I won’t say I love getting blindsided, but I do enjoy the excitement of getting knocked sideways a bit.

I could barely contain myself a few weeks ago when a friend called me to ask if he could hide a bag of guns in my basement. Will I get a story out of that? Probably. It depends on the permission of a few people involved and if they have any active NDA’s.

I remember being blindsided when my son and I took DNA tests and his name didn’t come up in my list of relatives. It took a few weeks of sleuthing and calming down before I realized I could get a story out of that one. 

I just realized today that I could get a story from the time in 2020 when my rent went up 45%. The story would be about how I never wanted the responsibility of owning a house until a mortgage wasn’t going to be much more than rent.

Those are the kinds of stories we’re looking for at the next FGS. We’d love to hear a story where you look back and think, “Well, I didn’t see that coming.” How did you deal with the situation and how did it change you? Did it turn out for the best in the end or do you still wish you could have avoided it?

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: https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

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.

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, September 17 at 7 pm, on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul

Freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

I have enough money left over in Mr. Coffee to give away two more memberships to the Swedish Club.

Email me directly at freshgroundstories@gmail.com between now and Friday at 5 pm, and I’ll put your name in the hat to draw a couple more names. 

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show last Thursday. Almost half the audience were first-timers! I love it when I see people discover what personal storytelling is all about. I hope some of them come back and tell their own stories.

Thursday night we had stories about smelly feet, smoke alarms, and what happens when a bully meets his match. We heard about federal mail crimes, why you should never agree to join the board of your co-op, and what happens when a local politician gives you career advice. Stories about art, therapy, and tax preparation also played a role. At the end, we heard a story from a guy who accidentally maced his family.

Where else but a storytelling show could you hear about all those things and have some laughs along the way?

Thanks again to everyone who came out that night. It takes a lot to walk up to that mic, and we couldn’t do it without a kind, supportive audience.

Writer Patti Digh said, “The shortest distance between two people is a story.” When you come to FGS, you know that’s true. My favorite part of every show is seeing people stay after and talk to the tellers. I’ve met some amazing people at FGS and made some great friends.

Our next show is September 17. The theme is “Blindsided.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can. Our next free online workshop is Sept 13. You can register for it here: 

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories-storytelling-workshop/events/315966254

I’m always available to help with stories over the phone. Write me at freshgroundstories@gmail.com to set up a call.

Our friends at 7Stories in Burien are running their show next Friday, the 28th. The theme is “Karma.” You can find out more about telling or attending here:

https://www.meetup.com/7-stories/events/316029256

See you next month!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hello beautiful FGS’ers,

I hope you’re enjoying the heat and not staining your car seats with sunscreen like me. If you’re as pale as I am, youe SPF should match the temperature. That means I’m up to SPF 82 today. NASA says anything over 100 and I can get an Airbnb on the hot side of Mercury.

A couple weeks ago one of our tellers was on The Moth podcast telling one of my all-time favorite stories. Sam Blackman is a treasure and we are blessed that we get to see him tell live in Seattle. His story starts at 29:30.

https://www.themoth.org/stories/episodes/walking-the-walk-2

If you don’t want to scroll through the podcast, here’s the solo video:

Last month, I mentioned on stage that someone once asked me why I told stories. I was so surprised at the question, I couldn’t come up with a good answer. She may as well have asked me why I breathe or pick my nose. The answer to all three is that it’s more painful not to.

Well, that’s the existential answer. The less spiritual answer is that telling stories helps me explain me to myself. It helps me figure out how I got to where I am and gives me an idea of where I need to go.

It also helps me connect with others. When people see you share stories from your life, it makes it ok for them to do that too. When I tell a story about failing at something, it makes it ok for people around me to admit their own failures. When I tell a story about something I did that I’m not proud of, people always come up to me afterward and tell me they did the same thing but never told anyone. I told a quick story in a meeting at work once about standing in line forever at Costco to refill my Zoloft. Afterward, one of the people in the meeting came up to me and said, “Are you really on Zoloft? Does it work? I’ve been scared to talk to my doctor about it.” I don’t know if she ever talked to her doctor about it, but I know she left work that day feeling a little better about herself.

In this month’s invite, I told a story about yelling at someone in public. I had a lot of mixed feelings about that moment until I decided to turn it into a story. Figuring out how to tell the story, forced me to dig down and examine all the things that led up to that moment in 2018 and why it all came to a head in a food court in Brooklyn.

Working out why I did something makes me a better person, or at least a slightly more humble one. That’s why I often choose themes for the show that encourage people to be more reflective and honest with themselves. A lot of times, those turn out to be the funnest stories of the night and that’s always a nice bonus. You gotta reflect to connect. That’s how I feel about stories and FGS in general.

If you’re thinking about telling a story but stuck on how to work it out, our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback and meet some really cool people. 

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

I’m also available to talk on the phone if you want some one-on-one help. Working with someone on a story is always the best part of my day so don’t be shy about writing me to set up a call. Write me direction at freshgroundstories@gmail.com and we can work out a day and time (Meetup almost never sends me replies to emails, so you’ll have to write me directly)

That’s all for now. Enjoy Sam’s story. I hope to see you at our next show on August 20 at the Swedish Club (home of 109 spaces of free parking!)

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/315811891

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

In the summer of 2018, I went to NYC to go to The Bronx, where my mom grew up, and put some things to rest. She spent a lot of years trying to turn me into something I wasn’t and I wanted to let her know how that turned out. She’d been dead 35 years but I wanted to finally close the book on her in the place it all started.

There was a moment during that trip when I found myself in the food court of a grocery store with a handful of people I’d met through the friend I was staying with.

I was just about to start eating when Doris, a woman I’d known three days, started yelling at Sharice, a woman I’d known two days. Doris was berating Sharice for not going to enough Overeaters Anonymous meetings. Sharice was a single mom with a couple kids and a full-time job. She could only make it to one meeting a week. But that wasn’t enough for Doris.

I listened to her lay into Sharice for about a minute and half until I couldn’t take it anymore. I know what it’s like to have to go to a 12-step meeting. I know what it’s like to be a single parent who doesn’t have the time or energy to take care of himself. Most of all, I know what it’s like to be humiliated in public and too scared to fight back because that might make it worse.

I shot out of my chair and stepped up to Doris. I said everything I wish I’d said to every bully, jock, and meathead who knocked me down or made me the butt of a joke. I laid into her until she turned away and mumbled an apology.

Then I went back to my clam chowder and forgot about it. Almost. Every now and then, over the years, I’d remember that time and wonder who it was that made such a scene in public because he couldn’t watch someone being humiliated.

A couple years ago, the friend I was staying with that week said her friends still talked about “that time in Whole Foods when that guy stood up to Doris.” Hearing that was one of the proudest moments of my life. 

One of the reasons I went back to New York was to show my mom that I finally had the courage to stand up to her. She was an actress and hated that I was an introvert. She was always trying to push me onstage and make me perform. “You’re going to die with your secret!” she would yell. She hated that all I wanted to do was read books and write stories. She couldn’t stand that I wasn’t a loud, brash New Yorker like her. 

I wish she could have been there that day in the grocery store. I wish she could have seen me just for a moment turn into her, the person I never wanted to be. I wish she could have seen me at my best.

I hope some of you bring your own story about discovering who you are to our show next month. I would love to hear it. We would all love to hear it. 

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

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.

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, August 20 at 7 pm, on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul

Freshgroundstories@gmail.com