The StoryField

A Story Circle for Refugee Youth

It matters what stories we tell.  It matters what stories we subscribe to. Stories have an energetic force and that energy has an impact in the world. This was the idea behind The Story Field Conference: Invoking a New World through Story, a gathering held at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado in August of 2007.  Dreamed into being by Tom Atlee of the Co-Intelligence Institute in Oregon, and Peggy Holman, co-author of The Change Handbook, the conference included a wonderful assortment of young and old, change makers whose work is all about inviting a new narrative into existence while uncovering the stories and myths we live by, many of which no longer serve us or the planet.

My experience at that conference has richly informed my work. After being there I decided to create this blog as a space to explore the nature of the Story Field, which I think of as a dynamic and ever-changing field of energy where stories interweave and form the fabric of daily life.

What stories am I bringing into the world? What stories do I want to invite from others?

Welcome to the Story Field

The universe is made of stories, not atoms, says the poet Muriel Rukeyser. Think about it. Every account we give of ourselves is a narrative of one kind or another. Every life form has a narrative shape by virtue of coming into being, existing for a certain period of time, and then passing out of existence. But no story and no life exist in solitude. All stories interweave. And no story is ever static. No matter how much we long to believe in a “perfect ending” we can be certain there is no final destination where nothing changes. (And if we view heaven as just such a place, then it’s sure to be the opposite of heavenly—a kind of hell realm of unrelenting sameness.) Since we ourselves are always changing, the story we live, and the story we tell, are always changing as well.

Here’s the question: if the universe is made of stories, what kind of stories are we telling? What kind of stories are we living? This is what I hope to explore on this site.