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Community Values

Community Values

So…there’s one more important housekeeping item we should think about before we begin. What are our community values? How do we want to give and receive responses to one another?

My thinking may be too simplistsic (and I hope you will tell me so, if that’s the case) but, for me, four key values come to mind to guide our posts here:

⏤kindness
⏤inclusiveness
⏤respect
⏤civility

What else should be on the list? Are there things I am missing?

Photo Credit | Ironbound Community School: Newark (NJ) courtesy of Internet Archive.org

Because stories and identities are negotiated within communities, the re-writing and re-authoring of alternative stories can never be a solo endeavor.

CHENÉ SWART

Let’s Define Story

Let’s Define Story

For the record, I define story very loosely and plan to let each of us define it for ourselves rather than impose one definition. In fact, maybe our first act together should be to share how we define it.

OK, I’ll go first (full disclosure—I am a word geek):

Story is “a narration of a happening.” I tweaked this language from the listing for the word story at etymonline.com. Apparently, this use of the word dates to the year 1200. I like it because it is simple and allows a lot of room for going in many different directions. Yet, the word “narration” feels rather writing-centered and that is not my intent. So, I dug further. Looking at the word history, which is related to story, I found the Greek historia which originally meant “a learning or knowing by inquiry.” I like the idea of story as being centered around inquiry and exploration. So here is my working definition:

Story is a learning or knowing by inquiry that is shared in any art form.

What’s your definition?

I am a teller of stories and therefore an optimist, a believer in the ethical bend of the human heart, a believer in the mind’s disgust with fraud and its appetite for truth, a believer in the ferocity of beauty.

TONI MORRISON

Welcome

Welcome

Welcome! Before we begin in earnest, I thought I should tell you who I am and why I created this space. So I wrote you a letter. If you’d like me to read it to you, you can click the audio player below. I assume you got here by first visiting the StorySpeak homepage, but if not, I suggest you hop over there to read a few more details about my plans for this site.

Please say hello in the comments section. If you are willing, I’d appreciate hearing what you think of this idea and if there are particular topics related to story that you might like to explore in community with other art makers.

Dear You,

a letter to tell you about this space