September 22, 2024

Breath of Grace

How do you listen to other people’s stories?

For a few years, we went annually to the Ojai Storytelling Conference. Across 2-3 days, we’d attend performances of amazing storytellers - some telling a story with guitar or percussion setting the mood or accentuating the tone, others using only their voice to wrap you up in another world. Each one had developed a beautiful way of bringing you into the world they created with their words.

Have you ever listened to a professional story-teller “in concert”?

During the first performance each year, I found myself shifting how I listened. Listening to a story - really letting yourself fall inside it - is different from the listening we do in meetings, with news or TV programs, or even in a back-and-forth conversation with friends. The storyteller is doing their part in crafting a vision, but we reciprocate by listening with a different attentiveness.

I’ve been thinking about this in relation to play personalities (storyteller is one of the play personalities Dr. Stuart Brown discusses, and it’s one we had fun exploring in the Play Portrait workshops). Naturally, I couldn’t help but then notice it in other activities.

This week I had to assess two possible speaker panelists for work. Both shared the story of their professional path. I took notes and shared back with the team some details from those - they served their purpose. One shared a story that still brings me inspiration and a smile a week later…he has storyteller play personality! He couldn’t wait to tell me this story - even with just 2 minutes left in our blocked time the story had to get out of him.

That’s sometimes how it is when something feels playful, right? It demands to come out!

In this case, I immediately found myself shifting into story-listening mode and reveling in receiving his story of a new relationship, meeting the parents, a crowded event at Burning Man, an unexpected discovery, a star sighting of amazing degree (the star lifted him up over the crowd!), and a humble realization of his own profound impact. Fortunately, I could let my next meeting know I’d be late.

Side note: Call me some time soon if you want to hear the story - it really is quite amazing!

And, it was another reminder of both how easy it is to create space for others and ourselves to revel in a little play, and how the legacy of those playful moments can have a long tail of impact:

• My connection with the storyteller (I feel like I’ve made a new friend!)
• The smile and energy I brought to other meetings the rest of the day.
• The laughter and inspiration conveyed to others when I’ve shared about him and his story.
• A renewed energy around the impact perhaps not yet seen from my own work.

Looking for a little boost in inspiration this Sunday? Perhaps you could invite in a story - invite it in with your whole attention as a true story-listener.

Mary

Want more ways to invite in play? Give yourself Permission to Play. Explore how play can help you find clarity, creativity, connection, and space to let go.
​
​
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​