Pulxaneeks website, including upcoming events.

I’m glad and grateful to be presenting the following guest. Her vocation is as an Indigenous relations consultant, which is to say she helps settler folks like myself learn to be in good relations with the original peoples of this land.

This involves far more than introducing people and smoothing communications. For folks like myself to be in good relations with indigenous people, there’s groundwork to be laid: a reckoning with history, both recent - in the colonisation of these lands - and ancient: the colonisation of the colonisers’ ancestors and land. There’s ancestral work to be done, and a reckoning with the fact that hurt people hurt people, and a seeking of the origins of that hurt.

Serious work, this healing work. So serious that you can’t do it without some play.

Who is this guest?

Allow me to introduce Pulxaneeks, from the Eagle clan of the Xanuxlia Haisla First Nation.

I’ll give a wee introduction, then say a little about different kinds of introductions.

To say she’s an ‘indigenous relations consultant’, is true, yet far too brief an introduction. It’s convenient to say on an elevator full of busy people, but too short to say to people who are not busy, and want to know more deeply about those they’re introduced to.

Listen on for her introduction, full of the rivers of ancestors flowing into her, both ancient and recent. Full of land and heart.

You might learn something about your own deep rivers of ancestry.

Other interviews with Pulxaneeks

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This subscription includes weekly story play workshops.

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Sign up for story workshops like this on Substack for just $5/month. Workshops are one hour weekly on Thursdays at 10-11 PST.

https://storypaths.substack.com/p/7233d334-6564-4d50-bf60-2a022a34140c

This episode captures the essence of our first story workshop, a weekly gathering exclusively available to our premium subscribers for just $5 per month. Joined by my friend Loke Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele-Keanaaina, we explore the lessons from migrating monarch butterflies. Together, we discuss the impacts of trauma across generations, how individuals navigate healing collectively, and the importance of embracing one's identity within a community.

Loke’s late husband is a native Hawaiian man, and she is creating a book of stories he wrote and spoke. You can find more about this project here.

Also here’s a great interview with Loke. It’s Episode 6:

Do join us for these weekly workshops, where we delve into the profound wisdom hidden within stories.

If you’re not already on Substack, you can sign up at the link below and become a premium subscriber for $5/month.

Happy creating.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Write your guess on Substack here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/36b06c3f-ca37-4095-aa09-810f2e61f58d

Can you guess which real-life story this is?

A river once flowed freely, a source of abundant fish for the people, until a monstrous presence established its lair at the headwaters.

This creature voraciously consumed the fish and discharged bolts of lightning that struck distant places. The people, deeply connected to the river and its inhabitants, waged a prolonged battle against this monstrous force. They even formed alliances with former adversaries.

After a protracted struggle, they succeeded in breaking the monster's dominion. As it perished, its body disintegrated. The waters, once constrained, flowed freely again, and over time, the fish gradually returned.

Which real-life story this might this be? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Here's the associated article, with pictures. You can add your comments here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/9e7267ab-518f-4599-beff-0530e80208f6

Welcome to the Story Paths newsletter and podcast. This is a Storyteller’s diary edition.

As I tell the tale of this one life, may it help you to tell your tales.

If you missed the first parts, I spoke about why I abandoned my town and family twenty years ago, falling into a descent after my father's death.

My journey paused as I took a spiritual path, lacking resources and support for the dive into adulthood. I found myself alone in a new place, a leaky trailer in a Pacific Northwest winter. As I tread water in the sea of grief, writings and new friends were able to offer just enough support.

Prompts

(Take one, none, many or all. I suggest you write a response, or speak it aloud, or discuss them with a friend, or just think about them)

-Imagine a scenario where you reconnect with someone from your past after many years. Write a reflective piece exploring the conversations, feelings, and lessons that unfold during this reunion. Dive into the emotions, the changes in both of you, and the wisdom shared or gained from this unexpected encounter.

-Craft a story about a character who is thrown into a difficult personal journey but unexpectedly halts their descent due to unforeseen circumstances. How does this pause affect their life, relationships, and understanding of themselves? Explore their internal conflicts and eventual return to their journey with newfound wisdom.

-Craft a story about an entrepreneur who begins a project that will not be complete for many years. Illustrate the journey of revival, highlighting how this gap may have been necessary.

I'd love it if you share your thoughts in the comments.

Until next time,

Theo

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Become a paid subscriber for $5 and get access to 4 workshops per month!

https://storypaths.substack.com/

Welcome.

This writing comes to you from the shore of the ocean in the Salish Sea. There's a woodpecker who's going at it on a Gary Oak just nearby, seeking some bugs. There are seagulls landing and strutting about on a rock outcropping, and I see a human walking back from that rock outcropping jutting into the ocean.

I reckon that human’s in a contemplative mood. I am. The sun will soon set on this short day, as we slowly arc up from solstice.

I'm reflecting on the journey of this newsletter and podcast. We’ve explored the journeys of different creatures and outer space phenomena, and considered parallels in our own journeys. I hope that's been as helpful and fun for you as it has been for me. Putting the music together was especially interesting, a timeless zone of kairos in which many chronos minutes ticked past.

I'm pausing for a breath in this dark time of year, when the world is asking me to rest. It’s a radical thought, that it may not be helpful for me to overextend myself. Let me instead act, when I do act, from a deep place within myself, connected to the earth and community. I wish the same for you, while you also fulfill your true duties.

Here’s some news: I'm going to go ahead and give the full episodes to everybody for free. I like the idea of giving a gift. I'll also open up comments to everybody on the Substack. It felt weird cutting the episodes, and I like the idea of bringing people in and hearing what they think, whether or not they're paid subscribers

And… it’s playshop season! I’ll be hosting live playshops once per week (Thursdays, 10:30-11:30 am PST). That will be for paid subscribers on Substack. If you’re not subscribed, it’s only five bucks a month. Won’t even get a better deal from the devil, I’d say.

And what are we going to do in there? We'll go over the prompts from the podcast, and explore the stories that are alive for those of you who come. I love to hear from people about the journeys in their lives. We can practice fictionalizing our journeys, finding animals to be characters in our journeys, and finding settings that feel like they resonate with the feeling of the setting in our life.

Reckon we’ll have a lot of frivolous fun as well, but depth is welcome.

Also, keep an eye out for workshops connecting storytelling and entrepreneurship.

And more conversations about play, including decolonizing play, from an indigenous perspective.

And more examples of storyfication.

And collaborations.

Game, story, ceremony.

I'm glad you joined me for this introspective retrospective and prospective. Full three episodes and a lot more workshops until soon.

Regarding the playshops:

For those of you who are already paid subscribers, you’ll get a zoom link. For those of you who aren't, please consider subscribing. It's only $5 a month through Substack.

And if you don't want to be a subscriber but would like to attend some of the workshops, I'll see about setting up some one-off system for getting into the workshops.

Until next time, happy creating.

Theo

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Which real-life story does this remind you of? Comments here (paid subscribers): https://storypaths.substack.com/p/18522076-40a8-4569-80b0-71ec20b9699c

There is a boring plywood door, in a boring plywood room. Many people make their lives in this room, but if they were to open that door, then on the other side, they would find dozens more doors.

Only these are not of plywood. They are of oak, rowan, birch, and other luscious woods. These doors are decorated with heather, and garlands of lilies and gorse.

There is old music seeping from beneath them: strings and flutes and drums and feet stomping, and singing which as is lively and new as a laughing babe.  

Which real-life story does this remind you of? Share in the comments, and if you’d like, I might share you story in a future newsletter.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Reply to the story prompts in this episode here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/59ab0f86-2c8f-4168-bf08-7ec3eb672e75(Available for paid Substack subscribers)

You can learn more about Jennifer’s work here.

Is ceremony a grave affair for adults, or can it be something playful which includes children?

Or perhaps all of the above? Playful with adults, serious with children, and a mix of all these and more.

Have you ever wished that education could be a ship that can be sailed in any direction you choose? That learning practical subjects can be blended with a spirituality that is life-nourishing and open to questioning and play?

What if someone wants to play, but finds it oddly challenging to let go?

Jennifer Engracio is an educator and shamanic practitioner. She walks many paths and blends many influences, including homeschooling and an earthy spirituality.

She began in the public school system in Canada, but found the values incompatible with hers. Gradually she made her way into more unconventional fields, as we’ll discover.

She explores the intersection of play, education and ceremony. It’s a rich vein, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing, praying, crying and teaching as you listen along.

I’ll see you on the inside.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Share your stories on the newsletter here: https://storypaths.substack.com/

Welcome to the Story Path newsletter and podcast, a Story Elements Edition.

Journeys: Part six: The Return.

In the previous parts of this exploration of journeys, in story and in life, we looked at different possible destinations, the amazing journeys of different creatures, and considered how these journeys might help us reflect upon as humans. Then we moved beyond our planet.

It's been a wonderful journey exploring journeys, and yet all journeys must end. Journeys do not all end in the same way. Today we will explore different possible endings and how we might craft good returns for those we care for who are journeying. Whether personal relationships, clients or otherwise.

(Listen above)

Prompts

(Take one, none, many or all. I suggest you write a response, or speak it aloud, or discuss them with a friend, or just think about them)

-Imagine a character who embarks on a transformative journey, encountering profound experiences, only to return to a place that remains unchanged. Write about their struggles to reintegrate into a familiar yet unrecognizable world. How do they struggle when their internal changes being unseen by their people?

-Create a fictional society or culture where returning from a journey, whether physical or metaphorical, is celebrated with deep reception ceremonies. Describe these customs in detail and the impact they have on the returning individual. How do these ceremonies shape the community's perception of journeys and change?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, if you’d like to share.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Write your guess on Substack here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/90569a1b-7787-4636-a3b4-27a969f6b513

Can you guess which real-life story this is?

In the playground, two boys began to fight. It got intense, so the second boy ran off to perch at the top of a slide.

It was there that a third boy found him and asked, "Do you know that you don't have to be close to fight?" "What?" asked the second boy.

"Take this," said the third, and passed that second boy a straw, and a palm full of pebbles.

“In return, I want half your lunch.”

“Alright.”

And so the first boy found himself being pelted by pebbles.

The third boy approached the first, and had soon wheedled out of him another half-lunch. And all that without having to fight.

Would you venture a guess as to which real-life scenario this fable might be? Speaking of? It could be more than one.

Which real-life story this might this be? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

Here's the article for this episode, with pictures and prompts: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/555eb054-2321-4811-b15c-a6746d84cdd2

Welcome to the Story Paths newsletter and podcast. This is a Storyteller’s diary edition.

As I tell the tale of this one life, may it help you to tell your tales.

In part one, I spoke about how I met an old friend of my father's after twenty years, and how we began to throw ropes across the river of time that separated us.

We gradually made our way toward a meeting in the middle of that river, in part to continue this recollection, in which I confessed to him the reasons why I cut my ties with him, and the other men who supported me, all those years ago.

In we go.

Prompts

(Take one, none, many or all. I suggest you write a response, or speak it aloud, or discuss them with a friend, or just think about them)

-Imagine a character who, after years of estrangement, receives an unexpected letter from someone they distanced themselves from long ago. This letter reveals truths about the past that had been buried for decades. Write about the emotional journey of reconnecting with this person, uncovering the life lessons hidden in their shared history, and the impact this reconnection has on the character's present life.

-Your protagonist discovers an old journal or a collection of letters from a deceased family member, shedding light on a pivotal moment in their past that was misunderstood or misinterpreted. Explore how this revelation prompts the protagonist to seek out someone from their past they haven't spoken to in years. Write about the conversation, the wisdom gained from these interactions, and the resolution or closure it brings to long-standing questions.

-Your protagonist, an entrepreneur, experienced a failed venture years ago that led to a disconnect from former colleagues, mentors, or partners. Unexpectedly, circumstances arise that force them to collaborate or reconnect with these individuals. Write about the emotional and professional journey of reengaging with the past, extracting valuable lessons from those failed endeavors, and how these connections contribute to the protagonist's newfound success or altered business direction. Explore the transformation and growth stemming from this reconnection and its impact on the protagonist's entrepreneurial spirit.

I'd love it if you share your thoughts in the comments.

Until next time.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe