Paradigm Shift Introduction
Hello!
Come on in.
Take your shoes off. There is an open seat right over here.
Welcome to Paradigm Shift. The place we will be sharing personal, true stories, as remembered by you, the storyteller.
Storytelling, I believe, is the most powerful asset humans have in their quiver of tools to navigate life. A good story can capture the imagination of a generation and cause copious amounts of fans to dress up together as wizards or witches all over the world. A good story (paired with a good product) can cause a title wave of half eaten apples to crash over half the world’s population (an iPhone). On a smaller scale, a good story can make you laugh and reconnect you to a different time in your life.
That is the hope here, with Paradigm Shift; to connect. To take a little bit of time from the busyness of present life, connect back to an old experience, and connect with others that hear (or read) your story. Remember, you don’t have to be a storyteller or a writer to tell a story. Your story is enough.
Here is how it will work.
Every even month (why every even month, Dan? Because I think even numbers are better than odd ones!), a story prompt will be put out to the company asking you to “Tell us about a time…”
Something like:
Tell us about a time your “useless” skill saved the day.
Tell us about a time you met your match.
Tell us about a time you shouldn’t have hit snooze.
If that month’s story prompt puts a spark in your eye and a memory in your mind, share it! If it doesn’t, don’t worry about it. Sit back and enjoy another person’s story.
When you have a story you want to share, you can do it two ways. You can write one out, email it to Paradigmshift@paradigmae.com and it will be put on the blog. Or, you can create a voice recording of your story and send that in. Do you have pictures to share as well? AMAZING! Send those in and we can post them along with your memory.
Something to note:
“Personal stories” just means it is your story. Not a story that happened to someone else. And, hopefully, a story that includes how you felt during the event you are recounting. If something was exhilarating, enthralling, or energizing, tell us. If something had your heart beating into your chest, your brain frazzled and no longer thinking as straight as it usually did, or your nerves kicked in and caused you to sweat from palms, tell us! Sharing the emotions you felt during that event will connect you to the readers or listeners. More often than not, others have felt the same emotions in a similar experience. More importantly, it will help us at Paradigm see more of each other’s humanity and connect us as we go through life together. Especially if a story you are telling is linked to professional growth.
Also! If you’re not comfortable with sharing those details of the story, DON’T! Only share what you are comfortable sharing.
If you’re really enthusiastic, excited, and eager to share your experience the best you can, here are a few tips and tricks on how to tell a great story from the Moth, an organization that has been telling stories since 1997
https://themoth.org/share-your-story/storytelling-tips-tricks
Also, here’s a link to their podcast, in case you haven’t heard of them and like listening to stories!