Storyteller
When was the last time you read something uplifting in the news?
If we allow ourselves to be hooked by mainstream and social media, we quickly come to believe that the world is a dark and threatening place where hope is a scarce commodity.
Alternatively, we can choose hopefulness and inspiration as an underpinning narrative for our lives and our times. Be clear though, this takes real courage because it is contrary to the pervading zeitgeist.
History is littered with the imaginative and creative thinkers who were contrary. Einstein, Picasso, Marie Curie, Steve Jobs, Anita Roddick and many more, all saw something different choosing to both imagine and live a narrative that was about change and hope. Theirs was a story that was one of the timeless narratives about the prophet or dreamer who finds it within him or herself to pursue the seemingly impossible and make it a reality.
Yuval Noah Harari in his global best seller Sapiens identifies that it was our ability to create fictions and to come together around shared narratives that allowed us to thrive when other species did not.
The great pioneers of the last hundred years have consistently invoked the power of imagination. Dr Martin Luther King said that ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase’, something by the way that has frequently been brought to our screens in movies and to our imagination through novels and biographies.
And yet, creative disciplines are so often under-valued or neglected in our schools, and in our businesses, the focus is on short term results and performance against numerical measures. The paradox is there for us all to see. We are obsessed with delivery of results on the one hand whilst it is dawning on us that design thinking, creativity and imagination are the real sources of inspiration, and that is what makes our lives worthwhile.
The quest for more inspiration in life and at work seems more relevant than ever in these apparent turbulent times. The search intensifies for those who are telling and living a compelling and creative narrative that points to a positive future.
Tim works with individuals and organisations to help them answer questions such as ‘who’s writing my story/our story?’ and ‘what story do I want to live?’ and ‘how is this inspiring me and others?’.
These sessions are often run with colleagues from Waverley.
He runs Creative Storytelling retreats in the UK and Europe – the perfect opportunity and place to explore these and other questions. After all, it’s not yet the whole story… there is so much more to be written by all of us if we choose to be open to it. Ask to find out more.
