The connections felt profound--talking for over an hour, the conversations would oftentimes help both parties unpack things that we didn't know where there.
Saturday Check-Ins seem in demand, given our yearning for authenticity and a deep sense of connection in the increasing pace of modern life. Something to steady us in, a mirror held up long enough to begin to actually look before oh look! there's a squirrel!
I've been thinking about this, and wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to turn this concept into a platform. What about having people set up conversations with questions a la Story Corps, or ping ideas together like one would on Anchor? What about a way to share what you learned/the highlights with others, either based on topic, or on friend group? What about creating a larger narrative of conversation by pulling data from the calls and grouping certain words together to see what you value, and what words mean to you? What about what about what about WHAT ABOUT doing this!?
Thoughts? Riffs? Ways to connect?
As Ever,
K.
Make a game of it, phone tag. Each person calls the other to tell them a story that happened to them recently, but stops short of the ending, creating cliffhanger experience. That unresolved tension will inevitably make the other person call back. Also, the person who is waiting for the story ending can get three guesses when they call back before the big reveal, sort of choose you own adventure. Or they email the person 3 guesses, creating more tension where the storyteller has to end the suspense of the guessing game for their own release.
ReplyDeleteProblem is people get so caught up in life, there is no tension and release,lot of tension (stress) but not release. Stories create positive tension by giving the mundane context and creating a heightened sense of anticipation.
Nowadays people use the phrase "catch up", which I never really liked, even people who I meet for the first time say "yeah we should grab coffee and catch up" You mean on my whole being, existence? where are we picking up, since we never left off?
I feel like we catch up nowadays just to simulate knowing one another.No one really has time to incorporate that information into their lives in any real, meaningful way, but we feel obligated to know where one another currently is, physically and narratively.
Catch up is a mental update (like Windows automatic update), so I don't seem like a careless friend the next time I see you. "Oh right, let me reference that vague piece of information about you so I can appear as if I listen, care and am relevant to your current place in life" "Good to see you, good catching up"
But what am I going to do to actually incorporate you into my life for real?
If I am part of the larger story you are writing then I know who you are and what is important to you.
So the next time I see you I can ask thoughtful questions related to the last chapter of your life.
You have to get people intertwined in your story and you in theirs.
Perhaps telling smaller stories more frequently is the incremental expression of the big Story of you. We don't want people to just catch themselves up on us, but to actually know us and the story we are writing about ourselves.
If people don't interact, it's because they perceive the other person as boring, nothing going on in their lives. And if that person has a lot things going on in their lives, whether exciting, boring or just pure obligations they are not going to disengage that life to engage what they see as boring.
So if people are not presenting themselves as waking stories t one another,no one is going to be attracted towards them to inquire, or pick up when they see your number. But a person who is interesting is always welcome, especially in the face of someone who has monotonous life.
Maybe something like an audio app where a person has a 2 minute limit to tell a story and then it cuts off, it sends it out to a couple people and to unlock the rest of the story, you have to record your own and send it as a reply. Now both people are tied together, wanting to know how the other person's story ends. Now they will call.
I LOVE this idea of presenting yourself as a Waking story. That's beautiful. And I think gets beneath the skin of the frustration I see you getting at with catching up.
DeleteI much prefer checking-in to catching up, because you can DIVE with a check in, and ask those thoughtful, caring questions. It's less about the logistics of your narrative arc, and more about what's engineering your trajectory, what physics are you subscribing to right now.
And the app idea is on point--check out Anchor, which has a similar function, and is something that I've been playing with. Wondering how to take that one to the next level though.
SO B--how about a riff on your website about waking stories, and what it means to deliver your process (because that's the impression that I get when you say that--I'm experiencing your full expression and growth and vibrancy as a human live, in real time, right now). Would love to hear your thoughts on that. Also, just had a riff on process and purpose, and just posted it; would love to hear your feedback. LOVE LOVE LOVE the bernard talks tab on your website, seriously. That's where it's at, and glad you're sharing your process :)
present themselves as *walking stories
ReplyDelete