The New Story
THE NEW STORY is about the work I have done over the past 30 years with storytelling and the social arts with the intent of creating sustainable, living relationships - at home, in work, life and in the wider community, in multicultural projects and political contexts. THE NEW STORY is full of stories, exercises, cases and reflections on what it is to be a human being and how to find a way forward in this time and age, where conflicts and misunderstandings are rising up to meet us everywhere. As these often come from what and how we speak, it seems wise and prudent to investigate further the area of human speech and whether we are understood in the way we intend.
Storytelling is an excellent way of growing our understanding of how to speak and listen with a wider, more supportive intent. It is fun to do and the basis is a non-judgment attitude, where interpretation and "good advice" from others is not on the menu! We create a free, uninterrupted space where the heart´s voice can be heard, often the wisest of them all. Wonder tales, myths, life stories, spontaneous telling all form part of what we do and it´s all about appreciative listening and connecting to each other across our differences. In this way, storytelling is a meaning-making activity, building bridges across the loneliness and isolation that many experience today. In a multicultural world, we have to find new ways of connecting to each other. This can be done very well through storytelling activities (which are not about performance, but more about gathering together in smaller and larger groups).
Storytelling nearly died out during the 1900s with the advent of technology and media, where our imaginations suddenly were projected out onto the big screen. However, since the 1970s there has been a renaissance of this way of being and working, and today we find a growing array of storytellers in many interesting situations, working in schools, social work, business, mediation, conflict resolution, to name but some.
Please tell us about your inspiration behind the book.
My main inspiration and impetus to write the book has come out of all the happy, shining, transformed faces of people I have worked with throughout the years. This way of coming together and speaking out of your own reality and truth, coupled with imagination and listening with presence - it works! Over the years I have developed a methodology and approach which anyone can learn and put to use in their own profession or daily life. Since 2006, I have led a one-year training in Healing Story for people from all walks of life. Again and again, I have seen that this is a way of growing human values that really mean something us, such as equanimity, presence, tolerance, learning to express yourself, love of differences and many more. These skills and ways of being are vital for peaceful co-existence in a time where individualism is growing strongly. I see the global storytelling (and -listening!) movement as a really viable way forward to help us become more expansive, more inclusive in our dealings with each other. Archbishop Desmond Tutu´s recent book "Made for Goodness" is a testimony to the potency of telling your story in the presence of the wider community.
Storytellers are not mediators, priests, therapists, CEOs, teachers - we are Storytellers! What task do we have today? How can we help in difficult situations? What are our specific skills? In 2010 I led a group of 20 people through a year´s research on these questions in Sweden, where I was living at the time. The ALBA Peace Project was funded by Folke Bernadotte Academy, a swedish government agency working for peace and security. The results of this work and the naming of specific skills and competencies of a Storyteller in peace-keeping situations can be found in my book THE NEW STORY. The focus of my own work these past years has been on the role of the arts and storytelling in peacework. I pioneered work with the Iraq Dialogue Meetings under the FBA, where storytelling was used in politically tense meetings between oppositional parties, had a good effect on listening and enhanced tolerance for each other. These experiences and many more can be found in the book.
Because this works again and again, transformations happen and people are willing to listen to each other in new ways, I felt a growing inner necessity to make this known to others so they could use it too. At the same time, many started to ask for it. So finally I set about the task of writing THE NEW STORY Storytelling as a Pathway to Peace, which effectively took me two years of steady working, writing and composing. Today, as I write this in January 2015, the book is published and I am delighted to say, it has already been sent out to more than 30 countries. This is why I wrote it, for others to use. I hope you will read it too and be inspired!
Why do you think storytelling and listening to stories have a strong peace building effect?
When we take the time to really listen to someone, what lives in them, how they have lived their lives, what questions they carry, the meaning of it all, their search for happiness or fulfilment, our relationship to them changes. We understand their quirkynesses better, we get in touch on a human level. It can turn your workplace into somewhere you want to go in the mornings, it can help you understand your teenage child and their tantrums much better, and more than anything, it makes you awake to the fact that there is so much more to life than meets the eye. Which in turn makes you less quick to judge and more interested in the varieties of human experience. For we are each one of us treasure chests of life, but if no one asks and is interested, the stories will never come out.
An old celtic tale tells about two warriors who are fighting for their countries. All day long they fight, but as evening comes, none of them has won. They are evenly matched. When the sun has set, they sink down onto the grass and lie there, panting, resting. The battle is postponed until the next day. As the stars come out, one of the men starts talking about his beautiful wife at home, their children, his lands. Then the other one starts speaking of his wife and sons, the farm, the people, the home he misses. And so the night passes with stories from their lives and the two champions find they have much in common. When the sun again rises in the morning, all the people are there, waiting for them to take up arms against each other. The fighters rise, with a clank of swords and weapons. The stand in front of each other. They look at each other a long time. Then they let fall their arms, embrace each other and walk away, back home to their families and their home.
Many a warlord knows that it is very difficult to fight someone you know. That is why they don´t want people meeting each other. Anonymous fighting best, then you can fire up under hate and fear and you won´t know you are killing a real, live human being.
Any activity that helps us get to know each other in a deeper way is therefore a path towards peaceful co-existence. Story work across boundaries of culture, status, gender, background does just this: makes us friends with each other. Such friends cannot in the future take up arms against each other. The many wars and conflicts in the world today are witness to the fact that we very much need new and creative ways to connect to each other in a humane and appreciative way. Story work is one such way.
Storytellers in this context have an ethical intent - working in schools, social work, business, multicultural settings, mediation, hospitals et al - in all areas where healthy human relationships, compassion and understanding are needed. They can skilfully open up spaces for existential questions we all carry as human beings by working with myths, fairy tales, life stories, intuitive telling and wisdom tales, thus bypassing the petty differences that may separate us in our daily lives. This is a way of bringing us closer to each other, without having to become over-involved (!), through sharing fundamental aspects of being human and living life on earth. Who am I? Where am I going? Why is there suffering? and What makes my life meaningful? are some of the questions that we all have in common.
How did you get the six modern storytellers involved in this project?
Over the course of 35 years of working with storytelling, theatre and the social arts, I have met so many wonderful individuals who are doing pioneer work in all areas of society. Sometimes we have done projects together, other times just admiring each other from afar and often, I have had the priviledge of training many who later on have taken initiatives in exciting new ways. The six storytellers featured in THE NEW STORY are all colleagues of mine and I am delighted they have contributed to the book. As Storytelling is an activity that happens live, so much good work is going on in the world today in this area which never gets documented or written down. I wanted to make some of it visible through the book, showing the State of the Art of storytelling and peace at the moment. But in the end, this is all about nurturing human relationships.
Why is reactivity a method for growth, change and social healing?
I am not sure that question is relevant here. The kind of story work we do is not at all about performance, it is more about coming together in a relaxed way to listen and speak and work together on themes, stories, exercises. We often sit in a circle, so there is no hierarchy of leadership, everyone has a voice and a space. We don´t comment or reflect on each others´ telling, it is more a matter of accessing wisdom, understanding and inspiration through working with the imagery and metaphors in story, which we then share with others. In the process of course, our ability to tell and express ourselves is enhanced - all skills necessary for a healthy, meaningful life.
You are a theatre director an adult educator, so where do you find the time to write books too?
I am also a mother of two beautiful girls, nowadays grown women, and I wrote my first books while they still were living at home. And yes, it is a question of managing your time, knowing that there are 24 hours in a day and you have to portion out how you want to use them. Early on, when the family came, I chose to have my own business, meaning I didn´t have to be away from home 8-10 hours a day, every day. I didn´t want the stress of not being there if I was needed as a mother and a spouse. The father of my children was also interested in caring for our family life, on top of which he is a vegetarian cook. So I managed to create a work life for myself where I would work from home preparing my courses and projects and then travel off for a week or two somewhere to do the actual teaching with people. I also had projects close to home, which happened on a regular basis, giving some anchoring in the community around me, which is important.
And then there was the writing, when to do that? Well, I had a good think and looked at my day. I realized the only real quiet time was in the mornings, early. So I started to get up at 5 am, make a cup of tea and snug myself away at my little writing table, well wrapped up and far from the demands of everyone and everything. Pristine clear morning time, that´s when I write the best. I used to get an hour or two in before the house woke up with breakfast, getting off to school and phones starting to ring. Later on, I took time out (nobody is going to give it to you), and with the blessing of my family, went off for 2-4 weeks to an isolated place to do nothing but write and focus on the book. This was very good and I would get a lot done during those times.
The last couple of years, my daughters have grown up and moved out, so I have much more time at my disposal. Receiving support in the form of grants together with gifts from friends and interested parties has been a real boost to writing, freeing myself up to do it wholeheartedly and over longer periods of time. It´s all about being flexible and willing to have periods in your life when you are very inward and not so sociable. Unbroken time is the key!
You are Chair of the Storytelling and Peace Council in Europe, can you tell us a little bit about this role?
I have been carrying around the idea for years of gathering storytelling pioneers from different countries for peer conversations, mutual support and be a storytelling resource in the world. I had just finished the last line of the manuscript for THE NEW STORY, when an opportunity arose to make this idea a reality. Within 6 months, The Storytelling and Peace Council held its first 4-day meeting in France, October 2014.
The Storytelling Council consists of 25 storytellers from 17 countries, including Israel. They all carry a wealth of experience in a wide variety of contexts where storywork is used to help, support, transform and heal. Storytellers often work alone, they travel lightweight with their stories inside them. They don´t need a stage or props or costumes or anything except an audience of minimum one person! I would say it is a green job par excellence, we don´t need any outer support to do our work.
There is a great need to come together with other storytellers who have the same kind of intentions, as this is still very much pioneer work in our times. In olden days, everyone knew who the storyteller was and what task he or she had in society. Today we are re-inventing the culture of storytelling, relevant to the times we are living in. Often storytellers are fiercely individual people, who have worked hard to bring about what they consider most precious: the living, speaking, listening, creative heart space between people. This is something you cannot buy, order in the post or get on a CD, you need other real human beings to be present with you to do it, experience it, feel it. Today that is becoming a scarcity, as we live our lives at an increasingly stressful, breathless pace.
My task as the Chair of the Storytelling and Peace Council is to provide a space for these very individualistic, creative, wild and wonderful people to come together and listen to the power of the work that we do, and find a way of working and developing together for the good of the world around us. There are many needs and sufferings today. Storytellers can help in certain areas which are particularly to do with making meaning out of chaos, processing change and creating the future.
What is next for you?
I will be travelling around Britain and Europe now to speak about the book and give workshops on Storytelling as a Pathway to Peace. Anyone can do it, who has an interest in fun, creativity and human relationships! A bit further along the line, I will be offering my one-year Healing Story Training for the first time in English, which I look much forward to. And continue the work with the Storytelling and Peace Council, supporting the many storytellers their different countries develop cross-cultural projects and hopefully make a case for the modern Storyteller having an important role in peace-keeping, peace-supporting processes in our times. Finally, I will be making time to enjoy my life with friends, family and sowing seeds in my garden, watching the new unfold.