Well, you did it again. You got me out of my funk and reminded me of how lucky I am to have this show to come to every month. From the tellers who share their lives, to the people who show up and offer to help with the audio (Matt), to my friend Kris who helps in too many ways to list, to the Starbucks staff and management who make me feel so welcome, thank you for making this a place for people to connect and feel a part of something. I wish everyone had a Fresh Ground Stories to remind them that the world is often kinder and more generous than we think it is.

We began the evening with the perfect opening story. After a year of my nudging (or possibly nagging), Kent finally returned and told the best almost-killed-by-the-Yugoslavian-militia story we’ve ever heard. I’m glad those guys don’t have itchy trigger fingers and that Kent was able to come back from Prague with a great story.

I was super happy to see two first-timers get up and do such a great job. Sue showed us how the stress of planning your wedding can put you in the hospital just days before that very wedding. If I ever get married, I’m going to take her advice and let Cupcake Royale decide the flavors of my mini wedding cupcakes so I can stay home and get some rest. Our other first-timer David W went up a few minutes later and showed us why you should never take marriage advice from an Uber driver. This night was so informative!

Sara told us how easy it is for a herd of buffalo to sneak up on you, and Bruce laid a story on us that made me wonder what UFO’s are doing in New Jersey. Don’t they usually show up in a potter’s field in Kansas somewhere? Bruce is pitching that story to Risk! next week and I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll hear it on the podcast. 

Thanks to Colleen, we now know what it’s like to wake up from a car crash to see a priest administering your last rites. It was hysterical for us, but I’m pretty sure that priest is still in therapy 🙂

Carl told us how frustrating it can be when you’re trying to help someone escape from a bully when you can’t let anyone you’re trying to help them escape. And David T shared what it feels like when your kidney explodes. (Please let me never get anything that puts me in the hospital for 131 days) And Stephanie showed us what can happen when you put too much faith in Yelp reviews. On a serious note, I’m grateful to the woman who reached out to her after reading her review on couchsurfing.com. She let Stephanie know she wasn’t crazy and that she didn’t misread the situation. There are some bad people out there and we need to support the ones who have the courage to stand up and say something. Thank you anonymous woman on the internet.

One of our new regulars, Melissa, closed the show with a beautiful story of how she’s helping her daughter get through OCD therapy. It was funny and touching and in the end, full of hope. Thank you Melissa, for sharing you and your daughter’s journey. I know there were people in the audience that night who needed to hear it. 

The storyteller who surprised me the most that night was from my son, Taran. He told the story of what it was like to be eight years old and watch your parents fight for custody. It was hard for him to tell and harder for me to listen. Even though it happened 20 years ago, his story brought back all those old emotions. It was a terrible time in everyone’s life. I’ve never asked him what it was like for him to go through that because I didn’t think I could handle the answer. Now that he’s told the story, there’s no need for me to wonder anymore. All I can do now is be grateful that he still loves his parents and that storytelling is helping him explore those memories. 

Our theme for September is, “From Out of Nowhere – Stories of unexpected help.” It’ll be on Sept 19. I’ll get out the official invite as soon as I can. Look for it in your inbox next week. 

In the meantime, be sure to check out Auntmama’s Storytable, the other amazing storytelling show at the Olive Way Starbucks, on August 29. Auntmama’s show has storytelling, live music, poetry, fiction stories, and all sorts of wonderful stuff. This month’s featured performer is the poet, Marshay Mitchell. I saw Marshay perform a few months ago at another show and she was fantastic. 

That’s all for now. Thanks again to all the tellers who walked up to the microphone and everyone in the audience who supported them.

See you on the 19th

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

 

Hi All,

Just a quick reminder of tomorrow’s show and a wonderful Moth story I just stumbled across. I hope you’re all having a great week 🙂

Here’s the link to tomorrow’s theme: Escape – Stories of breaking free https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/263413411/

The rules if you want to tell a story:
https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

And my new favorite Moth story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sGmJMgGDU8

See you at the Olive Way Starbucks tomorrow at 7:00!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

 

I had a big story to share with everyone about an escape I made in the summer of 2017 but I couldn’t get it finished in time for this invite. I’ve been working on it for months but when I got to the ending a few days ago I realized it wasn’t a story about escaping as much as it was about a story of facing something.

I’d still share it with you as a story of escape but now the ending is all messed up. I gotta figure out how to explain that by trying to escape an old memory, I ended up having to confront my shortcomings and accept that I did my best with what I had at the time. Sometimes in the middle of telling a story, I catch a glimpse of the person I used to be and cringe. That’s what happened with the story I was going to share with you this month. You know how I always start the show by saying, “Tell from your scars, not your wounds”? Well, it looks like this was memory wasn’t quite scarred over enough. Maybe by next month I’ll have the words to get that story down right. And that’ll make it easier for me to accept that it happened.

In the meantime, I’d love for some of you to bring to the next FGS a story of escaping something. Tell us about a time when you escaped from a person, a place, a belief, a way of life, or anything else that made you feel trapped. What were you running from? How did you get there? Did you sneak away or run for your life? Maybe you escaped from a stifling hometown. Maybe you escaped from a way of life that didn’t work or you anymore. I’m pretty sure we’ve all escaped from something at some time. Bring that story to the Olive Way Starbucks on August 15. We’d love to hear it.

Here are the rules and guidelines for telling a story: https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

Make sure the story is clean, practiced, and under 8 minutes. We’re getting more names in Mr. Coffee and some folks aren’t getting to share their story because we run out of time. Your story can be as short as you want but not over 8 minutes. Thanks for understanding.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

What a great show we had last week! We had a bunch of new tellers along with some old tellers who hadn’t been back in years. Once FGS gets its hooks in you it’s pretty hard to stay away forever 🙂

One of my favorite things about FGS is that I’m always surprised by the tiny details people remember that lead to stories. First-timer, Colleen, told a sweet story about cherry tomatoes that made me wonder how many things I’ve missed in my everyday life that could be turned into a story. Thank you, Colleen, not just for your story but for the lesson as well.

Melissa, in only her second time at Olive Way, told a hysterical story about being conned by a fortune teller and how she exacted revenge through her own sting operation. I have no idea what Melissa does for a living, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it involved bringing to justice everyone from illegal arms merchants to expired coupon passers.

Soren, another first-timer, told one of the most visually beautiful stories we’ve ever heard at FGS. Quite a feat since we don’t allow PowerPoints. He told us about a para-gliding experience that everyone was talking about after the show. It made me smile to hear people reciting some of his lines as they mingled afterward.

I wish you had been there to hear Vanda talk about her transformative experience in an Extended Stay America (why do people never have life-changing moments in a Hyatt?) Sam’s story about how a puddle of sweat led to finding true love is one of my favorites that he’s told with us. I’ll put a link to the version he told at The Moth at the bottom of this. Thank you, Sam, for staying out late and closing the show for us.

The story I really wish you had all been there for was Antoine’s. He told a beautiful story about his struggle to speak to women that was incredibly funny and also very touching. I’ll never forget the woman behind me whispering in my ear just before I went up after Antoine, “Would you please tell that young man there’s a 93-year-old lady over here who would love to talk to him?” Naturally, I had to tell the audience what she told me and got one of the biggest laughs ever. A few minutes later when it was Vanda’s turn to tell a story she began it by turning to Antoine in the audience and saying something in French that I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be allowed to say if it had been in English. Antoine, I don’t think you’ll have any problem talking to women if you keep coming back and telling stories like you did that night. Thank you for being so honest and vulnerable up there.

I’ll stop here so you can get back to your weekend. Part of me wants to tell you about every story we hear at FGS but another part wants me to leave you hanging a little bit so you come out and see the show in person.

Thanks to all the tellers who shared their stories last night. Apologies to the two people whose names I had to leave in Mr. Coffee because we ran out of time. Bruce and Sara, I’ll do my best to get you on a show later this year. You’ve each told some great stories at FGS and I know you had some great ones prepared that night.

Next month’s show will be August 15. The theme is “Escape.” I’ll get the official invite out as soon as I can. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with two good resources for anyone working on a story, and a link to Sam’s Moth story that he told for us Thursday.

Excellent monthly workshop specifically for personal storytelling like we do at FGS. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s run by two FGS regulars who do a great job giving tips and feedback: https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/events/263317726/

If you’re in the south Puget Sound area, Vanda runs a memoir writing Meetup every weekend down here in Olympia. I’ve joined her for the last two weekends and gotten a lot of writing done. It’s just her and anyone else who shows up at a spacious Starbucks. You write for a couple hours (or however long you want) and if you feel compelled, you can share some of it afterward for feedback: https://www.meetup.com/Olympia-Memoir-writing-Lifewriting-Meetup-Group/events/bvrgdryzkbkc/

Here is the story Sam Blackman shared to close out the show Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHB5yyDW0U

Big thanks to all the folks who come out who don’t tell a story but support the ones who do. You are a big part of why FGS is so special. Thank you for all the patience, love, and support you give to everyone who walks up to that microphone.

See you all on the 15th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi All,

I hope a bunch of you can make it to our show coming up this Thursday at the Olive Way Starbucks. The theme for the night is “Transformations – Stories that changed you.” 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/262666615/

Sam Blackman, multiple Moth Slam winner and one of my favorite storytellers, will be our guest teller that night. He’ll be sharing a story I heard a few months ago and begged him to tell it at our show 🙂

To get you in the mood, here’s a sweet little story from Micaela Blei that had me smiling all the way through. It reminds me that great stories don’t have to be about great big things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntNQLWK2Lk

See you soon!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com