Hi everyone. Class today was a lot of fun and was inspiring and helpful. But I was disappointed I didn't have my notebook to take down some of the interesting information on rhythms and meter. Is there some type of overarching key word that I could use to look up further information on this? I have looked up "Iambic pentameter" and "Dactylic pentameter" but do you know what I could look up to find a list of meters like these or further information on this? Any good book resources or videos? I found this site that seemed to be helpful:
It's a glossary of poetic terms: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=rhythm-and-meter
I'm also trying to remember what we covered in class. We covered Iambic and Dactylic, did we cover something else and what was it? Also, I wanted to ask but I forgot, the two beats in a row - what is that called? I think it started with an "S" but I am not sure. Thanks for reading my post!
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Muscle Memory for Story Learning
For several years (in one of my other lives) I worked as a special education assistant and as an advocate. In training sessions current research data would be presented and we would learn about various teaching tools for learning skills. But muscle memory was always a go to that aids in everyone's learning. Methods such as sky writing a large looping "O" while using this vowel's sounds "O" "ocean / Otter / coat/ cot" and so on with each letter aids learning and retention.
As we move from station to station with a story and physically demonstrate scenes from a story we engage muscle memory. When we make those large body movements around our stage area our story gains description and depth in our memory while also including /inviting our audience in.
As we move from station to station with a story and physically demonstrate scenes from a story we engage muscle memory. When we make those large body movements around our stage area our story gains description and depth in our memory while also including /inviting our audience in.
Moving chairs
I found today's exercise of moving the chair around the room really powerful. It made me see the story in totally different ways. Associations about the three goats keep finding their way into my head. It seems to me that the story is existing in all of our minds. This rearrangement then is like rearranging furniture. The invisible is seen in a new light. Very cool.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Blind Spot to Insight
I loved this thought from Megan Wells today, about how she tries to move a story "from blind spot to insight." I've lately been reading a lot about self-deception, and as I have I've been thinking about storytelling as a way of unraveling self-deception through vicarious experience. Basically, we're made to identify with a character who has some sort of self-deception--"a blind spot"--and then when they, through their experience, come to understanding, we experience that lovely synchronicity where we have the same epiphany with them. I was thinking about that, and then Megan went and summed that up so elegantly.
A lot of what we've done in this class could be considered as sort of preparation for this, from practicing being physically centered and rooted to learning to ask hard questions of the stories we work with. It takes that kind of rootedness to have the courage to explore the little lies we live; it takes that kind of inquiry to break open the puzzle.
A lot of what we've done in this class could be considered as sort of preparation for this, from practicing being physically centered and rooted to learning to ask hard questions of the stories we work with. It takes that kind of rootedness to have the courage to explore the little lies we live; it takes that kind of inquiry to break open the puzzle.
If it's True one place it should be True everywhere
I have heard Chris say some things about story listening, that there is a part of learning to tell stories that is also about learning how to listen to others stories ( forgive me Chris, I am not trying to quote you).
Equally I think there is a power to being able to sit with peoples stories, the happy, the uncomfortable, the sad, the angering. As we listen to we become aware of our blind spots can we help shed light for others for theres?
Megan Wells sees storytelling as a consciousness building. A holy temple so to speak. I must admit being far from home and safely emerged in story land. I have been using the tools of story creating and story listening to the story unfolding at home.
Some of you know Tom and I, have a little family drama taking place with one of our kids. Maybe it is because I have been desensitized by a weeks worth of powerful personal stories, but I find myself better able to be present. I am more helpful as I look to allow my own blind spots to be illuminated.
I have just started talking about everything in terms of story and story arc, and I am surprised by how much more this is able to be received.
The touching of consciousness that Megan Wells refers to?
Equally I think there is a power to being able to sit with peoples stories, the happy, the uncomfortable, the sad, the angering. As we listen to we become aware of our blind spots can we help shed light for others for theres?
Megan Wells sees storytelling as a consciousness building. A holy temple so to speak. I must admit being far from home and safely emerged in story land. I have been using the tools of story creating and story listening to the story unfolding at home.
Some of you know Tom and I, have a little family drama taking place with one of our kids. Maybe it is because I have been desensitized by a weeks worth of powerful personal stories, but I find myself better able to be present. I am more helpful as I look to allow my own blind spots to be illuminated.
I have just started talking about everything in terms of story and story arc, and I am surprised by how much more this is able to be received.
The touching of consciousness that Megan Wells refers to?
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
xeno's rope (not sure of the spelling)
I appreciated the exercise with the rope to visualize the arc of the story line. I find that adding a 3D effect to a story like this helps me see it in another light. What I was wondering though was how to do this in real life for working with your own story. It would be hard to hold both ends of the rope and then move other pieces. Doing it in your head isn't the same thing as the physical feeling of moving the rope with your hands (or feet as in some cases). I was just trying to see how this exercise could be translated into an exercise to use by ourselves as we work with our own stories in development. Any thoughts?
e.e. cummings poem
I couldn't resist sharing my favorite e.e. cummings poem here. I especially enjoy the lack of punctuation in it, that leaves the reader free to pause in their own interpretation. - Laurina
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Yoga for Processing
I really like having Storytelling Gym after the morning of of information and story feasting. The slow contemplative body movements provide an excellent atmosphere for processing our morning efforts. By the time we "circle up" for collaborative creativity I can really feel the gears of my brain turning in higher gears and I'm feeling energized!
I used to be pretty regular about my yoga time. This has reminded me of how valuable that time is in my life.
I used to be pretty regular about my yoga time. This has reminded me of how valuable that time is in my life.
Shortest Point to Where?
I enjoyed the exercise with the rope today. I think as were learning stories and trying out different ideas having something tangible and concrete to work with would be really helpful. I also see how I could bring that into a classroom to help learn and or create stories. In the same way they have children throw bean bags to learn multiplication in Waldorf schools. ( Okay, for those of you tired of hearing about it, that is my last Waldorf plug for the day. I just feel so passionate and grateful about it.)
I also really enjoyed speaking the poetry. Fun to speak my heroines poetry with Cynthia. As well as to hear the different interpretations. Poetry feels like it is more meat for the mouth it seemed to come out easier.
Julie
Monday, July 27, 2015
Braiding: Getting Into Listeners' Heads
I notice a lot of people talking about how much they love the braiding activity; I love it too. That was fascinating and illuminating. For me, it's both a way to ask questions of the story/flesh it out and a way to get into the head of a potential audience.
I think it's pretty clear how it helps us ask questions of/flesh out a story; what has me geeking out is how it might help us explore potential audience viewpoints. This is my (nascent) thought: every image, every character, every setting, every event/pattern in a story is pregnant with all of the potential associations to that thing--whether it be from the listener's life, or from another story they've heard. For example, when the Wolf pops up in Little Red, the listeners might associate, in the back of their heads, to a million other story wolves, from the Big Bad Wolf to Peter and the Wolf. Beyond that, audience members might have their own experiences or feelings associated with wolves. The same thing happens if you bring up a deep, dark wood, or a wicked stepmother, or a tower, or a young person coming-of-age. Every story element can wake associations in the mind of the listener. These associations can be powerful.
So when we free associate like that with a story, it's kind of a way of exploring what potential associations could happen in the mind of the listener. This way, we know exactly what our controls are--what buttons are we potentially pressing in people? Even further, this might help us know which buttons we want to press--we can discover ways to hint at certain associations that invest an image with particular power. For instance, Chris mentioned in his post that certain angles/questions/associations made folk and fairy tales more interesting to him; this seems to me to be a natural way to really juice all of the potential power in these stories.
I think it's pretty clear how it helps us ask questions of/flesh out a story; what has me geeking out is how it might help us explore potential audience viewpoints. This is my (nascent) thought: every image, every character, every setting, every event/pattern in a story is pregnant with all of the potential associations to that thing--whether it be from the listener's life, or from another story they've heard. For example, when the Wolf pops up in Little Red, the listeners might associate, in the back of their heads, to a million other story wolves, from the Big Bad Wolf to Peter and the Wolf. Beyond that, audience members might have their own experiences or feelings associated with wolves. The same thing happens if you bring up a deep, dark wood, or a wicked stepmother, or a tower, or a young person coming-of-age. Every story element can wake associations in the mind of the listener. These associations can be powerful.
So when we free associate like that with a story, it's kind of a way of exploring what potential associations could happen in the mind of the listener. This way, we know exactly what our controls are--what buttons are we potentially pressing in people? Even further, this might help us know which buttons we want to press--we can discover ways to hint at certain associations that invest an image with particular power. For instance, Chris mentioned in his post that certain angles/questions/associations made folk and fairy tales more interesting to him; this seems to me to be a natural way to really juice all of the potential power in these stories.
Braiding, etc.
I, too, enjoyed the braiding exercises. For whatever combination of reasons, I have resisted fairy and folk tales. However, braiding has allowed us to work into the tales and raise questions that we would like asked, which has revealed a more interesting side to the tales than I had previously appreciated.
LOVE to braid!
I loved learning how to braid as a young girl. There were so many possibilities for fabulous hairstyles for my dolls, sisters and ME! I learned to braid traditionally. I learned how to "fishbone braid". I learned how to "french braid." All of these styles offered different styles for different situations.
This is how I feel about learning to "braid" our stories together in class. It is beautiful, stylistic, and provides many more options for thinking about and sharing stories. I have been hesitant or unsure about how to use traditional tales to address personal/today concerns. Our work on Friday and today helped me think about this in new ways.
This is how I feel about learning to "braid" our stories together in class. It is beautiful, stylistic, and provides many more options for thinking about and sharing stories. I have been hesitant or unsure about how to use traditional tales to address personal/today concerns. Our work on Friday and today helped me think about this in new ways.
A little poetry
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Braiding Exercise
The braiding exercise was powerful in many ways today. It seems to me that as we come together in stretching and warm ups we are creating a universal space. Then continuing to link our thinking around story so that we are parallel playing from the very beginning. Thus, linking our stories into and next to each other in a kind of web. Perfect evidence of that for me today was that as I said I was thinking the ball looked like a lemon I was also equally singing the lemon tree song in my head to which David has us start singing it. So in braiding a story when we are already synchronized there is a powerful coming together. I also liked that this wasn't necessarily forcing a story in any specific direction but allowing room for multiple stories and voices to link together, harmonizing ideas together.
I felt everything we did today harmonized and led to the next thing. The game of what is it was a perfect jumping off place. I thought it was interesting how similar our ideas were with the object. What would happen in a group that might not be as creative?, or creative in different ways. What would a group of bankers think the broom was? What would a group of musicians see or dancers, or rabbis?
If one of us did this game with a group of rabbi's would a different kind of synchronicity occur, or would there be a discord?
Friday, July 24, 2015
a story jam
Today I was sharing with my son, who is a jazz guitarist and slam poet, about our final exercise -- he said "so you were having a story jam." and yes, I guess we were. I live with two musicians and I love it when they jam. It is always fresh, original and full of surprises. That's how it felt today. Both the asking questions of the story and then jamming with the themes. Wow! Liberating and informative! Can we do some more of that?
Braiding Stories/ Story Braiding
Whooooa, I can start with one memory which leads to another, which leads to another, and another, on and on. At first they seem only loosely connected or even disconnected but our brains through up what spills out for a reason. So if we look closely recurring themes like music, art, bare feet, a desire, the Earth, a fear, a favorite, a person, a season, a food, a habit............................can begin to link and connect into the fractals of a life story.
Now, what's really exciting is that we can do this with all kinds of stories! We can braid a fairytale with a personal experience and a How & Why story. Or how about braiding folktale/ Tall Tale/ Myth. For example: I might braid a personal story with a fairytale and animal story..."then I sat the tiny creatures down and I helped my husband suit up like a storybook Queen preparing her knight for a quest."
Oh, this is fun.....
Now, what's really exciting is that we can do this with all kinds of stories! We can braid a fairytale with a personal experience and a How & Why story. Or how about braiding folktale/ Tall Tale/ Myth. For example: I might braid a personal story with a fairytale and animal story..."then I sat the tiny creatures down and I helped my husband suit up like a storybook Queen preparing her knight for a quest."
Oh, this is fun.....
David's book
Greetings David,
Will you please tell me the title /author of the book you were reading from for us today? It reminded me of how excited the young people at the recreation centers would get on the days we scheduled various Tale Tellers who brought stories and sometimes fun activities. But instead of, "Please tell us a story," it was "Are they here yet? Are they, are they?" These young people were always ready to listen on story day. Last semester Idilio got a taste of this in his practicum work and the children continued to ask about him right up to their last day of school.
Will you please tell me the title /author of the book you were reading from for us today? It reminded me of how excited the young people at the recreation centers would get on the days we scheduled various Tale Tellers who brought stories and sometimes fun activities. But instead of, "Please tell us a story," it was "Are they here yet? Are they, are they?" These young people were always ready to listen on story day. Last semester Idilio got a taste of this in his practicum work and the children continued to ask about him right up to their last day of school.
I am still really appreciating the afternoon warm up. I did not enjoy taking someone else into my personal space with me during the breathing. It felt to personal to allow someone else into a space I hold as sacred. Which reminds me of a conversation I had with Cynthia that everyone in your dreams, and equally in your stories is really you.
I think the daily play is really powerful for opening up creative thinking playing with moving furniture. I particularly enjoyed the no it's not game. I would love to integrate some of our stories that were working on into the games. I wonder however if the whole point is to let go and be in that space and then go work on stories?
Our collective stories have gone from these safe lovely baked bread nostalgia images to the absolute ridiculous. Very fun. I think we need a group logo for t-shirts or stationary. A chicken named Marcel and his friend the costumer dalmation.
I think the daily play is really powerful for opening up creative thinking playing with moving furniture. I particularly enjoyed the no it's not game. I would love to integrate some of our stories that were working on into the games. I wonder however if the whole point is to let go and be in that space and then go work on stories?
Our collective stories have gone from these safe lovely baked bread nostalgia images to the absolute ridiculous. Very fun. I think we need a group logo for t-shirts or stationary. A chicken named Marcel and his friend the costumer dalmation.
A Chicken Named Marcel
I really enjoyed our one-line storytelling circle activity thingy doohicky and I thought it was a ton of fun. It challenged me to live in the moment of the story rather than to try to force the story around my ideas. For example, I had this idea of the dancing chicken, Marcel, starting a flash mob dance to do chicken-Thriller but when the story came around to me that didn't seem appropriate for that place. So instead I got to just go with the flow.
I wonder what would happen if, say, we built up the story more slowly. What if we had, time permitting of course, went around the room once just to build up the placement of character and location. Then we went around once or twice giving the actual story. Not to say that what we did was worse, but I wonder what we would have come up with if we took more time before the "then one day-" Thoughts?
I wonder what would happen if, say, we built up the story more slowly. What if we had, time permitting of course, went around the room once just to build up the placement of character and location. Then we went around once or twice giving the actual story. Not to say that what we did was worse, but I wonder what we would have come up with if we took more time before the "then one day-" Thoughts?
Thursday, July 23, 2015
your laughter by pablo neruda
Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.
potted plant by Hafiz
A Potted Plant
I pull a sun from my coin purse each day.
And at night I let my pet the moon
Run freely into the sky meadow.
If I whistled,
She would turn her head and look at me.
If I then waved my arms,
She would come back wagging a marvelous tail
Of stars.
There are always a few men like me
In this world
Who are house-sitting for God.
We share His royal duties:
I water each day a favorite potted plant
Of His--
This earth.
Ask the Friend for love.
Ask Him again.
For I have learned that every heart will get
What it prays for
Most.
From: 'The Subject Tonight Is Love'
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
poems by maya angelou
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
and...
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
and...
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
Spirit Animal
I was really inspired by Regi Carpenter yesterday. I've never heard a storyteller quite like her before. I think it is fun to get to hear other storytelling students talk about their favorite storytellers. Every once and a while you can tell that someone looks up to a storyteller so much, that it is as if their favorite storyteller is their storytelling spirit animal, ha. So I have a lot of different storytellers that I love to hear, but I am adopting Regi as my storytelling spirit animal, I guess. :)
Of course if someone Googles this blog somewhere 10 years from now and excommunicates me from the church for using the phrase "spirit animal" I'll probably regret writing that but it was the best way for me to think of how to put the words. Think abstractly, sometimes, church.
I remember this scene in "Shall We Dance?" where J. Lo (whoever she is playing) is remembering a dancer who was so graceful and beautiful and how touched she was when the dancer smiled at her. And from that moment she knew she wanted to be a dancer. I think from yesterday, from seeing Regi, there was something about her performance that really inspired me. In ways that I don't really have words for yet, and I might have to think on it for a year or two to be able to put together an intelligent sentence or two to describe the feeling. But I did really enjoy getting to hear Regi yesterday.
Of course if someone Googles this blog somewhere 10 years from now and excommunicates me from the church for using the phrase "spirit animal" I'll probably regret writing that but it was the best way for me to think of how to put the words. Think abstractly, sometimes, church.
I remember this scene in "Shall We Dance?" where J. Lo (whoever she is playing) is remembering a dancer who was so graceful and beautiful and how touched she was when the dancer smiled at her. And from that moment she knew she wanted to be a dancer. I think from yesterday, from seeing Regi, there was something about her performance that really inspired me. In ways that I don't really have words for yet, and I might have to think on it for a year or two to be able to put together an intelligent sentence or two to describe the feeling. But I did really enjoy getting to hear Regi yesterday.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Readings by Frost
An Equalizer
It is as true as Caesar's name was Kaiser
That no economist was ever wiser
(Though prodigal himself and a dispiser
Of capital, and calling thrift a miser).
And when we get too far apart in wealth,
'Twas his idea that for the public health,
Sothat the poor won't have to steal by stealth,
We now and then should take an equalizer.
~ Robert Frost
It is as true as Caesar's name was Kaiser
That no economist was ever wiser
(Though prodigal himself and a dispiser
Of capital, and calling thrift a miser).
And when we get too far apart in wealth,
'Twas his idea that for the public health,
Sothat the poor won't have to steal by stealth,
We now and then should take an equalizer.
~ Robert Frost
Yoga for Storytelling
I am enjoying the yoga more than I would have anticipated. A decade ago I was a practiced regularly. With job and life changes, yoga fell by the way side. I do occasionally practice with youtube at my home, but these are 10 minute sun salutations videos that are usually interrupted by my loving bulldog Freddy, who loves to writhe on my yoga mat.
The daily yoga is really helpful after lunch to be centered. When we pantomimed last week, I suspect that I may have been much more resistant had we not first gotten centered.
The daily yoga is really helpful after lunch to be centered. When we pantomimed last week, I suspect that I may have been much more resistant had we not first gotten centered.
Aeneid - Don't Trust this Horse - Text for Class
This is a piece of text I wanted to submit for consideration to be used in class. Thank you!
Aeneid II:
Aeneid II:
Then Laocoön rushes down eagerly from the heights
of the citadel, to confront them all, a large crowd with him,
and shouts from far off: ‘O unhappy citizens, what madness?
Do you think the enemy’s sailed away? Or do you think
any Greek gift’s free of treachery? Is that Ulysses’s reputation?
Either there are Greeks in hiding, concealed by the wood,
or it’s been built as a machine to use against our walls,
or spy on our homes, or fall on the city from above,
or it hides some other trick: Trojans, don’t trust this horse.
Whatever it is, I’m afraid of Greeks even those bearing gifts.’
So saying he hurled his great spear, with extreme force,
at the creature’s side, and into the frame of the curved belly.
The spear stuck quivering, and at the womb’s reverberation
the cavity rang hollow and gave out a groan.
And if the gods’ fate, if our minds, had not been ill-omened,
he’d have incited us to mar the Greeks hiding-place with steel:
Troy would still stand: and you, high tower of Priam would remain.
particular images
Here is an old blog post that came to mind when reading Cynthia's list of images:
Sitting in my little cabin at the foot of Mt. Pisgah, I enjoyed the dramatic thuderstorms of the past week. As I read through a collecton of American poets, I came across this piece by Conrad Aiken. I think it exemplifies the idea of using a specific image to conjure a mood and larger pictures:
"Beloved, let us once more praise the rain.
Let us discover some new alphabet,
For this, the often praised; and be ourselves,
The rain, the chickweed, and the burdock leaf,
The green-white privet flower, the spotted stone,
And all that welcomes the rain; the sparrow too,—
Who watches with a hard eye from seclusion,
Beneath the elm-tree bough, till rain is done.
There is an oriole who, upside down,
Hangs at his nest, and flicks an orange wing,—
Under a tree as dead and still as lead;
There is a single leaf, in all this heaven
Of leaves, which rain has loosened from its twig:
The stem breaks, and it falls, but it is caught
Upon a sister leaf, and thus she hangs;
There is an acorn cup, beside a mushroom
Which catches three drops from the stooping cloud.
The timid bee goes back to the hive; the fly
Under the broad leaf of the hollyhock
Perpends stupid with cold; the raindark snail
Surveys the wet world from a watery stone...
And still the syllables of water whisper:
The wheel of cloud whirs slowly: while we wait
In the dark room; and in your heart I find
One silver raindrop,—on a hawthorn leaf,—
Orion in a cobweb, and the World."
"Beloved, let us once more praise the rain.
Let us discover some new alphabet,
For this, the often praised; and be ourselves,
The rain, the chickweed, and the burdock leaf,
The green-white privet flower, the spotted stone,
And all that welcomes the rain; the sparrow too,—
Who watches with a hard eye from seclusion,
Beneath the elm-tree bough, till rain is done.
There is an oriole who, upside down,
Hangs at his nest, and flicks an orange wing,—
Under a tree as dead and still as lead;
There is a single leaf, in all this heaven
Of leaves, which rain has loosened from its twig:
The stem breaks, and it falls, but it is caught
Upon a sister leaf, and thus she hangs;
There is an acorn cup, beside a mushroom
Which catches three drops from the stooping cloud.
The timid bee goes back to the hive; the fly
Under the broad leaf of the hollyhock
Perpends stupid with cold; the raindark snail
Surveys the wet world from a watery stone...
And still the syllables of water whisper:
The wheel of cloud whirs slowly: while we wait
In the dark room; and in your heart I find
One silver raindrop,—on a hawthorn leaf,—
Orion in a cobweb, and the World."
posted by David # 4:33 PM 
ADHD and Bean Bags
Aimee once showed me this video of a guy who mentored/taught/coached kids with ADHD and other attention disorders. He did an exercise very similar to the one we did yesterday wherein he gathered his students in a circle and instructed them to play catch with a ball but that you could not throw the ball until you had made eye contact with your intended target. This exercise challenged his students to slow down and focus in on paying attention one to another.
Around that time Aimee and I were doing children's ministry in Illinois in a very small church in a very small town with children who were predominantly under severe trauma and the affects of different developmental disorders. It was a constant struggle to get them to focus in on anything long enough to take home even the simplest concepts. Granted, I had just come out of a six-year academic career and so my "simplest concepts" might have been a bit too high-brow for them. But we used this game several times to get them to slow down and pay attention and it tended to do well. The one kid who really had trouble with the game was the fifteen year old non-developmentally challenged, non-traumatized boy who always wanted to trick the other kids by looking one way and throwing in another.
The game we did with David was very similar and I noticed how quickly we sped up even after he told us to slow down and try to ensure a good catch through a good throw. I think I kept my pace steady only because this memory was buzzing through my head because I, too, wanted to speed up. What is it that causes us to do that? To speed up, to take less time on something.
It makes me think about how when we get, say, a new job in a new area and our morning commute seems, at first, full of discoveries, and it feels long, but then, as we get acclimated, the morning commute becomes quick and unmemorable, our actions while driving, walking, etc., go to auto-pilot. Have we all played catch so long (we are all adults anyway) that the action becomes less worthy of study and taking time?
Probably thinking way too deeply about this, but it was interesting none the less.
Around that time Aimee and I were doing children's ministry in Illinois in a very small church in a very small town with children who were predominantly under severe trauma and the affects of different developmental disorders. It was a constant struggle to get them to focus in on anything long enough to take home even the simplest concepts. Granted, I had just come out of a six-year academic career and so my "simplest concepts" might have been a bit too high-brow for them. But we used this game several times to get them to slow down and pay attention and it tended to do well. The one kid who really had trouble with the game was the fifteen year old non-developmentally challenged, non-traumatized boy who always wanted to trick the other kids by looking one way and throwing in another.
The game we did with David was very similar and I noticed how quickly we sped up even after he told us to slow down and try to ensure a good catch through a good throw. I think I kept my pace steady only because this memory was buzzing through my head because I, too, wanted to speed up. What is it that causes us to do that? To speed up, to take less time on something.
It makes me think about how when we get, say, a new job in a new area and our morning commute seems, at first, full of discoveries, and it feels long, but then, as we get acclimated, the morning commute becomes quick and unmemorable, our actions while driving, walking, etc., go to auto-pilot. Have we all played catch so long (we are all adults anyway) that the action becomes less worthy of study and taking time?
Probably thinking way too deeply about this, but it was interesting none the less.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Creative play
I am enjoying our time using "creative play" in our class. I like how it is laced with opportunities to imagine and create, smile and laugh, think and reflect. When I think of my typical day at school or home, I am sad to say that not all of these are exercised often, if at all.
It was a little challenging to create the string stories together yesterday. I found myself wanting to be very literal with the actions I was performing to create a bow. I could use more time so I could really think outside of the box for this activity.
It was a little challenging to create the string stories together yesterday. I found myself wanting to be very literal with the actions I was performing to create a bow. I could use more time so I could really think outside of the box for this activity.
I enjoyed adding in the bean bag to the word play today. The implications of this are huge. I could see how this could be applied to teaching children storytelling or writing as well. I find as I free myself with the exercises it becomes much easier to just be there. Allowing the stories to just come or bubble up instead of forcing them.
More Mouth Poetry
SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
--Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be; 10
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yesA couple more gems to share after today's readings. Two of my favorite poems which find my way to my thoughts or tongue in a variety of situations.
Day 5
I really loved the simple but powerful experience of walking from one side of the room to the other, either on a line or a curve, with our eyes closed. Also, to hear the idea of wearing the stage almost like it were part of your outfit was a powerful image as well. We practiced in class that instead of seeing the stage area as something that "is what it is" how to really test its limitations and benefits and begin to get the full use out of the space, and trust the space, and own the space for a moment.
Also, working with the different personas was fun on Friday, too. It was interesting to see how people interpreted the various personas and to try to guess which person was displaying which persona.
Also, working with the different personas was fun on Friday, too. It was interesting to see how people interpreted the various personas and to try to guess which person was displaying which persona.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Creativity and Limits
The past couple days in class, I love how we've been sparking creativity by using limits and frames. For instance, on Friday, when we had to tell pieces of our story from the point of view of a specific persona, that imposed certain frames--and certain limits/boundaries, because that's what frames are, I guess--on what we could do. The limits, though, have the paradoxical effect of opening up creativity. Same thing with the shoe-string activity today (and with the stick activity last week). I don't know why this works, but it's pretty cool. It engages problem-solving, I suppose, so it makes you ask questions you wouldn't otherwise ask, which gives you answers you wouldn't otherwise get.
There are some interesting ideas about creativity and limitation here: http://blog.ted.com/can-limitations-make-you-more-creative-a-qa-with-artist-phil-hansen/
Anyway, I want to adopt now, as part of my process, a phase where I throw in some weird frame--a prop, a persona, a point of view--and see what comes of it.
Also, for those who took the Institute with Shonaleigh--I think that maybe Midrash 2, 3, and 4 are all about this. That's most of the process!
There are some interesting ideas about creativity and limitation here: http://blog.ted.com/can-limitations-make-you-more-creative-a-qa-with-artist-phil-hansen/
Anyway, I want to adopt now, as part of my process, a phase where I throw in some weird frame--a prop, a persona, a point of view--and see what comes of it.
Also, for those who took the Institute with Shonaleigh--I think that maybe Midrash 2, 3, and 4 are all about this. That's most of the process!
Some pieces of language
I love Annie Dillard. I think these are some linguistically tasty quotes:
1. “The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days.”
2. “Thomas Merton wrote, “there is always a temptation to diddle around in the contemplative life, making itsy-bitsy statues.” There is always an enormous temptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. It is so self-conscious, so apparently moral, simply to step aside from the gaps where the creeks and winds pour down, saying, I never merited this grace, quite rightly, and then to sulk along the rest of your days on the edge of rage.
I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright. We are making hay when we should be making whoopee; we are raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus.
Go up into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift and vanish too. Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock--more than a maple--a universe. This is how you spend this afternoon, and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon. Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”
Go up into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift and vanish too. Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock--more than a maple--a universe. This is how you spend this afternoon, and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon. Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”
3. “After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever-fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go. I come down to the water to cool my eyes. But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn't flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames.”
I could really just paste the entire book, but I'll resist.
Day 6 Fish, Frog, & flying red string
What happens when you cross a pipe and a string while buzzing lips? Huh, huh, come on you can get this one!
Q-What happens when you cross a pipe and a string while buzzing lips?
A- A David Novak workshop
I am feeling that I can absorb more information with more energy as after emptying myself out stretched quietly on my mat and refilling afresh in the first part of class. Word sound games and collaborative story making get the gears turning in my brain. Having fun as we learn together.
Thanks everyone! ;->
Q-What happens when you cross a pipe and a string while buzzing lips?
A- A David Novak workshop
I am feeling that I can absorb more information with more energy as after emptying myself out stretched quietly on my mat and refilling afresh in the first part of class. Word sound games and collaborative story making get the gears turning in my brain. Having fun as we learn together.
Thanks everyone! ;->
Under Pain of Shoestrings!
Ok, I loved the exercises with the little pipes that David brought in last week, but the shoestrings absolutely beat my imagination to a pulp! It was a way more challenging game for me than any of the others we've done so far, and topped only by the bow-tying story challenge. I found that I could tell a story easily enough but, when it came to telling it while tying some semblance of a bow, I failed miserably! It's like all of my years of tying my shoes escaped me! Thanks to Tzitel (sorry if I butchered that spelling) for being so patient with me!
Despite the challenge, I appreciated the way it forced me to think differently about the string.
Despite the challenge, I appreciated the way it forced me to think differently about the string.
Free Photos on Tuesday 4:30 - 7:30 PM Campus Center Building Room 205
Hi everyone!
I asked David if I could share this with everyone and he said yes (thanks David!) so I'm cross-posting this message on both boards.
Dwayne and I take photos for the storytelling program a lot when we are in the area, and we wanted to offer free pictures for anyone that would like to stop by on Tuesday afternoon after class. Dr. Sobol has lent us the room after the Storytelling Gym class (which ends around 4:05) for as late as we need it, and the janitor has said there is no conflict with even staying later if we need to. We'll stick around until 7:30 PM in case anyone needs to leave after class and come back later. If the building is locked we can let you back in. Please add our phone # if you plan on coming because it would be the best way to reach us if the building is locked when you arrive for any reason: (586) 231-4192.
We need a little bit of time after class to set up so we'll begin around 4:30. Our hope is that for anyone who is able to make it, the scene will be relaxed and we'll get to find out from you what kind of picture you'd like to have of yourself. Feel free to use these as promo pictures for your website or anything you might need them for.
Dr. Sobol has lent us the stool that he used for his Yeats' performance last Wednesday evening, so we have that if you'd like to use it in your picture. But if you have anything else, like a prop or a wig or something customary to a story that you tell that you'd like to bring, please feel free to!
I have 2 people confirmed to stop by so far other than Dwayne and myself. If you are under an extreme time restraint please text me before hand and I will try to make sure that you can arrive and leave in a short amount of time by giving you a specific time to stop by. Otherwise, my hope is that it will just be a fun and relaxed environment. I hope to be finished editing any pictures taken by next weekend, but if not that, before the three weeks are up. I'll provide the files to everyone in a Dropbox from which you can freely download your pictures.
Here are some sample pictures from us taken in the same room of Dr. Sobol's performance last week:
http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/yeats/
And here are some of our other Storytelling pictures from the year we were here on campus if you were curious to see any:
http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/storytelling/
Thanks for reading my message and hope to see you there if you'd like to come join us!
I asked David if I could share this with everyone and he said yes (thanks David!) so I'm cross-posting this message on both boards.
Dwayne and I take photos for the storytelling program a lot when we are in the area, and we wanted to offer free pictures for anyone that would like to stop by on Tuesday afternoon after class. Dr. Sobol has lent us the room after the Storytelling Gym class (which ends around 4:05) for as late as we need it, and the janitor has said there is no conflict with even staying later if we need to. We'll stick around until 7:30 PM in case anyone needs to leave after class and come back later. If the building is locked we can let you back in. Please add our phone # if you plan on coming because it would be the best way to reach us if the building is locked when you arrive for any reason: (586) 231-4192.
We need a little bit of time after class to set up so we'll begin around 4:30. Our hope is that for anyone who is able to make it, the scene will be relaxed and we'll get to find out from you what kind of picture you'd like to have of yourself. Feel free to use these as promo pictures for your website or anything you might need them for.
Dr. Sobol has lent us the stool that he used for his Yeats' performance last Wednesday evening, so we have that if you'd like to use it in your picture. But if you have anything else, like a prop or a wig or something customary to a story that you tell that you'd like to bring, please feel free to!
I have 2 people confirmed to stop by so far other than Dwayne and myself. If you are under an extreme time restraint please text me before hand and I will try to make sure that you can arrive and leave in a short amount of time by giving you a specific time to stop by. Otherwise, my hope is that it will just be a fun and relaxed environment. I hope to be finished editing any pictures taken by next weekend, but if not that, before the three weeks are up. I'll provide the files to everyone in a Dropbox from which you can freely download your pictures.
Here are some sample pictures from us taken in the same room of Dr. Sobol's performance last week:
http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/yeats/
And here are some of our other Storytelling pictures from the year we were here on campus if you were curious to see any:
http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/storytelling/
Thanks for reading my message and hope to see you there if you'd like to come join us!
Discordant Illusions
I noticed something about the group imagined space exercise that we did on Friday. I noticed it felt a bit discordant. Some of us (myself included) seemed to be disagreeing on some of the elements we added to the shared illusory space. I noticed this because, I think, instead of adding static props, we interacted with each others' added elements, causing a clash between what we were seeing. I don't know if this was because we were unable to properly see each others' elements and how they were changing across the scene, or because we were unwilling to live in the same place. So if we do a similar exercise today (Monday) I am going to try completely giving in to what others create in the space, I am going to try to thoroughly submit to the imaginary creations of my classmates, and to only add what seems appropriate in the place they are creating. I'm curious to see if I can keep myself from causing discord.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Readings for Storytelling Gym
I couldn't find my book so I pulled what I could of this off the internet. While I have read many times Tolkien's books and writings this is one of the scenes the stands out in my mind. Eowyn's story moves me deeply and this part in particular.
The
Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul boasted that "[n]o
living man may hinder me,"
The
Shieldmaiden of Rohan removed her helmet and declared, “But
no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s
daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be
not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you
touch him."
He shattered her shield
and broke her shield-arm with his mace. Then Eowyn seized an
opportunity to strike the witch-king with a killing thrust “between
crown and mantle.” His withering form collapsed and he vanished
with a final cry of anguish.
warning from ADS
Talking about voices, Anna Deveare Smith says, "Pain is a warning. Observe the warnings always. Stop and troubleshoot the problem." This is true of more than the voice, and I realize I could feel the first warnings during the first storyteller's gym class. Although everything was fine with the other class members, I could tell from the beginning that the yoga stretches were causing me great agony. Since Tuesday I have have severe back pains and am going to have to find alternative ways to stretch before class and performances, since I cannot do stretches that injure me. So, if you see me sitting on a chair during the yoga stretches, it has to do with heeding my own individual warning and troubleshooting my own individual problem.
Friday, July 17, 2015
David, have you thought of writing up the exercises in this class as a book? So energizing and inspiring.
Love the "creating place" exercise. Enthusiastic and inspired, I wanted to do a free-write of place and realized I sometimes wrote down ideas (generated from words) rather than images so that was interesting to notice. The exercise wasn't nearly as rich as when multiple people are throwing in their images and we need to incorporate the new contribution into our image of the place, building off of each other's ideas is actually the best part, but I decided I wanted to start a daily free-write practice. To get started and create an element of surprise, I made a list of initial images that will be made into cards tomorrow. Thought I would share the list that will get me started (some images are from what I could remember from our work together):
lego's on floor
orange vinyl chair
woman in hairnet
air conditioner blasting
tire swing over bare spot in lawn
tea kettle whistling
mud puddle
books precariously balanced
spot light
sword ferns
ants encircling drop of honey
creaking rocking chair
creaking floor boards
broken plastic knife
yoga mats splayed from center
gum popping
mud tracks across floor
herbs hanging from ceiling
closed shutters
footbridge over creek
spider swinging from web
pink and mint green tile walls
rusty padlock
peanut shells crunching underfoot
sound of jack hammer
sound of xerox machine printing
crumpled gum wrapper
smell of old beer
distant sound of child practicing piano
comics slipped between mattress and wall
bees swarming
jewels illuminated in glass case
dragonflies darting
croak of frogs in darkness
heap of old truck tires
palm trees swaying
clicking of a metronome
ivy creeping up brick wall
white marble columns lined up like soldiers
rotating sprinklers
hum of refrigerator motor
grease spot on concrete
smell of coffee burning
bacon sizzling
buzz of mosquitoes
lipstick stain
cigarette burning in ashtray
tangle of seaweed
overstuffed dresser drawers
clear glass sweating from ice cubes
wet-suit dripping from hook on wall
dusty chalkboard
hot white sand
chair knocked over on it's side
Love the "creating place" exercise. Enthusiastic and inspired, I wanted to do a free-write of place and realized I sometimes wrote down ideas (generated from words) rather than images so that was interesting to notice. The exercise wasn't nearly as rich as when multiple people are throwing in their images and we need to incorporate the new contribution into our image of the place, building off of each other's ideas is actually the best part, but I decided I wanted to start a daily free-write practice. To get started and create an element of surprise, I made a list of initial images that will be made into cards tomorrow. Thought I would share the list that will get me started (some images are from what I could remember from our work together):
lego's on floor
orange vinyl chair
woman in hairnet
air conditioner blasting
tire swing over bare spot in lawn
tea kettle whistling
mud puddle
books precariously balanced
spot light
sword ferns
ants encircling drop of honey
creaking rocking chair
creaking floor boards
broken plastic knife
yoga mats splayed from center
gum popping
mud tracks across floor
herbs hanging from ceiling
closed shutters
footbridge over creek
spider swinging from web
pink and mint green tile walls
rusty padlock
peanut shells crunching underfoot
sound of jack hammer
sound of xerox machine printing
crumpled gum wrapper
smell of old beer
distant sound of child practicing piano
comics slipped between mattress and wall
bees swarming
jewels illuminated in glass case
dragonflies darting
croak of frogs in darkness
heap of old truck tires
palm trees swaying
clicking of a metronome
ivy creeping up brick wall
white marble columns lined up like soldiers
rotating sprinklers
hum of refrigerator motor
grease spot on concrete
smell of coffee burning
bacon sizzling
buzz of mosquitoes
lipstick stain
cigarette burning in ashtray
tangle of seaweed
overstuffed dresser drawers
clear glass sweating from ice cubes
wet-suit dripping from hook on wall
dusty chalkboard
hot white sand
chair knocked over on it's side
Day 4 Catch-Up
I fell behind on day 4 so this is me playing catch up a little bit. I know this is probably a terrible excuse because it affected everyone but I was so caught up in studying my story that I ran out of time to blog for Thursday. So I wanted to catch up! :) This is my Thursday post, and over the weekend I will blog my Friday post.
I had fun in class but my knee has been bothering me so I was taking it easy in yoga on Thursday. I hope that no one takes this for complaining. I am SO thankful that we are getting to learn these techniques and I am not bored by them at all even if I have to modify the routine for a few.
I was watching a YouTube video once about how yoga totally transformed this one man's life and it was super inspiring. In case anyone else wanted to see it too, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448
I liked the pantomime practice but I know that I will have to practice more to get a better grasp of it. Some of the group work was bringing me back to being terrified of being in group activities in high school. I thought I grew out of that, ha. I liked being with all of my group members in class but I used to be so terrified of group activities in high school. When I would participate in team building exercises at a youth retreat back then, I remember the best days being the ones where I found some excuse to run to the bathroom and hide while everyone else had to figure out how to go from being in a tangled web of hands to an organized circle or whatnot. I think my heart was almost beating out of my chest back then if I thought there was no way to get out of an activity.
I think I realized today that at least on some level I feel the same way when I am storytelling. I enjoy storytelling but sometimes it is like staring fear right in the face. I heard a quote one time that said you can either be courageous or a coward but not both at the same time. That quote encourages me to try to embrace courage.
On a kind of funny note one time I had to tell a monologue in high school and unfortunately my teacher made it mandatory for our fellow high school students (outside of drama class) to attend our concert. I didn't get to pick my monologue but I did try my best. A few of the boys in my grade thought it would be funny to "boo" me so I went and yelled, "Shut up!" before I left the stage. I thought it was pretty cool that I didn't get in trouble for that. But one time I did get in trouble for writing an entire paper on Shakespeare and spelling his name wrong throughout the entire paper. Oops! Well, it was 9th grade.
I had fun in class but my knee has been bothering me so I was taking it easy in yoga on Thursday. I hope that no one takes this for complaining. I am SO thankful that we are getting to learn these techniques and I am not bored by them at all even if I have to modify the routine for a few.
I was watching a YouTube video once about how yoga totally transformed this one man's life and it was super inspiring. In case anyone else wanted to see it too, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448
I liked the pantomime practice but I know that I will have to practice more to get a better grasp of it. Some of the group work was bringing me back to being terrified of being in group activities in high school. I thought I grew out of that, ha. I liked being with all of my group members in class but I used to be so terrified of group activities in high school. When I would participate in team building exercises at a youth retreat back then, I remember the best days being the ones where I found some excuse to run to the bathroom and hide while everyone else had to figure out how to go from being in a tangled web of hands to an organized circle or whatnot. I think my heart was almost beating out of my chest back then if I thought there was no way to get out of an activity.
I think I realized today that at least on some level I feel the same way when I am storytelling. I enjoy storytelling but sometimes it is like staring fear right in the face. I heard a quote one time that said you can either be courageous or a coward but not both at the same time. That quote encourages me to try to embrace courage.
On a kind of funny note one time I had to tell a monologue in high school and unfortunately my teacher made it mandatory for our fellow high school students (outside of drama class) to attend our concert. I didn't get to pick my monologue but I did try my best. A few of the boys in my grade thought it would be funny to "boo" me so I went and yelled, "Shut up!" before I left the stage. I thought it was pretty cool that I didn't get in trouble for that. But one time I did get in trouble for writing an entire paper on Shakespeare and spelling his name wrong throughout the entire paper. Oops! Well, it was 9th grade.
I really liked playing imaginary catch. What I found really interesting about this was I couldn't even play in the landscape of this game without addressing my internal anxiety about baseball or softball. The idea of mining an action that would have had me made fun of in reality brought up a rush of discomfort. I mention this because my natural inclination would be to choose a different action or game. If there is a difficult part in a story is this the same inclination. I can now say I am very good at imaginary ball, so what else could open up.
I also enjoyed the brain gym type games. I found them fun and challenging. What I enjoyed most and was equally challenged by was that just as I thought see I got it, David would come in with now use your left hand, or turn in a circle, or use both hands etc. I tend to think linearly with an end destination, goal checked move on. This felt like accepting the idea of endless learning in different ways.
I also enjoyed the brain gym type games. I found them fun and challenging. What I enjoyed most and was equally challenged by was that just as I thought see I got it, David would come in with now use your left hand, or turn in a circle, or use both hands etc. I tend to think linearly with an end destination, goal checked move on. This felt like accepting the idea of endless learning in different ways.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Day 4 Time to Mime
I am really enjoying beginning our Storytelling Gym with the yoga, breathing, and vocal exercises. I'm finding myself more energized through the afternoon.
Creating the attic room today with our miming gestures reminded me of creating a room with Shonaleigh. In past classes I have recognized a pattern of best practices being used in story development for performance. David and Shonaleigh's varied methods on creating a room is one example. \
Creating the attic room today with our miming gestures reminded me of creating a room with Shonaleigh. In past classes I have recognized a pattern of best practices being used in story development for performance. David and Shonaleigh's varied methods on creating a room is one example. \
Discipline (or the lack thereof)
So I've been reading Smith's book (which, I know, is not a text for this class, but still) and the chapter about discipline hit me hard, though not as hard as our exercises today. This routine, which appears to be relatively easy to the rest of you, is kicking my butt! It's like a world class, iron-man, Mr. Universe workout. And it reminded me of this chapter in Smith's book, discipline . . . as in, I don't have any. I am a very sedentary beast (as you can usually tell from my belly) and so this time at ETSU has been kind of hard. After now being acclimatized to nice, flat locales, I'm once more thrust along these steep, hilly paths to and from class, as well as the yoga move which is eating my lunch.
Despite this, I realize that I need some serious discipline. I need to become more disciplined with my body, feeding it and exercising it correctly so that if such a class ever comes up again, no one has to listen to me grunt through the exercises like I am bench-pressing a 300lb barbell!
But I also need some mental discipline. Being out of school in a while has gotten me out of the habit of reading. Well, lets face it, even being in school but burnt out on academics has gotten me out of the habit. But this habit is forced back upon me as it is a requirement but also because there's not much else to do in our little studio apartment on campus. Now I just got to work on getting to bed at a decent hour . . . we'll see.
Despite this, I realize that I need some serious discipline. I need to become more disciplined with my body, feeding it and exercising it correctly so that if such a class ever comes up again, no one has to listen to me grunt through the exercises like I am bench-pressing a 300lb barbell!
But I also need some mental discipline. Being out of school in a while has gotten me out of the habit of reading. Well, lets face it, even being in school but burnt out on academics has gotten me out of the habit. But this habit is forced back upon me as it is a requirement but also because there's not much else to do in our little studio apartment on campus. Now I just got to work on getting to bed at a decent hour . . . we'll see.
Day 3 Stage Nerves
I listened to Mr. Bil talk about how he flows into a story and then feels his feet touch back down among the audience toward the end. Perhaps this lift is due to the anticipation and energy of the audience.
I considered how this sounded much like what I feel during a performance if I'm nervous. When I get comfortable I am right there with the audience and we soar into the story together through our combined energies for the duration of the telling. It is a blissful experience of connections.
I considered how this sounded much like what I feel during a performance if I'm nervous. When I get comfortable I am right there with the audience and we soar into the story together through our combined energies for the duration of the telling. It is a blissful experience of connections.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Day 2 in the Storyteller's Gym
Well, I guess we felt clever that we could save money by driving all night from Michigan and going straight to class on Monday morning. I think that decision's consequences finally caught up with me during Tuesday's class because I felt kind of sick on Tuesday afternoon. Not that I felt everybody should know that, but I say that to say this: I felt a total difference Monday vs. Tuesday in class. Monday I felt as though my mind and body were free. Tuesday I felt like I should feel free but instead I felt bogged down. So I kind of went through the motions in class. But I did practice some more stretching at home.
I like the speaking exercises in class because they make me face my fears in speaking head on. The exercises seem to be just on the edge of being simple enough to feel like "Ok, I can do this" but still complex enough to be stumped sometimes (at least for me!). I'm definitely not trying to come up with some spectacular word to impress anyone when I pause for a long time to think of a word. Nope. I'm just trying to think of anything. But it's been a very helpful exercise because we get to re-visit that place of needing to say something on cue over and over again and try to conquer performance anxiety.
I also always only feel encouraged in class by everyone, and I always want to encourage everyone, as well. I think it is a really healthy atmosphere. I know that teachers sometimes see the students that struggle and think the students are just doing their best and that's all they can do. But I've never felt limited by others' expectations here. I don't feel like there's a glass ceiling in this class, or in advanced, over any of our heads. Sometimes for me the glass ceiling feels kind of low, and I know I put it there most of the time. But this class and our other class challenges me to envision a world with no glass ceiling above my head so that I can grow and improve. So thank you to everyone and to our teacher for that!
P.S. I was re-reading my first sentence in my 3rd paragraph like this, "I aaaaalso aaaaalways ooooonly feel eeeencouraged in class by eeeeveryone." Lots of vowel sounds, haha.
I like the speaking exercises in class because they make me face my fears in speaking head on. The exercises seem to be just on the edge of being simple enough to feel like "Ok, I can do this" but still complex enough to be stumped sometimes (at least for me!). I'm definitely not trying to come up with some spectacular word to impress anyone when I pause for a long time to think of a word. Nope. I'm just trying to think of anything. But it's been a very helpful exercise because we get to re-visit that place of needing to say something on cue over and over again and try to conquer performance anxiety.
I also always only feel encouraged in class by everyone, and I always want to encourage everyone, as well. I think it is a really healthy atmosphere. I know that teachers sometimes see the students that struggle and think the students are just doing their best and that's all they can do. But I've never felt limited by others' expectations here. I don't feel like there's a glass ceiling in this class, or in advanced, over any of our heads. Sometimes for me the glass ceiling feels kind of low, and I know I put it there most of the time. But this class and our other class challenges me to envision a world with no glass ceiling above my head so that I can grow and improve. So thank you to everyone and to our teacher for that!
P.S. I was re-reading my first sentence in my 3rd paragraph like this, "I aaaaalso aaaaalways ooooonly feel eeeencouraged in class by eeeeveryone." Lots of vowel sounds, haha.
Day 2 Consonance & Vowels
While talking with our daughter Leisel after class yesterday she commented that I seemed really energized. I told her about Storytelling Gym and she considered it to be a very interesting way to learn in a college class. I felt as though the wheels in my head were turning more freely.
I had not considered before the intellectual sounds of consonance verses the emotional sounds of vowels. I did find the readings from Jack London, William Shakespeare, and Kenneth Graham's The Wind In the Willows a pleasurable and memorable experiment with intellectual consonance, emotional vowels, and vocal expression with breathing placement.
I feel that the brain calisthenics in class leave those muscles feeling as energized as my body does after the yoga and breathing exercises. The weight lifting play with words and sounds (sitting or stretched out on a mat) leaves my brain feeling fitter and stronger, my thoughts a little clearer.
Thank you
I had not considered before the intellectual sounds of consonance verses the emotional sounds of vowels. I did find the readings from Jack London, William Shakespeare, and Kenneth Graham's The Wind In the Willows a pleasurable and memorable experiment with intellectual consonance, emotional vowels, and vocal expression with breathing placement.
I feel that the brain calisthenics in class leave those muscles feeling as energized as my body does after the yoga and breathing exercises. The weight lifting play with words and sounds (sitting or stretched out on a mat) leaves my brain feeling fitter and stronger, my thoughts a little clearer.
Thank you
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
As a teacher, I believe there is great value in creating an environment of predictability in performance-based classes. The clear expectation of doing physical, vocal and mental warm-ups at the beginning of each session creates a sense of order in a space where people will be asked to take risks and be vulnerable with their peers.
I incorporate similar physical, vocal and mental warm-ups for my students in my public speaking classes on days that they give speeches. These warm-up routines benefit both speaker and the listener. The speaker is able to work off any extra adrenaline that may be affecting his/her body, while the listener is using the time to center him/herself in order to be fully present.
So in a sense, I am "at home" with our Storyteller Gym class because the routine is welcome and familiar.
Going to the dentist
I really enjoyed the Storyteller’s Gym today. The breathing exercises really opened me up. I hadn’t breathed so naturally and so deeply in a while. The yoga pose pushed me physically. I tend to be a sedentary person (and it shows!) so even otherwise simple poses, like pushing the arms up overhead, have made me sore now. Also I deal with a pretty stiff left hip, so I could only perform the lunge with the one leg. Suffice it to say, I had to adjust a lot of the routine to account for my physical capabilities.
But what I enjoyed most was the imagination play that we engaged in and particularly the part wherein we all were lying on the floor and describing the dentist’s office. Just listing items was a lot of fun, but the challenge occurred when you asked us to now describe the room. I (and I think my classmates were with me on this) was shocked as to how daunting it felt to compose all of those individual details into a complete scene. And that’s why I wanted to go first. I did my best but felt that my performance and use of the materials (the individual bits everyone had mentioned before) was lacking. I was especially disappointed that I had forgotten the fishtank, even though it instantly put a picture in my head of the fish tank at the dentist’s office in Finding Nemo.
I also noticed that we at least tried to incorporate all of the aforementioned details. We didn’t add any, although you didn’t say we couldn’t and it didn’t seem like any of us flippantly ignored any of the details mentioned. This was interesting to me because it reminded me about how you talked about the unspoken rules we automatically apply to ourselves. I suppose we could have mentioned a dentist’s office with a totally different suite of details. But we followed those unspoken, self-restrictive rules.
Practice
It is amazing how fast the body, mind, and spirit line up with the practice of regular exercises. How much faster the peace comes when a practice is developed and kept. It is harder to keep it up in daily life, kids, work, etc. Yet how much more powerful would those experiences as well as story life be if this practice were maintained daily. I also note that having done versions of this at different times that there is a physical memory that seems to take over and say oh yes over here.
I found the experience of thinking under pressure interesting. We all have different ways of responding to the pressure of attention. For myself I generally find I get a fit of giggles. Pleasantly enough for me, but amazing how difficult it is to think when I just want to laugh. I then would imagine that this translates to all feelings or emotions and how they consequently cloud thought. It seems then the ability to practice thinking under pressure is a powerful tool, and muscle to develop.
See, Say, Show Activity and Anxiety
After we had meditated and we were beginning to do the "See, Say, Show" activity, I found it really calming to look at something and label it. Noticing that some object in the room is a chair, or a table, or a shoe reminded me of something in psychology we call, "grounding." It helps to bring someone into the present. Sometimes I spend too much of my time worrying about things in the present or the near future. Ok, "sometimes" is an understatement. I tend to be a little anxious almost all of the time. But doing the yoga stretches, meditating, and having to focus on the now was helping me to focus on the now minus the worries, which was a really great gift to receive yesterday.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Day one reflections
One thing that I noticed today is that we did physical exercises before mental ones. Pretty basic, but I think it's important. Sometimes, I think I treat it like the story comes out of my brain, and I focus on the mental aspects--the ideas, the tropes, the interpretation, the synthesis, the "shadow-work," what have you. But on a really basic level, it comes out of your body. The words are a production of your body, as are the volumes of unspoken, non-verbal communication. Getting grounded there first made a noticeable difference to me.
I also thought a bit about the "see, say, show" activity. I'm not sure how it's meant to be interpreted, but the last part of it--where we paced ourselves around the room--was very illuminating for me. It made me think about my own story pacing, how quickly I'm comfortable processing and translating images; basically, it made me consider the length of an "idea unit" (Chafe-style) when I'm storytelling. And riding the wave right at the top of that arc--the "glib" space where we were trying to get through idea units/images as fast as we could without losing coherence--felt to me like that place where you're pacing a story just right, riding the edge.
The activity at the window resonated particularly with me. I was thinking of it later in terms of something that Shonaleigh said about walking the line between the two worlds. The storyteller occupies a liminal space, between the world of the story and the listeners. As at the window, the teller translates the unseen storyworld for the listeners. However, if the teller totally disappears into the storyworld--as in the first instance, where Julie was looking out the window the entire time--then the connection isn't made with the listener. (Though of course this kind of immersion could be useful in rehearsal, as it was for Julie.) During later examples, though, it still required glances out the window every now and then, and without that, Julie wouldn't even have seemed a reliable witness; she would have been too much in our world to show us that one. For the fullest experience, we needed to experience Julie looking out the window and interacting with us; she needed to be both here and there. I think that is, metaphorically, the space we need to occupy when we're telling.
I also thought a bit about the "see, say, show" activity. I'm not sure how it's meant to be interpreted, but the last part of it--where we paced ourselves around the room--was very illuminating for me. It made me think about my own story pacing, how quickly I'm comfortable processing and translating images; basically, it made me consider the length of an "idea unit" (Chafe-style) when I'm storytelling. And riding the wave right at the top of that arc--the "glib" space where we were trying to get through idea units/images as fast as we could without losing coherence--felt to me like that place where you're pacing a story just right, riding the edge.
The activity at the window resonated particularly with me. I was thinking of it later in terms of something that Shonaleigh said about walking the line between the two worlds. The storyteller occupies a liminal space, between the world of the story and the listeners. As at the window, the teller translates the unseen storyworld for the listeners. However, if the teller totally disappears into the storyworld--as in the first instance, where Julie was looking out the window the entire time--then the connection isn't made with the listener. (Though of course this kind of immersion could be useful in rehearsal, as it was for Julie.) During later examples, though, it still required glances out the window every now and then, and without that, Julie wouldn't even have seemed a reliable witness; she would have been too much in our world to show us that one. For the fullest experience, we needed to experience Julie looking out the window and interacting with us; she needed to be both here and there. I think that is, metaphorically, the space we need to occupy when we're telling.
There were a couple of images that particularly resonated for me in the storytelling gym.
One is the idea of coming home to your own body, the constant relationship between expansion and contraction as natural as breathing itself. Over the last several years, I have noticed a disconnect with my own body as it has aged and external demands have pushed in on me. My body has changed in ways that are foreign to me and I haven't kept up with the changes. Recently, I even caught myself, in the middle of a story, realizing that I wasn't supporting the telling with my breath. Being kinesthetic, the idea of coming home to my own body is a delight (and it's sore, I can feel it already).
The other idea is looking at the storytelling event as being a threshold moment, where the storyteller stands on the threshold between the world of the listener and the world of the story. Threshold moments are moments when absolutely anything is possible and the notion that the storyteller stands on the threshold provides the safety for the listener to delve into the world of the story more fully. The storyteller knows every crevice of the story and is willing to make it accessible to the listener. There is a quality of presence that is palpable when the storyteller invites the listener in; as we witnessed when Julie told us about the world outside the window...such a beautiful example. (By the way, just saying -- outside my window, right now, there is thunder and lightening and torrents of rain. A jolt of enthusiastic celebration for this Californian.)
One is the idea of coming home to your own body, the constant relationship between expansion and contraction as natural as breathing itself. Over the last several years, I have noticed a disconnect with my own body as it has aged and external demands have pushed in on me. My body has changed in ways that are foreign to me and I haven't kept up with the changes. Recently, I even caught myself, in the middle of a story, realizing that I wasn't supporting the telling with my breath. Being kinesthetic, the idea of coming home to my own body is a delight (and it's sore, I can feel it already).
The other idea is looking at the storytelling event as being a threshold moment, where the storyteller stands on the threshold between the world of the listener and the world of the story. Threshold moments are moments when absolutely anything is possible and the notion that the storyteller stands on the threshold provides the safety for the listener to delve into the world of the story more fully. The storyteller knows every crevice of the story and is willing to make it accessible to the listener. There is a quality of presence that is palpable when the storyteller invites the listener in; as we witnessed when Julie told us about the world outside the window...such a beautiful example. (By the way, just saying -- outside my window, right now, there is thunder and lightening and torrents of rain. A jolt of enthusiastic celebration for this Californian.)
Day 1
Thank you all for our first workout! Today we learned a breathing and stretching routine that we will continue as the opening section of our daily Storytelling Gym. This consisted of some standing stretches combined with deep breathing and a variation of the yoga "Sun Salutation." The variation I shared today is closest to the Hattha Sun Salutation B
Here is a link to more information about this sequence.
http://www.londonyogi.com/yoga.html
We discussed the tension existing between art and business. As Buckminster Fuller said, "you must decide whether you are trying to make money or make sense, as they are mutually exclusive." here is a link to this morning's story on npr that I referenced:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/08/421141868/a-crime-of-passion-when-the-love-of-yogurt-burned-too-bright
Logistics note: Wednesdays our class period will be spent attending the Teller-In-Residence at the ISC in Jonesborough. Performance begins at 2:00 with "talk-back" at 3:30.
Here is a link to more information about this sequence.
http://www.londonyogi.com/yoga.html
We discussed the tension existing between art and business. As Buckminster Fuller said, "you must decide whether you are trying to make money or make sense, as they are mutually exclusive." here is a link to this morning's story on npr that I referenced:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/08/421141868/a-crime-of-passion-when-the-love-of-yogurt-burned-too-bright
Logistics note: Wednesdays our class period will be spent attending the Teller-In-Residence at the ISC in Jonesborough. Performance begins at 2:00 with "talk-back" at 3:30.
See, Say, Show
We used the exercise of seeing objects around us in the room, then naming them, and later showing the objects to help loosen up mentally, verbally and physically. It especially helped that we did the exercise incrementally in separate steps from just looking to talking to add movement. For me, it felt like a warm-up before a performance to get the words and movements to flow. I would equate it with a warm-up that a dancer does before a performance and think it is valuable as a pre-performance tool. I could see how this could be used individually as a warm-up. However, I was wondering if a group exercise, for example if teaching a storytelling class, might include another step. The 4th step for a group exercise could be Share and be like charades. Of course, this was only what I was thinking about after the exercise in class today.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Course Syllabus
STOR 5840
Story Performance: 2 credit hours
Special Topic: Storytellers’ Gym
Course Syllabus
Instructor: David Novak
Phone: 828-280-2718
Email: atellingexperience@gmail.com
Office hours: per request
Summer 2015
Course
Schedule: July 13-31,
M-F, 2:05-4:00pm
Room: Campus Center 205
Texts: None.
Class Blog:
Catalog
Description: This
course provides an introduction to creative drama techniques for the classroom,
the library, or in storytelling performance.
Overall
Objective: To exercise
the public performance and critical thinking skills necessary for the student
to improve storytelling.
Course
Narrative: This course
consists of daily physical, vocal, verbal, and compositional exercises relevant
to storytelling in performance.
NOTE: Students
are expected to dress for ease of movement and requested to bring a towel, yoga
mat, pillow, or other items as needed for floor work.
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