Storytelling as a Dangerous Adventure |
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A Workshop led by Doug Lipman
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Will you be one of the eight (Note: At the end of December, 2004, I moved to Oklahoma. As of July 2009, I now live in Marshfield, MA) (photo: Doug in his Medford, MA office, 1985) |
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On some mornings, I wake up feeling that storytelling is a high calling, with the power to transform individuals, organizations, and, ultimately, society. On those days, I feel energized, patient, and "on the beam." Other days, I feel like Sisyphus, rolling the same rock uphill for eternity, only to watch it tumble down again each night. Storytelling seems so unappreciated. Irrelevant. Futile. Marginalized. Those days, I'm too tired to return a phone call. One day it dawned on me: those two feelings are, in some ways, related! The very power of art makes it go upstream against powerful currents. Part of my discouragement is because of storytelling's relevance and effectiveness. Storytelling is hard, sometimes, precisely because it's dangerous.
How Is Storytelling Dangerous? Like any art, storytelling is potentially dangerous to inertia, to injustice, and to institutions that limit human potential. It is dangerous because it is such a powerful vehicle for communicating truth, possibility, and yearning. No society will reward artists for challenging any of its false, misleading, or limiting assumptions. Instead, it will make things uncomfortable for those who pursue what they most deeply believe to be true about people and our world. Of course, there are other reasons that might cause my sense of struggle. But this reason is not a sign of my individual difficulties. It's a sign of my potential success.
Could We Get Help with This? Once I recognized the condition in myself, I began to recognize it in others: what sometimes seems like a clear path, occasionally (okay, often) can seem like pushing an inflatable raft upstream. The route to artistic power suddenly seems presumptuous, foolish, or even irresponsible. It's a little like dancing your heart out, then stopping to look around at the sedate dances of others. Oops! Am I doing this wrong? Unfortunately, finding your path of strength isn't as simple as reflexively dancing different steps (or, for that matter, the same steps) as everyone else. It involves getting in touch with something deep, then building a support system (both internal and external) that helps you stay on that path with depth. And it involves deciding which path makes the most sense, when you arrive at a crossroads. Necessarily, the path will sometimes seem exhilarating and sometimes seem very uncomfortable. Discomfort isn't good in itself, but facing discomfort can be necessary to being your biggest self. Having realized all this, I knew that a workshop was needed. I offered a session of the Storytelling Workshop in a Box on this topic. In response, Karen Dietz, corporate consultant, storyteller, and - now - Executive Director of the National Storytelling Network, said, "Please give a long-weekend workshop on this topic. If you do, I'll attend!"
The First Workshop on Embracing Danger So, last February I offered the first workshop on this topic, in California.
It was a great success. As a result, I'm offering it again in This workshop is about claiming your true path as a storyteller - and creating what you need in your storytelling life, to be able to stay on that path, even when it challenges your fears, your insecurities and your preconceptions. It's based on the idea that storytelling is dangerous, but that no two people share the same vision or the same path. Or face the exact same obstacles. Or need the exact same help. As a result, this workshop will help you decide for yourself which forms of "comfort" serve you well, and which ones limit you. It will help you (with your unique constellation of abilities, passions, and resources) focus on the points of greatest leverage for realizing your truest storytelling vision. "I used what I learned to take an honest look at myself, at my business, at my business partnership and to take the bold steps needed to seek, create and maintain my vision. What pieces of truth about the human condition have the potential to speak out through your stories (either the stories you tell or the ones you evoke from others)? Where do those pieces of truth put you at odds with powerful forces in our society? Where do you hide something essential about yourself? How could you strategize, gather resources, and take action in those areas, in a way that would give you the most interesting and invigorating storytelling life?
Get the help you need, to become the artist you can become. I'll lead you in exercises to evoke images to help guide you. I'll give you a series of frameworks in which to contemplate the unique definition of "storyteller" that will best suit you. You will learn:
I'll coach you on whatever pieces of this puzzle you most want my help with. Together, we will treat your storytelling, not as a "play it safe" art nor as a set of skills - but as a grand adventure that dares to be risky in order to seek the most magnificent destinations.
My Farewell Workshop
This is the last FAREWELL Workshop I will offer before I move from Massachusetts, Jan 1, 2005. Why this workshop, of all the many I could offer? Two reasons:
So I want to leave Boston with this, which is simultaneously my most personal and most important workshop ever. About My Office This office has seen much of the history of the storytelling rivival in the 18 years I've been in it, such as:
The workshop is limited to 8 attendees. Once these 8 slots are taken, the opportunity to take this workshop in my office before I close it down forever will be gone. About the Area
November 5-8, 2004 Register now via the secure, on-line registration form. Need More Info? For housing info, click here. For info about travel or the content of the
workshop, please
Doug Lipman
152 Wenonah Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106 U.S.A. Copyright©2004
Doug Lipman
This page was last updated on March 12, 2011 |
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This
workshop will be held in my office/library in 
Not
only is the immediate setting a part of storytelling
history, the larger setting is filled with U.S.
history. You'll be in Medford, MA, near the fabled
river that Lydia Maria Childs memorialized in
the song "Over the river and through the woods." This
is the same town where "Jingle Bells" was
written! 
You'll
also be a short bus ride from Boston, Cambridge, Harvard Square,
and all the other sights of the Boston area—and you'll be
there in time to catch the end of the legendary New England autumn.
Stay another day and drive out to view the fall landscape.
Travel
a couple miles to the Middlesex Fells Reservation, where you can breathe
the crisp fall air as you walk some of the 50 miles of hiking trails.
In short, you'll be in the midst of New England at its most beautiful
time of year. 
You'll
have the options of staying in one of many 
.
