While working on the PDF file for my Teens Self-esteem Journal DVD i realized that I should have storyboarded the entire thing BEFOREHAND to make life WAY easier for myself.  Now i have to go through 2 hours of video footage step by step to find out what i did and in what order so that i can write the PDF file to accompany the video files.  Ack!!!!!!!  Also i found that i was packing so much information into the videos that i had forgotten to take some photos (to put in the PDF file) of certain projects so had to duplicate them and photograph them.  Life would have been much easier had I first created a storyboard of the project . Oh well – live and learn eh?

Telling Stories through narrative and art

Which brings me to the book I’m reading by Daniel Pink – A Whole New Mind.  Daniel talks about the importance of story and storytelling rather than simply stating facts which do not engage people.  Daniel mentioned StoryCorps which is an American company that records people’s stories and preserves them. People are crazy about documenting their lives and sharing them with other people.  Think about the amazing popularity of Scrapbooking?  That only confirms our obsession with story.  My Mom’s life would not be as joyful if she didn’t have scrapbooking as a hobby.

Video documenting my parent’s lives

A couple of years ago i video taped my Mom and Step Dad.  I asked them to tell stories of their past from the time they were little up until now.  They were kind of shy at first but after getting going they riffed for a long time…..in fact i had to stop them since i had run out of tape!  The video was to be a gift for my grown children so they could remember the stories of their grandparents.

Remember this self-portrait i created for the self-portrait challenge? Well the bottom half of the page is what i thought about while creating this art journal page.  My Mom had told me a little story about my grandfather and how he loved his flowers (something she had NEVER told me before).  I never met my 2 grandfathers – they died before i was born.  So i relied on stories my Mom told me to feel some kind of connection to them.  Recently when my Mom told me about my grandfather saying goodbye to each and everyone of his roses before going off to the hospital for heart surgery I cried. She said it was as if he knew he was not coming back. And he didn’t as he died during the surgery.

I cried because i felt a connection to my grandfather since i too talk to my flowers (the only one in my family) – i had always felt like a Freak – but now i feel a kinship with my Grandfather thanks to the power of story.

Last week i had promised you a Contest Giveaway but my interview questions to the author got lost in the ethers and so hopefully i will have the answers and contest giveaway on Monday or Tuesday. My apologies!

I hope you all have a marvellous weekend.  We are enjoying a fabulous late summer here on the West coast of Canada! Hooray!