What a great show we had last Thursday! The theme was “The Kindness of Strangers” and it was just the kind of show I needed to see right now.

Marte and David told stories of taking spills on their bikes where strangers stopped and took care of them. I didn’t mention it during the show, but bike crash stories always get to me. After the show that night I decided next time I get on a bike I’m wearing two helmets and a mattress strapped to my chest.

Bev told us about a house fire where all the neighbors showed up and took care of a family who was suddenly homeless. It made me think about all the people I’ve lived around in my life and how maybe they were kinder than I thought they were. I’ll never know for sure because there was no catastrophe to help out with. It made me wonder if there’s some small act we could all do for our neighbors to let them know they aren’t alone. 

Gretchen reminded us that some people will show up in the middle of the night to dig your car out of the snow and then make snow angels in your front yard. Nothing says, “I’m glad you’re here” like a bunch of people flapping their arms and legs on your lawn after they push your car down the street in the middle of the night. Who wouldn’t want to live near people like that?

Yousaf told us how important the kindness of coworkers is when you have a horrible job. I especially loved that he worked in references to Leo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, and Mary Tyler Moore 🙂  Behnaz made me smile with her story of working late on a newspaper project and a friend coming over late at night to surprise her with pizza, cake, and salad. Is that the perfect combination for weird dreams and heartburn? Yes it is. But it also shows that kindness doesn’t have to be perfectly conceived to be worth doing.

Emily showed us what can happen when you stop and talk to a stranger on the street. It may not always be the smart thing to do but every now and then it can lead to something magical. I wish I had written down all the times I talked to a stranger and it changed something in me. I know it’s happened more than once. 

Chris closed out the show with a beautiful story about hitchhiking one night in Japan. You don’t need to share a language to help people out. Although it’s always good to have an A+ pantomime game to rely on. If you have good pantomime skills you can go to a lot of places in this world and meet a lot of good people. 

Thanks again to all the tellers and everyone who showed up to support them. Extra special thanks to anyone who left sweet comments in the chat room. I love getting to send those to each teller who asks for their recording.

Next months’ theme is “Changing your mind.” The show date is November 18. I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can.

Take care, everyone. 

Write me if you have any questions or want help on a story. Dave’s monthly workshop is coming up on November 7 if you’re looking for a great place to get feedback on a story you’re working on. 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/events/281193465/

See you next month!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking forward to seeing you on Zoom this Thursday! If you want to tell a story, send me an email between now and Thursday. Or you can log in early the night of the show and let me know then.

Below is the Zoom info. See you soon 🙂

Paul

Topic: FGS: The Kindness of Strangers – Stories of unexpected help

Time: Oct 21, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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Passcode: 201283

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Our next show is October 21 at 7pm. The theme is The Kindness of Strangers – Stories of unexpected help

I’m willing to admit that I might be the only one who enjoys it when Oscar winners get played off the stage for thanking too many people in their acceptance speeches. I love it when someone thanks the best boy and the dolly grip. When else are the gaffers and second unit directors going to get a shoutout on national television? I don’t know whose job it is to make sure a sandbag doesn’t fall from the rafters onto George Clooney’s head but that guy definitely needs to get a thank you from someone.

That’s why this month’s theme is “The Kindness of Strangers.” I know somebody somewhere has helped you at some point. They might have taken a chance and hired you when you didn’t have all the experience the want ad called for. They might have offered you a place to stay when you had nowhere else to go. They might have given you a random compliment when all you needed was one person to say you were doing a good job. Each one of us has been helped by a stranger who didn’t have to.

Remember to practice your story out loud on as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. All stories have to be under 8 minutes. Stories can be as short as you want but not over 8 minutes. If your story goes long, someone else who practiced for weeks might not get a chance to tell. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email or give me a call if you have any questions about that.

The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Workshops are a great way to get feedback on a story you’re working on. Here is one I highly recommend:  https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help people with their stories. Send me an email and we can set up a phone call.

If you like to work alone, this is the best book I’ve ever seen on personal storytelling:

https://www.amazon.com/Storyworthy-Engage-Persuade-Through-Storytelling/dp/B07GT7BMJV/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=matthew+dicks&qid=1582788172&sr=8-1

We’ll be on Zoom again unless the indoor mask mandate changes. Now is a great time for our out-of-town tellers to share more stories with us!

I’ll send out the Zoom link to everyone on the Monday before the show which is October 18.

I hope to see a bunch of you at the show on October 21!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday! I had a great time. I hope you did too.

We had a good mix of regulars and first-timers. We even had a second-timer I introduced as a first-timer. Sorry, Gretchen! 

We couldn’t have started off more beautifully with a story from Dave (who happens to run the monthly story workshop). Dave’s pacing and imagery were perfect. We were all right there with him as he took us on a journey through one year of a marriage that has now lasted decades.

Behnaz told us about surviving the first few dates post-marriage and I am happy to report that there is life after breakup. I might have to connect her with Renata, one of our tellers who wrote a book a few years ago called, “Around Seattle in 80 Dates.” Renata, if you’re reading this, send Behnaz an autographed copy of your book!

Beverly, our friend from upstate New York, told the first positive clown story I’ve ever heard. Honestly, has anyone ever heard a clown story that didn’t turn out to be something Stephen King would write? Well, Beverly met the world’s kindest circus clown one day and he made a whole bunch of kids feel very special. 

Gretchen told a story that had me spooked from the beginning. It had all the elements of another haunting story but in the end, turned out to be the exact opposite. Am I just in a haunted mood this week? Why is everything scaring me? I think someone could tell me a story about ice cream and puppies and somehow my heart rate would go up. Thanks for the soft landing at the end of your story, Gretchen. And I promise the next time I see you I’m buying you two Scones of Courage since I’ve introduced you twice as a first-timer 🙂

Simar was up next with a story I immediately identified with. He flew across continents for love. That’s exactly the kind of thing I would do! Of course, airlines and evil travel agents were working against him. But isn’t that how it should be? It wouldn’t be much of a story if Simar hadn’t had to summon his inner Liam Neeson to get to where he needed to go.

Danielle came right after Simar and it was good that she did because she was calling in from the wrong side of Canada. By wrong, I mean the east side and it was late over there. She told an amazing story of having a stroke at the shouldn’t-be-having-a-stroke age of 42. All I could think as I listened to her story was that no matter where this story goes I know it turns out ok. If you only listened to the first few minutes of her story you would swear she wouldn’t be healthy enough to tell it just months later. Yay for luck, faith, and the Canadian healthcare system!

Laurie was next with a story about a neighborhood bully and how she overcame tricycle shaming. Yes, trike shaming is a thing when you’re six years old and you aren’t riding a two-wheeler yet. There’s something about a person you don’t like daring you to do something that will get even the calmest person to do things they never would. I like to think I’ve gotten over that but I don’t think I have.

Emily told a story about the state of her eggs. Not the ones in her fridge. The ones in her ovaries. Apparently, most of the women in Emily’s family have babies in their 40s. Emily is in her 30s and is worried that her eggs won’t make it that long. Or worse, what if she dies before she gets a chance to use them? Should she freeze them and put them in her will? Should she name them so her name can live on? These are just some of the things we learned about Emily that night.  This is one of the many things I love about storytelling. We get glimpses into people’s minds we would never get otherwise. I really can’t imagine any other circumstance where Emily would lean over to me and say, “Did I ever tell you about the time I freaked out over my eggs?” 

Our final teller was Cindy, a first-timer, whose story I heard at a friend’s house during a storytelling night she held this summer in her back yard. It was a wonderful story about two people meeting by chance and discovering a connection they have through their experiences of adoption. It was one of those stories I wish all of you had been there for. I hope Cindy comes back and tells more stories with us.

Thanks again to all the tellers and everyone who came out to support them. I know it’s hard to go back to Zoom when we just started going back on stage. But we will outlast this pandemic! Delta, Gamma, Kappa, Harpo and Zeppo variants will come and go but we will be here when it’s time to back to Starbucks 🙂

Our next show is October 21. The theme is “The Kindness of Strangers.” I’ll get the official invite out as soon as I can.

Take care, everyone. See you next month.

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking forward to seeing you on Zoom this Thursday! If you want to tell a story, send me an email between now and Thursday. Or you can log in early the night of the show and let me know then.

Below is the Zoom info. See you soon 🙂

Paul

Topic: FGS: Down but not out – Stories of getting up off the canvas

Time: Sep 16, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84569517983?pwd=RFJ2M2h1anYyRWZtUkRCc2xVN2lLQT09

Meeting ID: 845 6951 7983

Passcode: 694467

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Dial by your location

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        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

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        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

Meeting ID: 845 6951 7983

Passcode: 694467

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcvZ6tbgx9