Story medicine in an uncertain world
Stories are ancient things. We told each other stories before we were literate. We can see them in our handprints on the rocks, in the cave drawings of the creatures who inhabit the world with us. Stories predate technology and the written word. They are perhaps one of the most fundamental things about being human.
So much of who we are, and how we got here, can be found in our stories.
Stories in the time of AI and the machines
Mythologists and cultural archaeologists spend a lifetime excavating the fragments and ruins of our ancient stories to uncover the core of our humanity and the societies we’ve built.
Yet in this age of endless content, where stories often breakdown into fast moving fragmented meta-narratives, where AI now threatens to overwhelm human stories with its own derivative offerings, you could be forgiven for wondering what relevance stories have, or even if humans will be able maintain a grip on this ancient artform at all. Has it passed beyond us and become the realm of the machines?
I say no.
In this time of collapsing systems, where the bones of the old stories of our world are struggling to decay, and new bones are struggling to form, the ancient practice of story as medicine is more relevant than ever.
Stories as medicine
The medicine men and women of traditional societies played this crucial role for their people. As the bridge between the divine and the material, they had one foot on the sky and one on the earth, and the stories they channelled became a sort of healing for their tribes. The idea seems quaint now through the lens of our modern scepticism and in a content-at-demand world.
Our contemporary storytellers could and do play the same role today, when we let them, but I would suggest that it’s not just the self-selected few who have this ability. We all have within us the power, for both good and ill, to create stories that form bridges to new realities.
When we step into this power that we own for ourselves, when we – like the mythologists – excavate the bones of our own systems to find the richness and decay within, we can find our way through to integrating what has been unclaimed and creating something different.
Only then, when we’re face to face with the shadows and the grit and the crumbling structures, can we see the truth of things. That’s when story can really start to do its work, when story becomes medicine, healing the broken parts of us and allowing us to see our way through this modern moment of collapse.
How to turn your story into healing
As Founder and Creative Director of the Story Shaman, I use ‘Shaman’ not as a label to claim but as an archetype which rises to meet this current moment. The opportunity has come for us to look finally with courage, curiosity, creativity, and compassion at the bones beneath the surface of our world, start healing and set ourselves free.
Step one is to get curious about what is underneath the surface. Every journey starts with curiosity. She who is never curious, will never admit there is anything to discover. Curiosity opens the door to what comes next. It is the predecessor to any healing, to any achievement, to any success. If wedon't know where we're going or what is needed, our natural curiosity is the signpost.
Step two is to get creative with what we find. We might discover something we like, or discover something challenging. After curiosity, creativity opens pathways of opportunity. Play unlocks potential and joy unlocks the medicine within.
Step three is to take courageous action. There is no skipping this point. To truly reclaim and integrate what lies beneath the surface, and transform your life, team, community or world, it will take one small courageous action after another to unlock. The bones of your story having been discovered in stage one and two, in stage three your job is to layer on the flesh, to make it real, to prove to yourself that the old bones have been released and give the new bones a solid foundation to stand on.
Underpinning all of this is a basic principle of compassion. Story medicine can be challenging to take, it doesn't always taste good and change and transformation is hard. So, compassion always for yourself, for your team, for your community is a fundamental principle. This is about nurturing yourself through the process, giving yourself and others around you grace.
All of this is in service to connection to your deep story and your joy.
Then you too can be the Story Shaman who brings back medicine to the tribe and helps us build a healthier world.
Book in a free breakthrough call today and start the journey.