Your point of view is everything in story…

 

Risk to be who you are…Risk to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

 

The world responds to originals.

 

One could say that every story has already been told…

 

As someone who has devoted her entire life to the process of story telling, story releasing, story coaching and story healing, I can tell you that the statement is both true and untrue.

I worked with over one hundred people who had experienced cancer back when I was facilitating and producing Cancer Monologue workshops and performances almost twenty years ago.

 

Point Of View

You need to really understand what this means to claim your complete creative life…

Some points of view are memorable, others are not.

Our point of view informs every single choice we make in our lives as well as in our stories.

And, certain points of view are more compelling than others. Some are more inspiring. Some are more raw. Some are funnier and others more poignant.

The most important thing about a point of view is that you have one, and are willing and able to share that point of view with your reader or audience member that keeps them engaged for the ride.

For example, the point of view (my lens) in which I see the world includes many of the following beliefs and insights based on my own unique life. You will recognize some of this point of view in my posts:

 

1) I’m an outlier and a disrupter in terms of culture. I do not have a conventional approach to live.

2) I am spiritual, but dislike organized religion.

3) I live more from the inside out than the outside in.

4) In my creative life, I am not an approval seeker. (See, Does your life support you in your creative process? post)

5) Authenticity and transparency with myself and others ranks among my highest value.

6) I raised my daughter in an unconventional manner and am proud of it.

7) My desire in my work is to model to others the ability to speak and write what has been conditioned to be taboo in our culture.

8) I like to confront belief systems that limit people.

9) I believe that it is entirely possible to live both an financially abundant life and a deeply creative one. (See, Change the World with a Joyful, Prosperous Career post)

10) I’m a rebel, with a deeply loving heart.

11) I am incapable of small talk.

12) I’m a loner who seeks profound connection with others of like mind and heart.

13) I love my daughter above all else.

14) I’m a radical, socialist, feminist, soul based woman.

15) I believe that we all need to take both Hero and Heroines journeys, regardless of sexuality and gender, to fully self actualize.

16) I go deep, it’s my nature, but I also love to laugh, and make others laugh, particularly when I am onstage telling a story.

17) Spalding Gray opened me to the gift of my life by doing a one man show that I saw in 1984.

18) Though I attended several prestigious ones, school never worked for me. My creative expression was too uncontained and I had no attention for classes that did not engage me.

19) I love all of humanity as oneness

20) I’ve been somewhat of a sexual and relationship outlaw. I refuse to be defined by an imposed identity. (See, Sexuality & Creativity post)

21) I fall in love easily, sometimes to my own detriment.

22) I feel blessed by moments of grace.

23) I’m not a joiner.

24) I love teaching creativity and solo performance.

25) I care deeply about each person’s ability to unblock and have their full creative expression. (See, Personal Storytelling as a Path to Awakening post)

26) Storytelling and writing are the entry point for spiritual awakening. They are the joyful human invitation to intimacy, but they are a means to an end, not the end themselves. The transformation that storytelling offers, creates a space for us to  release and move deeper than the stories. In the space deeper than the stories we may have a direct experience of the Divine, an epiphany, touch enlightenment, experience deep peace or greater creative inspiration.

 

We tell the stories to bear witness to ourselves and each other.
We release our stories to uncover and discover who we really are.

This is the weave of human and divine, male and female, hero and heroine….this is the alchemy of life.

Do you see how my point of view matches up with the list above in every one of my posts?

 

Assignment for Today:

 

Now, write your own list. What are your values, beliefs, insights and opinions that inform your point of view?

How can you weave them more consciously into your writing and storytelling?
For the love of story,
Tanya