Hi Everyone,

Just a quick reminder that our next show is coming up this Thursday. I hope to see a bunch of you there. This month’s theme is Not What I Thought it Was: Stories of being under the illusion https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/251355130/

Not only do I have a special guest who will be closing out the show, but I’ll also be giving away a great new book on storytelling because I accidentally bought five of them on Amazon. How does this happen?! It’s a mystery. But my digital misadventures are your bonus prizes. I’ll be giving away one a month for the next three months. All you have to do to qualify to win is tell a story. Whatever name I pull out of Mr. Coffee at the end of the night will get the book 🙂

Special shout out to one of our regulars, Dave Kreimer, for telling the author about me and Fresh Ground Stories. Thank you, Dave! Matthew Dicks, the author, mentioned FGS on his podcast and I couldn’t have been happier or more surprised to hear my name while I was listening to episode five. I was so happy that I emailed him and told him if he was ever in Seattle that I would get him onstage at our show to tell a story. Cross your fingers.

If you want to hear great advice on how to tell stories on stage, you won’t find a better podcast than Speak Up Storytelling. The link to the podcast is below.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-storytelling/id1386552794?mt=2

In more good news, one of my favorite tellers, Bill Bernat, is producing and performing in a new show called Nearly Sober Comedy. This Saturday I’ll be telling a short version of one of my early stories at the show this Saturday at the Pocket Theater at 8pm. Tickets are $10 and you can get them here: nearlysobercomedy.com.

There’s also an opportunity for some of you to tell a story at the show. I would love to share the stage with anyone from FGS who has a story to tell about recovery. I pasted the text from their website that explains the show and what to do if you want to tell a story there.

That’s all for now. I’m looking forward to a great show Thursday. It’s a topic that means a lot to me and I hope it’s been bring up stories for people to tell.

See you soon!

Paul

Nearly Sober Comedy

Show Description -Have you ever had a problem with drugs and alcohol? Connect with laughter and community in an an hour long comedy show featuring comedians and storytellers in recovery. Join us whether you’re thinking about recovery or have been sober a long time. You’ll remember that recovery is not only possible it’s funny.

https://www.facebook.com/events/976728805830607/

***Want to tell a story at Nearly Sober Comedy Show?***
NSC combines performances of experienced comedians and storytellers with an opportunity for sober community members to tell stories of their own (not to exceed 5 minutes). We’ll have four storytelling spots peppered throughout the show – for a chance to tell your story, please place your name in the bucket.

*What’s the difference between a story and a share?*
If you’ve been to a meeting, you know what a ‘share’ is. It’s an opportunity to talk for a few minutes about your experience, strength, and hope, or on the subject of the meeting.

You might not have had a chance to tell a story to a group before! Although a story might deal with a similar subject as a share, it has a few extra components:

-Setup, suspense, and resolution
-Polish or practice

*What if I don’t want to perform?*
We’ll only call on people who have indicated they want to tell a story – there’s no need to perform if you don’t want to!

Hi Everyone,

June’s theme is “Not What I Thought it Was – Stories of being under the illusion.”

I don’t know if I hold the record for most times being fooled in one lifetime but I’m pretty sure I’ve at least made it to the medal round. Work, love, kids, food, the more sure I am about what I’m getting the more likely it is that I’m getting something else.

Earlier this year I went in for my annual checkup and all my doctor talked about was how often I checked my moles. At first I thought he was talking about my lawn. But no, he was poking around on the top of my head like monkey looking for bugs. I thought all he was going to do was take my blood pressure, look up my nose, and send me on my way. Suddenly, we’re talking about hats? Now I need to take a physics class to figure out the proper angle to hold three mirrors so I can see the top of my head.

Even worse was is this meditation stuff I’ve been doing since the beginning of the year. Apparently, I have to keep doing it forever. I had this vague idea I could meditate for a couple months and then I’d be enlightened. After that I could move on to other pressing life issues like figuring out where that smell in the fridge is coming from. But according to the 99-cent app I purchased, there’s no end to this meditation stuff. If I want to keep getting the benefits I have to keep doing it. This was definitely not addressed in the iTunes description and I’m feeling a little taken advantage of.

Lately, I’ve been trying to write a story about my asthma. What I’m discovering is that my emotions play a bigger role in keeping me out of the ER than my inhaler does. I’ve been under the illusion that my ability to breathe is completely disconnected from my ability to stay calm. That isn’t listed in the fine print on my Albuterol but I think it ought to be. “Caution: Effectiveness of this product may be linked to your current emotional state.”

This revelation is actually a big deal for me. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks now. It’s changing how I think about my breathing and how much my health is affected by who and what I let into my life. You wouldn’t think you could get a story about being short of breath but I think I might be slowly working one up.

Luckily, this month’s theme is all about coming out from under the illusion of something. Think back to a time where you had a strong belief that you no longer have. What do you see differently now than you did in the past? Did you change your mind about a person? A job? A belief system? How did you get from there to here?

Bring a story about how your eyes were once closed but now they’re open and tell it at our next show on June 28 at Roy Street Coffee and Tea.

Remember, if you bring a story, keep it clean, practice out loud, and use a timer to make sure you keep it under 8 minutes. Here are the rules & guidelines to help you get started. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

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

See you on the 28th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com