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Truly it is inspiring to hear of great things well told" ~ Thor
(from Asgard by Nigel Frith)

ONE
When teaching, giving workshops or telling stories (amongst other things), how about this as an approach to the ideal of communication... where "neighbour" is the person being communicated with:

"LOVE takes one's neighbour as one's other self, and loves him/her with all the immense humility and discretion and reserve and reverence without which no-one can presume to enter into the sanctuary of another's subjectivity." (from Thomas Merton's preface to The Wisdom of the Desert, Sheldon, 1960)

CLICK HERE to read some contributions on the subject from the mouths of babes.

TWO
The following, I found pinned up on a staff-room door. It is the Education Mission Statement belonging to a secure care home for young offenders, where I have delivered a number of workshops in the past. I think it is inspiring because it is simple, straightforward, is expressed in plain English and seems (to me) to “say it all” …

"It is our aim to give all young people in our care an educational experience that will encourage them to respect the human spirit and its creations and to recognise the beauty of the natural world to which they belong."

“the road to my village”

CLICK HERE to read a metaphor for the human spirit emerging - as recalled by a young girl in a recent anecdote sharing workshop with Looked After Children in Birmingham.

THREE
From The New Structural Social Work by Bob Mullaly, Oxford University Press Canada 2007

“Courage my friends… ‘tis not too late to make a better world.”– Tommy Douglas

FOUR
Lenny’s Mission Statement: Organic Storytelling – Storytelling from the Heart

CHILD:      GRANDFATHER:     CHILD:      GRANDFATHER:

Why do people tell stories? To become human. But arent we human already? Not everyone makes it.

(Oglala Sioux anecdote)

I want to share this exhilarating experience of storytelling magic with others, adults and children alike, who want to live life fully. And who want to really feel the passion and connection which is possible with other human beings and with ideas, and which impel those drives within us that inspire learning and positivity.
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