What a sweet evening we had last Thursday. Some shows are big, raucous carnivals, and some are filled with quieter moments where we’re all leaning forward, nodding along with each story. I never have any idea which one we’re going to get, but whatever happens always seems to be just what we need.

Usually, I spend these thank you letters talking about how each story affected me and what they brought up on the way home. This month, I’m just going to talk about one story from the show that sent me off on a tangent for the last few days.

Our only first-time teller that night was Mary, who told a wonderful story about ordering a live chameleon from the back of her brother’s Boy Scout magazine. I don’t think I was 30 seconds into Mary’s story when she sent me right back to elementary school and all the stuff I tried to get my mom to order me from the back of various comic books. Plastic Revolutionary War soldiers, plastic WWII soldiers, X-ray glasses, all kinds of magic tricks, and, of course, Sea Monkeys.

No matter where you lived in those days, if you wanted a toy, you were stuck with whatever the local toy store carried. You might occasionally get something out of the Sears-Roebuck catalog, but for the most part, you got whatever Woolworth’s, K-Mart, or the neighborhood drug store had on the shelves.

If you wanted something different, you had to flip to the back of a comic book and order cheap little things the regular stores wouldn’t carry. And then you had to do something we never do anymore. You had to wait.

Yes, before the internet we waited for stuff. Three to four weeks was common, but sometimes we had to wait months for something to come in the mail. Months! Can you imagine waiting that long for a pair of slippers to show up from Amazon? There would be riots.

That is the place Mary took me in her story, and I absolutely loved it. I loved that I was listening to someone who did the same stuff I did as a kid. And I loved that she told her story so well that it only took her a few seconds to send me back 50 years.

The day after the show, I was telling my girlfriend about the story and reminiscing about having to wait for stuff. Was having to wait better for us as a culture? I have no idea. I love getting stuff the next day with a guarantee I can return it for any reason. But I also know that getting stuff the day after I order it has made me more impatient in general. My expectation span™ for everything has shrunk to 24 hours. 

Would I be a little less anxious if I had to wait two weeks for a letter instead of an hour for an email? What if I had to wait a week for the next episode of a show instead of watching the entire series over a weekend? Would I have a better perspective on the world in general if I didn’t feel entitled to getting whatever I wanted almost immediately?

This is what storytelling does. We’re entertained in the moment, feel connected to the person while they’re sharing, and afterward we get to think about their story more deeply. We can examine the things that led the teller through that time in her life. We can relate to the subject matter from our own perspective and wonder if we would have acted the same way. If we’re lucky, the story leads us to reflect on ourselves or the world in a more personal way than an essay or speech ever could. 

Every story I heard at the show that night made me laugh or think or wonder about something in my own life. That’s why I quoted Patti Digh toward the end of the show when I said, the shortest distance between two people is a story. 

One of my goals with FGS is to shrink the distance between us. All of us. Once you learn how to tell a story, you can go out in the world and do that too. A story well told never pushes people away. Not if it’s told honestly and with humility. 

That’s all for now. Thanks to all the tellers that night: Melissa, Mary, Tracey, Debbie, Deborah, Craig, Keith, Sean, Ed, Carmen, Andres, and Auntmama

Special thanks to whoever put the fake names in Mr. Coffee. I loved that! That night we had Groucho Marx and Wendell Wilkie in the carafe. Thank you for the unexpected laugh. You are free to add any goofy names you want in the future.

Next month’s show is on August 20. The theme is “Who do you think you are?” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can.

Hope to see you in a few weeks.

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

We’re a week away from our next show, “Temptation!” I can’t wait to hear how you overcame or gave in to temptation. Giving in usually leads to a better story unless you overcame the temptation to push someone off a cliff. That could also be a good story.

Earlier this year, Cliff told a story about surprising himself by moving across the country without a plan. The theme that night was surprises, but his story could easily have fit in with temptation. Last month, I told a story about not wanting to accept money for doing something I loved. I didn’t write it with the theme of temptation in mind, but I could have.

If you’re struggling to come up with a story, think of a time when you made a decision. Almost any decision can be seen as a temptation of some kind.

Do you remember a time when you decided to shoplift something? Temptation!

Do you remember telling someone you had a crush on them? Temptation!

Last week, I gave in to the temptation of looking up my symptoms on the internet. I should not have given in to that temptation. Now I have to call my gastro guy and tell him what Dr. Google said.

Here’s a story I just fell in love with. It’s about a teacher who was tempted to give up mediating an argument between two kids.

Our free online workshop is this Sunday at 1 pm. It’s a friendly, low-stakes place to work on a story with others who are working on their own. You get to help them, and they get to help you. If you’re thinking of a moment but not sure if it could become a story, come to the workshop and throw it out there. Dave and Colleen are sweet hosts and love helping people flesh out ideas.

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories-storytelling-workshop/events/315172315/

I’m also available to help by phone. Just write me directly at freshgroundstories@gmail.com, and we can set up a call.

Here are the rules & guidelines for telling at FGS

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Write me if you have any questions. Hope to see you next Thursday!

#109SpacesOfFreeGloriousParkingAtTheSwedishClub

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

This month’s theme is a juicy one. Temptation. I’m nervous just thinking about it. I can’t wait to hear about a temptation you’re still thinking about years later. Was it a person? A purchase? A powder? Did you give in or hold off? 

Once, I gave in to temptation to hire a singing telegram company to give my two-week notice at the bank where I was working. I even wrote the song to include the word “putz” because it rhymed with the bank president’s name, Strutz. 

If I were going to tell that story, I’d start with the moment I should have realized what a terrible idea it was. It was when the woman who showed up to sing the song read the lyrics I’d handed her and said, “Oh, honey, I can’t sing this.” 

I said, “No, it’ll be great. It’s funny. Sing it to the tune of ‘Yesterday.’” 

She said, “Baby, you really don’t want me to do this.”

I said, “Don’t worry. They love me here. They’re all gonna laugh.”

Of all the temptations I’ve given in to, this wasn’t the worst, but it was probably the dumbest. I’ll never forget seeing the difference between what I thought would happen and what actually happened. 

Almost any memory can lead to a story. The easiest way to come up with a story is to start with a moment that meant something to you. Once you have that, write down all the memories that have something to do with that moment, both before and after it. Then choose 2-3 of those memories to be the story. 

Of course, our themes are just suggestions, so you can tell a story about almost anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Whatever the story, we’d love to hear it. Remember that a story isn’t just a series of things that happened. There needs to be something at stake that you overcome by the end. 

Practice the story out loud to as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.

All stories have to be under eight minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but no longer than eight minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.

Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story. 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Email me, and we can set up a phone call.

See you Thursday, July 16, at 7 pm, on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul
Freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Last Thursday’s show was just what I needed. it was 90 minutes of laughs, gasps, and applause. We had two first-timers who did fantastic, and a returning teller who finally told us the end of the story she told with us back in our Olive Way Starbucks days.

We talked about falling in love with mulch, falling in love with a guy covered in blue paint, and falling in love with a culture that’s in your DNA but not your daily life. So much love!

Chris and Gretchen told stories of working with difficult bosses who surprised them in the end with their humanity. Sue told us about a prom from 45 years ago, and Deb told us about the time her mother surprised her by letting her go to Russia when she was 14.

Megan and Sam did great as our first-time tellers. I hope they come back and tell more stories with us. I’m so happy when people discover storytelling with us. I may be a little biased, but I think FGS is the best place to tell your first story. There’s a lot of love in that room.

Melissa told the sweet story of her friendship with two eagles in Sammamish, who, I’m pretty sure, are due a finder’s fee for her new place there. 

Ashley continued her streak of telling stories about things you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do. This time it was descending into the pit of hell. Well, that’s my personal take on it. Technically, she rappelled into a 600-foot hole, crawled for an hour on her belly, and then did the whole thing in reverse. Most of it in the dark. This is how some people escape Mordor. For Ashley, it’s just another weekend with friends.

Tracey showed us what life is like with twins and in the process reminded us why she’s won so many Moth slams. I’ve seen her tell dozens of times, and there hasn’t been a single story where I knew where it was going.

Our last teller was me with a story I’ve been working on for a lot of years. It stayed in my notebook for 10 years while I tried to decide what it was about. Over the years it got bigger and bigger and at one point included Monica Lewinsky, an enforcer from the Crips, a princess from the Middle East, the United Nations General Assembly, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. I guess you can say it kind of got away from me.

But after some deep thought over the last three years, I finally figured out what it was all about. It all came together when I discovered what the last line should be. The Moth and others often say you should know your last line first. It’s good advice. If you know what your last line is, it’s easier to know what to leave in and what to leave out of a story.

But sometimes you don’t know what the last line is and you just gotta plow ahead with the story and hope it comes to you. Ten years after the story happened in real life, and three years after I told the first version of it, the line finally came to me, lying in bed a couple weeks ago and going over the story for the millionth time. I don’t know if this story was worth working on for 10 years, but I’m glad I can finally move on.

Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered for all the tellers. I met some cool new people that night. I hope they come back and tell with us. The best part of each show is meeting people afterward. Stories are just a way for us to connect. That’s my real goal for FGS. Get out of the house, hear some great stories, meet people you never would have run into otherwise, and maybe make a friend. 

I hope everyone who came out that night heard one story that stayed with them on the way home and talked to one person they hope to see again next month.

If you weren’t able to make it to our show, I’ll be onstage with this Thursday with living legend Auntmama.

https://www.meetup.com/auntmamas-new-storytable/events/315293209

If you think I’m exaggerating about her being a living legend, check this out 🙂

Civic Poet honors our Seattle Living Legacies

Our next show is on July 16. The theme is Temptation. I’ll get the Meetup invite out as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy the sun, have fun watching the soccer games, and look for moments in your life that can lead to stories.

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hey, guess who’s back on stage Thursday the 25th

Auntmama!

Yes, it’s the return of Auntmama’s StoryTable. It ran for 15 years at the old Madison Way Starbucks. COVID knocked it down for a bit, but it’s back, and we’re all better for it.

I’ll be sharing a new story, but the real show is Auntmama and the aunties Kathya Alexander and Olubayo Johnson reading and telling their own stories. It’s been years since I’ve seen all three together, and I’m excited they’re back at it again.

https://www.meetup.com/auntmamas-new-storytable/events/315293209