Transcript of the April 12, 2003 session at the Smithsonian Associates

1. PAUL'S COMMENTARY: JUMPSTART STORYTELLING 

Paul: It’s great to be here and what a fantastic start. I don’t know whether you believe in reincarnation. I’m wearing my New Age Angel on my lapel here, but if we did believe in reincarnation I think that Seth in the dark mysteries of time past must have been a shaman. He brings a kind of shaman energy to our work and he inspires us. 
I wore this tie this morning because it connects me to my Australian roots, but also what Seth demonstrated, is something that the ancient Australian peoples live their lives around stories. But for them, stories were more than just tales to be shared around the campfire. When we were little kids at school, we learned that Captain Cook mapped Australia, and all these great navigators. In fact, the aboriginal people used stories as maps. 

2. PAUL'S COMMENTARY: CORE VALUE STORIES
Paul: Thanks very much, Alicia. I just think that Alicia brings, in the team that is presenting today, a wonderful gentle sensitivity. I can see how she has communicated that to you. And she also has a wicked sense of humor. So she brings enormous gifts to the team. 
   As Seth opened up the day, setting up our “songline”, and mapping for us the beginning of the day, our hopes, I think that if you know anything about mapping, you trace the hidden rivers and dreams. You do the Lewis and Clark thing. You find one tributary and you set your sail. You become a waterman. You try to find the major source of that river. It’s like: “There must be a Mississippi here!” This stream is flowing stronger and stronger towards the sea. 
   I think that we’re mapping our values and our aspirations of today, and our hopes at the beginning of the day. When you’ve unwrapped a hope, when you’ve mapped what’s underneath a hope, you find: a value. Because a value is really what we most treasure. 
    So this day starts to “unpack”. We’re mapping. We start the day with the sharing of the quick stories. Now we move to the next level. 
    Alicia comes from the anthropological tradition. It’s one of the streams that informs this continent of story and storytelling. She spoke about the Kuna. It reminded me of the Margaret Mead’s, the Gregory Bateson’s, the people who have mapped that.
    With the stories that we’ve heard this morning so far, we’ve gone to Panama. We’ve gone to the Chesapeake Bay with the watermen. We’ve gone to Hawaii. People who work with stories are anthropologists. We sit. We listen. We get inside an experience and a people. 
   But something else has happened today. We’re not in Panama. We’re not on the Chesapeake Bay. We’re not in Hawaii. One of the things about being an anthropologist of the every day, is that you sit and listen and observe and treasure what’s happening in this very chemistry that we’re creating, so far in the first three or four hours of our day. 
    So thanks again to Alicia. She brings that stream to this rich continent of story. We’ve whetted our appetites now. Isn’t it interesting? What’s next? Can’t wait! (laughter, applause)

3. PAUL'S COMMENTARY: PUTTING THE STORY TO WORK
Paul: I just wanted to pay tribute to Rob, who trained for the ministry. Although he didn’t go through with that, he hasn’t lost his sense of calling. One of the new things that happened in this last session was that he invited us into the longest chunk of silence that you’re likely to get today, in terms of that meditative piece. This is one of the interesting things about the story tradition and Rob brings a deeply meditative presence to the work. He reminds us story-work isn’t only about sound and noise. Story-work is also about deep reflection and about silence. 
That draws from a religious tradition. If you want to know how to interpret stories that go to deeper levels, then you go to Midrash , and Kabbala. You go to Lexio Divina, that the Benedictine monks have evolved over thousands of years. So there’s a deep religious tradition and a theological tradition. The pioneers of narrative thinking, if you want to think about the modern era, happened in the 1970s. It’s in narrative theology. It’s names like John Shea . There’s an untapped goldmine of knowledge on narrative and it’s in the area of theology, whether it’s Jewish, or Christian. 

    THE TOOLS OF NARRATIVE THERAPY 
To segue into that, there’s also the field of family therapy. There’s a school which originates out of New Zealand and Australia, and it’s called narrative therapy. You’ll see in the chronology, people like Michael White from Australia and David Epstein. Someone was asking earlier for tools. Narrative therapy has developed for twenty five years of the most practical tools, and it doesn’t take a great amount of imagination to transfer directly into the areas of work we’re involved in in organizations and corporations. There’s so much knowledge and wisdom out there. But I think so much of it is in silos. We’re here. And they’re in another conference, five miles down the road. And we don’t even know of each other’s existence. Part of the whole convergence that we’re trying for is to get these groups together and talking to each other. 

     THE FUTURE STORY IS HAPPENING ALL OVER 
   So there are many aspects to future story. You can see it on the last page of the booklet. Golden Fleece doesn’t need to get all the honors and glory. It’s not just happening here in Washington D.C. It’s happening in San Diego. Where’s Karen Dietz? Karen is part of a story that’s evolving on the West Coast. (applause) Boston. Where’s Boston? Boston is a story that’s emerging strongly around Cambridge. (applause) Chicago. Is there anybody here from Chicago? There are people doing things there. 
   There seems to be a kind of bushfire starting. That’s an Australian image. It’s a fire that’s spreading. We’ve got people here from Great Britain. You’ve heard the accents. Welcome to London. (laughter) There’s something happening over there in the U.K. The National Storytelling Network! It’s a huge resource to tap into.  We have someone here from Holland. (applause) There’s the Holland contingent of this future story. Think what they might contribute. Then there’s …. Denmark. What about Denmark? Welcome to Denmark! (applause) There are things happening Denmark and Sven-Erik has come over. New Zealand! Where’s New Zealand? There’s New Zealand! Things are happening there. Who else? Canada! Let’s give the Canadians three cheers. (applause, laughter) Anybody else? Brazil! Wow! Welcome (applause) 
Fantastic. So I guess we should recognize as we come together here is that the future story is not owned solely by us. We’re just a part of a whole chain, a whole network of wonderful, wonderful good infection that spreading around the world. We want to make sure that you feel included in that story. We may be up here presenting, but by God, it’s a shared story that belongs to all of us, and hopefully to more and more people, as the story unfolds. Thanks very much. (applause) 

   A SALUTE TO THE PROFESSIONAL STORYTELLERS 
Paul: There is one group I haven’t acknowledged. Could all the storytellers in the room raise your hands. Can I thank you for being here and sharing your wisdom. You have brought so much to our exercise today. (applause) 

  SOME THOUGHTS ON BORROWING 
    Steve said earlier that I have read all the books on storytelling. Actually, I haven’t. I’ve skimmed a fair few of them. I’ve read some of them. But my apartment is full of books. I’d like to finish with a poem. I thought I’d send you off with a poem, which is a little bit different from a story. In a sense, I’d like to indulge my passion for books. Many of you probably have apartments full of books. Do you have lots of books at your place? (laughter) You do? Well, here’s a poem that is kind of personal to me, but it’s also a bit of fun. It’s called: 

                    LENDING OUT BOOKS
                                By
                        HAL SIROWITZ

     You’re always giving, my therapist said.
     You have to learn how to take.
     Whenever you meet a woman, the first thing you do is lend her your books.
     You think she’ll have to see you again in order to return them. 
     But what happens is, she doesn’t have the time to read them. 
     And she’s afraid if she sees you again, you’ll expect her to talk about them. 
     And will want to lend her even more. 
     So she cancels the date. 
    You end up losing a lot of books. 
    You should borrow hers. (applause) 

    Can I thank you for allowing us as the team to borrow your day, and your time and your energy. We hope that you’ve shared stories and that we’ve shared stories, so that you can borrow from us, and take back. And if there are some people in the room before you leave who have shared a story, with you in your small circles or wherever, it’s a wonderful narrative ethic that the native peoples always honor: a story told is a gift given. Remember to say thank you before you leave. Thank you! It’s been a wonderful experience. (applause)