteristics and the depth that they contribute to the story. 

Storytellers are essential to the well being of our species. Creativity in storytelling is the fuel that sets the imagination on fire.

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I'll post the link to the podcast when it's live.

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