Story Paths

Can a Wall Street refugee find peace in a hut by the sea? How do you grieve being born into an army? Praise for the beings in my life. There’s a river running through us, every time we drink and pee. It carries shame, blood, joy, songs. Bats cut the badlands sky. A traditional man softens. Who gets to cry? Who gets to weave? Another man steps into the ocean and forgets himself. He comes back with...

Prescription pads crumble into compost. The wind hums a second opinion. Healing isn’t in the pill, but in the soil, in the hands, in the rhythm of breath. The council of healers is vast—grandmothers, rivers, fungi, grief. What does medicine look like when it stops rushing? When it listens? My friend Amy Walsh M.D., an emergency room doctor, joins me for blue-sky dreaming of what health care could...

A friend asked me, 'Are you neurodiverse?' Here's my reply. What might yours be? Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/e197d8e0-7b98-4c0f-9e46-a80b8232b1e3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.su...

In a recent grief ceremony, a simple practice made sharing together possible. https://storypaths.substack.com/p/8b6dc400-9b83-4174-bec3-8e047707543f Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/e197d8e0-7b98-4c0f-9e46-a80b8232b1e3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ot...

A message from the land itself. Juniper grass, mullein hills, rabbits taking notes on human absurdity. Dark moonshine, saffron sunsets, an old stump humming. Somewhere, an oak tree nods in approval. Comment here This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

I must do what I must do. But as a friend, I ask you honestly if you want something more coherent and less experimental Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/1c1e2383-21c4-4cf3-a9a1-23af8a074de3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

Listen to ambient sounds from other lands as you travel through your own. Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/e197d8e0-7b98-4c0f-9e46-a80b8232b1e3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack....

A ridiculous song written in the foothills of the Himalayas more than 20 years ago. Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/1c1e2383-21c4-4cf3-a9a1-23af8a074de3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths...

For many years I learned of sensuality and spirit as being different, or opposites. Here I discover ways that they are the same. Special thanks to Ji for beatboxing with me at the end. Recorded at the Freezer Burn Festival (Alberta Regional Burning Man) in Summer ’24. Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storyp...

Listen to ambient sounds from other lands as you travel through your own. Free consultation for your creative projects: https://tidycal.com/theodorestorypaths/15-minute-meeting Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/1c1e2383-21c4-4cf3-a9a1-23af8a074de3 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack....

Welcome to Season 5. What is a podcast? Simply put: sound. Any kind of sound. Let’s take this medium for a spin. Comment here: https://storypaths.substack.com/p/6c6ec518-3a64-483c-910a-ca278c5eb0b5 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

I recently called a small group of well-wishing friends together around a fire for a story share. This is a culture-weaving practice, where one person shares their life story with others. My friend John Wolfstone did this when he was leaving our island in the Salish Sea, speaking themes of ancestral healing that were present for him in his time here. After being here for about two years, I felt th...

Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Book one-on-one story sessions here Here's an interesting vista of reflection. Consider the meta-layers of narrative in your life, and how they cause you to interface with the world. What's a meta-layer of narrative? It could be mythical explanations of constellations; it could be their scientific explanation, or a hybrid of the two. It's an un...

I recently watched Studio Ghibli’s new film, The Boy and the Heron. Perplexed and fascinated, I watched it again. The film has many layers, and not neatly stacks. Metaphors, history, personal experiences, imagination, mythology: there are many aspects to focus on. I’m especially drawn by the films’ two worlds, and how they intertwine. One is a countryside estate in Japan during World War 2. The ot...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Here’s something a little different, a fictionalized story of my own life. You may find resonance with your own canyon crossings. For a version with music and sound, listen to the recording. In we go. A man is crossing a sandy, stony plane. As he passes, long-tailed mice with huge ears hop behind wiry bushes...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Let’s open with a story. Tiger Farming Termites Neat rows of wood are crisscrossed to draw in delectable foragers, though truth be told, Tiger tastes termites in a pinch. Waiting. Crouched. Poised. Bored as the boards he's laid out, until an unconscious ungulate wanders warily, to nibble green blades. Tiger p...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here In part 1 of this two-parter on belonging, we were getting into moving between circles of belonging. I attended a class recently with the wonderful artist-teacher-ceremonialist-textile practitioner: Laura Burns. I interviewed her some time ago; dig back and have a listen if you'd like. She spoke about moving...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Let’s open with a poem. Now is the Time Now is the time to remember that our green globe is the best-dressed in the ball lit through with organic filaments bombastic living miracles. Now is the time to turn off the engine and set down exhaustion into lakes that remain and bask for an infinite instant. Now is...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Let’s open with a poem. Belonging. She gives you all you need. Friendship. Safety. Meaning. Being rid of that pesky loneliness. With her you overlap others. Share deep parts of yourself. Yet if you want this always, you must compromise. Give up the parts of you that rub them the wrong way. Sacrifice uniquenes...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Let’s open with a parable. A king, powerful and wise, goes into his city, moves among his people, dressed as a commoner. He wishes to see how they regard him, truly, when they do not know who walks amongst them. As for me, I mingle with such kings and queens each day, and I am one of them. We regard each othe...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here How do characters illuminate their world? We experience stories through the eyes of their people. What they seek in their world, we seek. What they find, we find. As such, to choose a character is to choose the manner of entering the story world. Truth-Seekers I recently watched the Studio Ghibli film The Boy...

Well met, fellow wanderer, I welcome your company, here at this riverside resting spot, with willows budding, moisture and pollen swirling in the air, and the sun arcing overhead. I must say, those are some fine tools you’re carrying in your pack. I’m curious how you learned to use them, and to hear of work that you’ve done. I’d like to know which paths brought you here, so I can get a sense of wh...

Watch this episode Dougie’s Pacific Northwest Coast Tour Dougie’s website: https://storyconnection.org Myth as Medicine course. Dougie’s podcast Instagram Comment on this episode You’re in for a treat. Today I get into all the good things with traditional Scottish storyteller Dougie Mackay. He’s a skilled storyteller deeply rooted in the rich heritage of Scottish folklore, who works with nature co...

Book one-on-one story sessions here Read this as an article, and share your thoughts here Here’s a greate way to conceive stages of creative work. I learned this from a friend who used them in the hospitality industry, but they’re applicable in any project. Consider three layers: 1) Big picture thinking. 2) Big muscle moving. 3) Detailing. Let’s Say You’re Opening a Restaurant The big picture invo...

Links: Laura Burns' family constellation course. Isaac Fosl-Van Wyke's music. Welcome to Story Paths. Why stories? Because they help us imagine together, for one reason. They help us see possible pasts, possible futures. Welcome welcome, welcome. Today is a special issue. The audio version has music, so do have a listen. I’ll also share an amazing course that a friend and mentor of mine is putting...