My Beautiful Stories

The podcast is back and this week we introduce a story from Ilze. She tells how her creativity flourished during the first lockdown, and, with lockdown number 2 coming to the UK and many European countries, we thought this would be a timely reminder. 

Amidst the confusion and uncertainty, Ilze also found joy in creating and expressing herself. 

The podcast has a different structure, as it incorporates an interview I held with Ilze on my Instagram account. 

We spoke about the Planet Project - the community project I ran on the 22nd of April as a dedication towards our Planet. That project involved over 300 creatives, virtually holding hands around the Earth. 

We also discussed Ilze's new film, Tellus. Based on the Planet Project, with words from over 30 creatives, voices offered by the Planet Project participants and music by Vicky, this poetic film is a beautiful dedication to the Earth. Find out more on the podcast and on Ilze's website. 

I really enjoyed speaking with Ilze about how her creativity bloomed during lockdown and about the inspirational film she has put together, as wonderful legagy to the Planet Project. 

Support the show

'But the fact that really stuck in my mind was the fact that they recorded that he had three missing teeth...'

This is the story of the moment when Pawel learnt his grandfather had been a prisoner in a concentration camp. One of the most peculiar details of the registration form was that it specified three missing teeth.

THE STORY OF THE THREE MISSING TEETH

Today's story is a personal one. You will hear Pawel tell about the the hidden parts of his family history he discovered in 2020.

DISCUSSION

This story comes after a very difficult previous episode. You can listen to it here. Recording it was our way to offer a conclusion and a response to the previous episode and the volume of responses we had after its publication.

Following Pawel's elaboration on his Grandfather's three missing teeth and the concentration camp's interest in them, I launch into a tirade about the necessity to remember to tell our stories, the good ones and the bad ones too. I argue that we need to remember and learn to be comfortable with telling the trauma, in order to avoid the danger in forgetting and thus creating a protective and appeasing film over those memories at the risk of moving on.

RECOMMENDATION

Where the Crawdads sing is a book about family secrets revealed. I enjoyed reading it and immersing myself in its story so much. Recommended.

N. B. I always add new recommendations depending on my own personal journey in books and art, so if you'd like to keep in touch in that way, subscribe and you can receive them all. 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, head over to storisse.com

Support the show

'We may all be weathering the same storm, but we are not in the same boat...'

'The real tragedy would be if I allowed myself to become a disbeliever of what I know and hold to be the inherent beauty and greatness of all mankind.'

The story we feature today talks about racial discrimination, racial injustice and the power of discriminatory discourses in the time of the pandemic.

STORY

Today we hear Maddy's own voice, from Abohemian, as she narrates her story.

DISCUSSION

This episode was not easy to record. We both felt incredulous, outraged and utterly powerless to hear Magdalene's account of direct experience of racial discrimination.

We discuss what we can do about stopping racial discrimination and in fact discrimination of any sort from taking place in the future.

We take our lead from  Reni Eddo-Lodge's recent advice in her amazing podcast - About Race. She asks us to delve deeply into the question and ask ourselves what is within our capacity to do to stop racial discrimination and injustice from happening.

Here's a thought: we can influence discourse. We can make sure that certain ways of referring to people, places, actions are simply inaccessible, not to be used.

We discuss this, and more, in today's episode on racial discrimination.

We are so grateful to Maddy for sharing her experience with us.

RECOMMENDATION

Follow Magdalene on Instagram, read her words and stay a while. Subscribe to her newsletter, talking about those things we seldom talk about, here.

We love About Race for education against racism.

We enjoyed watching this film, which talks about the difficulties in forgiving unfair acts done to us.

N. B. There will be more recommendations coming up in the next edition of the newsletter, subscribe and you can receive them all. 

THANK YOU, MADDY, FOR TELLING YOUR STORY OF 2020 ON THE PODCAST.

See more show notes on storisse.com

Support the show

'There is honestly nothing quite like kissing your family goodbye, not knowing what will happen next.’

Today we are immensely grateful to Lucille, who has agreed to share her experience of having been diagnosed with Covid-19 during lockdown.

TW:

This story features description of symptoms of Covid-19 and tells the story of a family’s fight with the virus.

DISCUSSION

We were extremely grateful that Lucille decided to share a painful event in her life with us.

Her experience of UK lockdown is so far removed from our own, and this is how we start our discussion in today’s episode.

Yet what we loved about Lucille’s story is her generosity. In sharing her story with others, with our audience and on her blog, she helps us understand her struggles better.  Her account is also a beautiful ode to the NHS workers.

We are so grateful to Lucille for sharing her experience with us.

RECOMMENDATION

I highly recommend that you follow Lucille on instagram and on her website, which includes details about her independent jewelry business. 

The other recommendation today is a film which speaks about dealing with pain and family matters: My Left Foot. 

THANK YOU, Lucille, FOR TELLING YOUR STORY OF 2020 ON THE PODCAST.

Support the show

'We could gently get familiar with our new roles as parents and act with intuition.'

Our guest on today's episode of the podcast is Katharina Geissler-Evans. In a slightly different format, you will hear Kiki's own voice telling us her story of 2020.

With thanks for sharing their beautiful vignettes of life in lockdown with us.

DISCUSSION

We loved the richness of this episode so much that we recorded close to an hour of discussion. Keeping to our brief format though, we are bringing you a succinct discussion.

Kiki had her baby as the Covid-19 pandemic was taking over Europe. She tells us how a situation which could have been dramatic eventually turned around.

Kiki describes the concept of heiter and its role in finding grounding and joy in the everyday.

We discuss the idea of different beginnings superimposing and question the make-up of future generations.

We are so grateful to Kiki for allowing us to share her experience and gain strength from her narrative of joy.

RECOMMENDATION

HEITER: If you would like to find out more about the concept of heiter and would like to implement it into your daily life, you'll find all information, support and advice on Katharina's website.

The other recommendation today is a coming of age film: Leave No Trace.

THANK YOU, KIKI, FOR TELLING YOUR STORY OF 2020 ON THE PODCAST.

Series 3 of My Beautiful Stories podcast offers a space for YOUR STORIES to be heard. You can listen to the first story from our audience here. 

The second story on the podcast can be found here.

This is the third story on the podcast.

The fourth story can be found here. 

And here you can find the fifth. 

Share your stories of 2020 with us and let's create a safe space where to keep a memento of what 2020 really was like - the beauty, the humanity, the heartbreak.

We invite a diversity of voices to join us in telling the stories of 2020.

Support the show

‘For me, these three stories are poems of humanity and nature - living together in peace.’

Today’s episode is a classic joy in the everyday one. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we loved recording it.

DISCUSSION

We discuss about what unites us during hardship.

There is a natural connection between these stories, as they are all from the U.K.

But beyond this, what unites them is a deepening of our connection to nature in the recent months, and, last but not least, a craving of human closeness.

RECOMMENDATION

As always, I invite you to visit each of the writers' accounts. You will encounter beautiful photography and stunning words.

The other recommendation today is a documentary -  A Man of His Word. 

Here is probably our favourite quotation:

'We are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family. When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling.'

THANK YOU, MARIA, SARAH and LAURA FOR TELLING YOUR STORIES OF 2020 ON THE PODCAST.

Support the show

...'with our minds stretched to different corners of the world, we forgot to take our own lives into account.' 

This episode comes from Nanhe, who captures a crucial moment during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

We are really grateful that we can offer a different perspective on the last few months, this time from the perspective of a key-worker's partner.

TG: This story mentions the proximity of death. 

DISCUSSION 

We talk about common responsibility that we have towards the other, as the lockdown eases. We might not know everyone’s personal situation, and thus we are not aware of their struggles and fears, of their actual need for protection. 

Support the show

TWO PENCIL-DRAWN PORTRAITS

‘Most of us have much ‘lighter baggage’ now, compared to the beginning of 2020, but we also rediscovered half forgotten treasures during our endeavors: old photos that brought back memories of family reunions, childhood friends or lost loved ones.’
 ‘Our personal descent into the depths of our cellar even ‘unearthed’ an old suitcase, left behind by the previous owners of our home.’ 
 Dusted off and cleaned, this ‘new’ treasure found a place of honour on the shipping basket in our hallway, paired with shoe lasts and my faithful sun hat of past journeys. One fine day the doors will be open again for us to travel for real...until then, this little ‘mise-en-scène’ is like a promise of future expeditions yet to come or an invitation to take a trip down ‘memory lane’ ... to think of the places we have been, the stories we have to tell. 
'From within the old suitcase two pencil drawn portraits emerged...'

This is the story of two pencil drawn portraits. It's also the story of a life in lockdown.  To listen to the whole story, tap on the link at the top of this post, or head over to My Beautiful Stories on here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

THANK YOU, ULI, for sharing this beautiful story for the podcast.  Uli is an artist, and you can see all her beautiful work on her website.
DISCUSSION

We discuss the effect that slowing down has on people. Would Uli have discovered the two hand drawn portraits in other circumstances? A question worth asking. What effect does the diminishing of lived experience in this time have on us, our stories and our memories.

We answer these questions in today's discussion.

RECOMMENDATION

The recommendation comes from one of Pawel's favourite directors, Krzysztof_Kieślowski. The film is a beautiful French, Polish, Norwegian co-production, The Double Life of Veronique. 

Beautifully acted and wonderfully intriguing, this is a feel-good and aesthetic film, all in one.

Apart from her website, you can also find Uli on Instagram, which is where I first met her. Her storytelling is simply wonderful.

Series 3 of My Beautiful Stories offers a space for YOUR STORIES to be heard. You can listen to the first stories from our audience here and also here.

Share your stories of 2020 with us and let's create a safe space where to keep a memento of what 2020 really was like - the beauty, the humanity, the heartbreak.

We invite a diversity of voices to join us in telling the stories of 2020.

If you have enjoyed this episode,please do share with other people. It’s not that easy to record these episodes while we are still at home… but we will continue to, if it matters.

Join us in the conversation, by sending me a message on h

Support the show

'For 43 years, there were flowers, cards, a dinner out, gifts and after retirement a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary,'

This episode, we hear from Ann about her different marriage anniversary, during the isolation of 2020. 

DISCUSSION

I was immediately moved by Ann's story, as it describes the subtle changes that we all experienced, to different degrees, this year.

We discuss the importance of storytelling in marking those changes, and thus in understanding the difference they have brought to our lives.

RECOMMENDATION

The recommendation this time is a wordless book, which I guarantee you will love. 

Support the show

The first story sent to us comes from Kathy. This is a story of loss, love and resilience. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
DISCUSSION

In narrative research, we put a lot of value on the way a story is told. This story emanates a lot of light and hope and humanity simply in the way it is narrated.

RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend a film: The farewell. Head over to our website for all details. 

Support the show