Storytelling puzzles.
- Aoyumi Jung
- Nov 2, 2019
- 5 min read
Storytelling in my mind. 02.11.2019
Life is on and off. Water could be fast and slow. Mind is sometimes imaginary and stuck. All is fine.
New month has approached. “November with Love”- my favorite song of TVXQ. Other than that, this is my beloved sisters’ birth month. And I have got a new niece! A new life has been created, a human of this Earth. We are breathing in the same sky. As a matter of nature, we would grow a very different perspective over time though we might hear the same stories from some people. Hopefully, my people will find some meaning, remain their own stories, and tell their stories at some point.
This week has been lost into storytelling as a destiny. I am not a professional storyteller at all, but as an ordinary person, I could say I am a storyteller. And everyone could be.
Empathy, authenticity and openness
I began to engage in the term “storytelling” through Lens on Mekong – mentored by School of Slow Media. It was my first interpretation that storytelling means as how the word is made of 2 words: story and telling. In fact, storytelling comes with documents to portray people’s untold stories on a more personal level, as compared with other types of informative methods. We had a short lecture on “Human-centered Storytelling” (HCS) which focuses on a humanized portrait of everyday experiences that is as authentic as possible. It involves co-creation of the video-maker/ storyteller and the told-people. Most importantly, it requires us to be aware of the observation, feelings, thoughts and assumptions.
Storytelling is a process where we must seek to understand others empathetically to go beyond what we see from the outlook. We are challenged to pay attention to details in the background, in their facial expression, hand gestures, etc to have a sense of what is truly going on behind their words.
Storyteller have the role to connect the dots in order to captivate heart and minds of the audience to convey some compelling messages. Here is a task our participants of Lens on Mekong workshop had to take:
Why?
Because, the team realized there is a lack of understanding of personal narratives of the local people amid Mekong challenges, and their hope for the future. Storytelling videojournalism might be an effective way to tell unheard stories of such resilient people in facing climate change crisis.
How can we come to the point where interviewees open their mind with authenticity? The program was designed to equip learners with foundational skill before officially taking out their camera.
First. Attention to details. Chocolate Meditation
Second. Suspend judgment and seek to understand. Fantasy Spiral
Third. Be empathetic in communication. Compassionate Gaze.
Join us for further insights. 😊
Storytelling is a privilege
Inspired by a documentary storyteller – OKJ during the time I applied for YSI SEA, I watched this document which highlighted the impact journey of participants in Norway. From the experience with LOM, I am aware of how much time and effort required to produce a short 4-minute video while his document last 12 minutes. Like a strenuous construction, I could imagine the amount of workload to collect such vivid emotions. Since then, I followed this interesting person who believes that storytelling is a privilege.
Storytellers are granted the right to “capture moments of self-discovery and enlightenment on camera” where his interviewees received triggering and relevant questions to be vulnerable and emotional in front of strangers.
I love how he projects a metaphor to his storytelling journey where he stumbled onto a trail that led to people’s stories. The trail must comprise pieces of puzzles, out of which the creators must have the clarity to gather some into purposeful self-dialogues.
Association and unlearning facilitation
Less expectation, afterall, gives the return of unexpected joy. In the Culture and Self Module of the Course “Social Life Skill”, Ajarn Austina explained the concept of “associative network”. If you are asked what comes first to our mind looking at this cup, I would say “coffee, life, and inspiration”. Many other pop-up ideas from my friends like bitterness or Starbuck as they have their own way to associate things with the cup.
Associative network is a cognitive model that references shared knowledge to identify and contextualize new knowledge.
Storytelling is how we associate things. Hence, people growing up in different cultural contexts have different bias of association. Storytellers need to have the awareness to distinguish conscious and subconscious bias to know what we are doing. For an instance of association, a rural girl does not necessarily have farming parents, a Korean boy does not necessarily familiarize with Kpop. In the conversations with people, it is of common sense to jump in people’s stories as if we know them clearly due to our previous understanding. Well, that immediate reaction is risky and subconsciously biting our thinking. Or bias could be considered as shortcut that lead people into prejudgment to make rush decisions or discriminatory practices.
In the lesson of Movie and Storytelling, this idea basically plays out everything. Story is conversation or narratives. It is to see and to know.
Storytelling shares values, develops trust, and commitment among communicators. It is obvious to understand this connection. Yet, it is not obvious to realize storytelling is robust in facilitating unlearning process. It challenges people to gradually shift our learnt idea, mindset or behavior into new ways.
It is like how a baby-me grew from being a selfish kid into a more generous mind for being influenced by warm heart out there.
Personal vulnerability
Most recently, I have been involved in a project in my school which I wish to apply this personal interest to a process of civic engagement. The project is called “Humans of SGS” that bring in authentic stories of SGS people through storytelling, in other words, human-centered storytelling. We believe that education is something more meaningful than delivering knowledge which is about how all humans involved in a schooling context are personally connected. The project aims to bring people together and their stories that have never been told. The most asked question is “How do you make sure that people share with you their authentic stories?” It takes time, and kind acceptance of the differences.
Both interviewees and the teller must show our own genuineness to be expressive. Out of all experience, this project allows me to practice the theory and foundation skills learnt namely empathy and calm to step myself into others’ shoes. Indeed, a willing mind and an eager ear hardly fail to be rejected by people, I got warm collaboration from my interviewees. Yet, SGS is a like-minded supportive community to a great extent that drops me the thought of encroaching more strangers, out of familiar zone.
This would be a journey where I am able to put my own vulnerable thoughts in exchanging with people’ vulnerability. As such, to me storytelling is an interactive process of both sides, to interpret the most authentic story to others, on behalf of story-sharers.
Next week, we are getting a new lesson on Storytelling in Understanding Human Communication Course by Ajarn Paul. I am excited to dive in it!
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