The power of storytelling is indisputable.
However what the highest attainable goals are that we might seek from this potentially, emotionally stirring experience called storytelling may not be so readily recognized.
It is not my intent here to create a discourse on this aspect of storytelling, the possibility for attaining the heights of emotional and spiritual connections and consequent impact, and, thus, its estimable worth.
Rather I wish, now, to inform you that the New Horizons Board of Directors and myself have been having some rather serious, in depth discussions this past week, prompted by an analyzing of our last Anastasia The Storyteller Radio show broadcast, Coping When #MeToo Hits You, a week ago today. And the singular importance of that one broadcast, insofar as assessing our overarching objectives is concerned, especially in this era of increased male-female tensions.
Taking in to account the impact we are after from doing each and every one of our broadcasts, we realized that the importance of continuing our Online Course For Moving Beyond Gender Tyranny Radio Show broadcasts pales in contrast to the momentousness, at this time, of storytelling, alone, as the necessary penultimate step, if moving beyond gender tyranny is to be an essential objective.
This means that for now only Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show will broadcast programs, unless otherwise announced.
The following questions and more are what we will be focusing on, for a time.
- What do we wish to accomplish with our storytelling programs, projects and related activities;
- What do we want our participants to gain from their engagement in these;
- How will our participants know they have benefited;
- What will our desired outcomes look like when we achieve them?
And, the corollary question, "What is to be gained, if we make storytelling -- and story listening our number one priority that would not be attained otherwise."
You see, at New Horizons, we are believing that with our extensive background in guiding and supporting both men and women through relationship difficulties, for more than forty years, we are likely uniquely equipped to do similarly, now, in managing the necessary resolves at the time of #MeToo upheaval.
With that to base our planning and development for the near future at New Horizons, we want to be as certain as possible that we use our resources to the best possible advantage and, thus, make these available to those who wish our assistance at this critical point in time.
We think that guiding and supporting people in the arts of storytelling and story listening is the way for us to go ahead of teaching skills. Now, we think we need to assess this while we put skill development and more analytical strategies on the side for a time.
Please let us know what you think, too, at: mountainwomanrj@aol.com, if you would be so kind.
For more than a dozen years, beginning with New Horizons involvement in supporting my personal efforts to heal a Jewish-Muslim controversy in our neighboring town of Frederick Maryland, we have been striving to guide and support diverse groups of people in finding common ground and thus being able to discover some semblance of community unity, be it global or local or all points between.
This is what we, at New Horizons, call building and learning to sustain small "Zones Of Peace."
Whether our intentions are focused on Jewish-Muslim affairs or other interfaith groups, overcoming the polarization of politics, creating and building upon increased understanding, respect and cooperation among people of different races, between citizens and local police and so forth, at New Horizons creating and sustaining "zones of peace" are critical for us. Thus we have consistently put ourselves on the front lines to be guides and unifiers.
Gender Tyranny is, at its core, a poisonous power dynamic that is no different than disrespect, disregard, or subtle violence directed at others. Tyranny of any sort, be it political or personal, pays little to no attention at all to human rights or dignity. Each and every one of these acts separates one human being from another, marking a backward motion from that which each of us is capable, at our best.
While I was entrenched in dealing with my Ethics Complaint process which I indicated on my last radio show broadcast, "Coping When #MeToo Hits You," was a nightmare experience from which I am just now beginning to recover, there was almost no observable sense of human courtesy, civility or respect.
Additionally, during this time I was prohibited from making explicit how very much New Horizons and myself hold to values of high ethical and moral conduct. How very much we strive to, not only promote these, but to live by them in all our affairs, personally, and as an organization!
My words were limited and constrained by organizational and legal restrictions.
As a result, each and every day, during the ten months or so that I was living under these constraints, I found myself agonizing, especially over the ways in which these restrictions were keeping me from being transparent with my loyal readers of the three New Horizons-sponsored blog sites for which I write my most basic messages.
Now that I am technically free of these and starting to regain my emotional, spiritual and physically healthy day-to-day living, New Horizons and myself are going to be assessing anew, over the coming months, how we are going to continue to bring you, our loyal supporters and blog readers, the best of what we have learned and developed that can foster the creation and sustaining of small “zones of peace” everywhere we go, by those who are as dedicated to the path of community-unity as we are.
We will be doing this along with reviewing that which we have accomplished since we began, more than a dozen years ago, to build upon New Horizons' earlier successes, with our centerfold model therapeutic community, the Truth Or Dare GAME (formerly the Discount Derby Community) community, including regular, affiliated, weekly support groups, originally operating in Prince Georges, Montgomery and Frederick Counties in Maryland and in Northern Virginia (1976 -- 2002).
Up against this extensive background with which we take great pride, we are going to be examining what we know so far to assist our followers in “aiming for the stars” in terms of all relationships: those closest to us with our families and friends and those with whom we are in contact less intimately.
What we have learned so far is that heartfelt storytelling and story listening, woven together with compassion, caring and respect “trumps” skill, the main focus of our Beyond Gender Tyranny Online Course. (Interesting word choice, dontcha think?)
Thus from here forth -- and -- likely until we are more certain than we are today that the storytelling programs and opportunities we, at New Horizons, are creating in the service of overcoming polarization, moving beyond gender tyranny, defeating subtle violence, or violence, in general, are operating optimally, we are going to be putting our efforts into building toward a future possible society with storytelling as our penultimate offering!
Therefore our Beyond Gender Tyranny Online Course Radio Show broadcasts will be taking a back seat with storytelling upfront.
We will still be on course with our Beyond Gender Tyranny initiative.
However, storytelling will preempt skill development for a time, until we can see that storytelling, on its own, is accomplishing that which we know, full well, that it can -- and -- should to be more than just speaking in to the wind, as some fear it might become and others wish would be the outcome of the #MeToo movement!
Note:
New Horizons Beyond Gender Tyranny Study of Male attitudes and my private availability as a personal and relationship coach and consultant, with all fees donated to New Horizons, will continue ongoing.
Readers of my three New Horizons-sponsored blog sites, listeners to my Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show and our supporters will also still be received with eagerness in terms of responding to your comments and needs.
Now I leave you with the following quote by Leslie Marmon Silko in Ceremony that so much speaks to what New Horizons is most about reinforcing at this time.
"I will tell you something about stories (he said)
They aren't just entertainment.
Don't be fooled.
They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death.
You don't have anything if you don't have the stories."And, so it is at New Horizons, the non-profit organization of which I am the Executive Director and Founder – storytelling as a vehicle for, even, aiding both men and women to overcome the polarization of today’s #MeToo divisiveness moves into center place
Watch for more details.
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