I am grateful for you. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Every few years, this blog/newsletter undergoes a shift. Here we go again. I feel another one coming.
It was more than 5 years ago that I was first captivated by storytelling magic. One person on stage, no props, no special visual effects… just voice, body language, and the intimacy of a live connection with the audience.
In that moment, I decided to embark upon a quest to explore storytelling as a community art, healing art, and performance art. I was sure of one thing. As a doctor, I had been through enough years of traditional school.
Instead, I created venues to perform stories (learn by doing). I went to festivals (listen to stories). I attended workshops and coaching sessions. Along the way, I have discovered a supportive storytelling community.
I am grateful for the personal growth. Years ago, after telling a friend one of my stories, I said, “… and that’s my useless skill.”
With an astonished look, he said, “Joel, that is not useless.” I am grateful to him. His comment was the seed to reframe an old belief that useful meant making money.
Howard Thurman said, “…what the world needs is people who have come alive.” My friend had seen me come alive in telling a story. We should all find a way to do the things that light us up inside. The world needs that light.
Yet, every time I get up on stage, the fear arises. Will I forget my lines? Will they like the story? Will they like me? But the urge to let the gift of my story come through me is even stronger. My focus shifts to positive support.
My practice of gratitude honors the positive gifts and resources that support me in life. Gratitude is the first step to manifesting a new intention in life.
Shift your focus to the positive.
Take a moment to answer the question…
What are you grateful for this year?
Each January, I co-teach a New Year Retreat. (Yes! I tell stories to teach this class.) Together, we use a powerful process to clarify and manifest a new year intention. In a prior year, I created the affirmation that my passion for storytelling touch all parts of my life.
Today, I teach “Storytelling as Healing” to undergraduates at a local university. I produce storytelling events and teach online workshops. (There’s one coming up.) I am president of the Florida Storytelling Association. I still work (part-time) in my own private practice seeing patients, but even my patients have been known to hear stories from time to time. My passion for storytelling touches all aspects of my life.
Something new is on the horizon for 2021. What will it be? I’m still in the first stages of the manifestation process… stay tuned. It’s going to be a good story!
This January 8 – 10, 2021, Release and Renewal: New Year Retreat will be online instead of in Sedona, Arizona. I hope you will join me to clarify and manifest your own new year intention.
Even if you can’t join me, I hope you will take this season of gratitude to begin the manifestation process to put 2020 behind and move into 2021.
Let the things that you are grateful for guide you to the next question.
What do you want more of in 2021?
