what is a story?

Posted by Teen Bean

As many of us have experienced tour guided walks or explorations, what makes them so magical is the guides ability to point out both the obvious and the easily missed landmarks and then, through words, explain their importance. Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche communities supported this value of words and stories when he stated “To name something is to bring it out of chaos, out of confusion, and to render it understandable” (p. 25, 1998). Later he went on and explained, “As we start to really get to know others, as we begin to listen to each other’s stories, things begin to change… We begin the movement from exclusion to inclusion, from fear to trust, from closedness to openness, from judgment and prejudice to forgiveness and understanding. It is a movement of the heart” (Vanier, p. 83, 1998).

This is the reason we humans find the process of story sharing so powerful. Stories invite both author and audience into a special personal relationship that connects our unique life experience in that shared moment. Stories are born not just through the pen of an author, but through the enchanting moment that author and audience meet and form an intentional relationship where both are involved in giving and receiving their hearts.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at Saturday, January 15, 2011 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

1 comments

yeahhhh this is my most fav bit of your intro. good work Mrs thesis writer

January 17, 2011 at 9:53 PM

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