Here Be Tygers: Your Storytelling Guide

Hey all, 

We’re sharing the rest of our conversation with Kate from “Ignorance was Bliss” today. At first, we’d thought about having it all in one ep, but there was enough of significance, impact, and quality to warrant a different time for the rest. 

Above all, “The Stories We Tell Ourselves” is a reflection on the ones that we choose and the ones that we let: how much of our life is decided by them is something we get to decide. And to rewrite. Revise. So I invite you, as you listen to both of the tales shared today—on memory, loss, and of course, time—to think about the ones that /you tell/, of yourself and others as well, and those you’d care to keep in mind. 

We hope you enjoy 

- J

Hey all, 

For our second convo in the lead up to the “Seven Great Rules” miniseries, we invited Kate Wallinga, a former forensic psychologist, crisis clinician and host of “Ignorance was Bliss.” In our earlier talks with Kate, the notion of how we make sense of our world in order to “get by” came up quite a few times. 

So we decided to record a few episodes on the stories we tell ourselves: about the folks that we know, the ones that we don’t, and our own everyday life. And how, if we can let go of the boundaries we used to know, we’ll have the space / time / memory enough for other, more fruitful tales to grow. 

We hope you enjoy. 

-J

Hey all, 

We’re continuing our lead up to the miniseries on the ‘Seven Great Rules’ that I teach to both creatives and entrepreneurs alike, so that they tales they tell will be true, sincere and come fully to life. With that I mind, I invited facilitator, addiction coach, and author of “If Not You, Then Who?”, Jesse Harless, to the show. 

As both an addiction survivor and tireless entrepreneur, he speaks to not only the tales that we tell of our own lives, but also the ones that—as individuals or a society—we decide to live by. 

So join us today as we talk about how to recognize your own (or someone else’s) needs, wants and desires and the tales around those that we write. 

We hope you enjoy, 

-J 

Show notes 

If you’d like to learn more about Jesse or his work, you can: visit his site - jesseharless.com buy his book - amzn.com/1733531610 or connect with him on Instagram @jesseharless222

We’re returning this week with our current guest, Matt S., for the second half our conversation on what it means to be a storyteller and why “legacy” —what you provide and where that helps them to arrive—matters for those who create. You’ll also hear us speak quite a bit about your tribe, or ‘those who provide’. These are the folks who are with you for life. Who will go with you on that journey again and again in exchange for those essential currencies of money, information and time. 

Why? Because you’ve helped them to reach towards or achieve a better life. And that story, of who they are, what you provide, and where that helped them arrive—be it a solution, a service, even a tale of some ‘other’ world or ‘what might’—is a legacy we can all give, both as creatives and entrepreneurs alike, to our tribe. 

- J 

To learn more about Matt and his work as a writing coach, you can... Visit his site: https://www.mattselznick.com/ Follow his free serial fiction: https://www.selznick.me/hdacn Review his books: https://www.selznick.me/amazon Or connect with him by Twitter (@mattselznick) or FB and IG (@matthew_wayne_selznick_creates)

Hey all, 

I had to take somewhat of an unexpected break last month. As you may know, my father had been quite ill. And on the 8th of last month, we received word that he had passed away. It is still difficult for me, fully, to articulate what these past few weeks have been like. But I did promise myself that I’d return to the show. That I’d continue to write and to be your guide. So here we are today. 

The conversation you’re about to hear is a preface to the miniseries that we’ll launch soon, on the seven rules, reflections or guides that I use to help folks as they write. So I thought it would be fun to invite a fellow coach, advisor and writer, Matt Selznick, to talk about what his work and that process is like. And what—for him—compels, inspires or drives. Our conversation did go on for awhile though, so we’ll share just the first half tonight. 

We hope you enjoy.

-J

Hey all, 

Today’s episode is somewhat of a companion piece to the previous one, so if you haven’t listened to that yet, I suggest you give it a go. For those who have, we’ll be continuing our chat with philosopher and medical ethicist, Stephen Herman, about the worlds we perceive, the different lives they allow us to lead, and why we imagine in order to define truths or close to them, reach. 

So join us today as we talk about magical lands, Faust, analogies, and how we shape things into beginnings, middles and ends so that we can better make sense of them.

We hope you enjoy, 

-J

In his book, The Origins of Creativity, biologist E.O. Wilson argues for a new way forward: one that embraces both the sciences and the arts (the possible with the conceivable) as a means to achieve a better life in this, and potentially other worlds. So with that vision in mind, I decided to invite my friend, philosopher and medical ethicist, Stephen Herman onto the show.  

With the hope, or perhaps intent, that a few smaller discussions--on the search for shared meaning, how language and art ‘represent’, and what the journey to find universal or narrative ‘truths’ is like--can give us some sense of the road that Wilson describes. 

We hope you enjoy,

-J

Hey all, 

This is the second half of my conversation with music and audio producer and coach, Steven Leavitt, for his show The Language of Creativity. In the last episode, we talked about the stories we create and how we so often attach ourselves to them and why, in our work, play and everyday life.  

So for today, we’ll continue from that note into not only the tale that I write, but how I learn from that journey and what it entailed both the how and for whom I provide. 

I hope you enjoy 

-J

Hey all, 

For today’s ep (and the next), we’re going to change things up a little by sharing a conversation I had with my friend Steven Leavitt on his show, The Language of Creativity.  

Steven and I both work with a number of creatives in our everyday life. So we wanted to dispel a few myths about what that can be like, from where and how ‘art’ is derived, to the ways that our stories emerge—fiction or not—from the truths we  define. And like many tales, we go on a bit of a yarn at first—though it all comes together in the end. 

We hope you enjoy.

-J

We often talk on the show about how and when things begin, so I thought it would be useful today to discuss where they end: when all the truths of your tale lead to a certain place, when all the work that you do helps folks to arrive where they’d like to—in their work, in their life, in their play—and in a better state.  

But what makes an ending ‘good’, makes it right, makes you and your market, audience or tribe feel like you’ve arrived, that ‘this, here, is fine’ at the end of the journey that together you’ll take? That it’s clear. And inevitable. That you know why. So join us today, as we talk about endings, what makes them satisfying, and how even the change of a beat—at the right time—can delight, make us treasure, or feel surprised.

I hope you enjoy. 

-J 

Show Notes 

The Empire Strikes Back: how the ending was changed to better clarify  

Esquire on Catharsis in film, narrative and online   

Screenwriter Ronald D. Moore on what he had planned for Battlestar Galactica’s four-hour end Jojo Rabbit, the last scene 

The Life Aquatic as a modern Moby Dick 

The origins (and intent) to Frankenstein Captain Fantastic, living Walden 2 or Peter Pan, a review  

Breaking Bad’s “Felina”, and the tales it parallels Rutger Hauer‘s final soliloquy in Blade Runner