To Tell A Story

Characters. Action. Movement. Trouble. Surprise. Change.

I taught a “foreign language” for 32 years to teenagers. The language was the ancient “dead” language of Latin. For the latter half of my career, our Latin program became very popular and one of the largest Latin programs in the U.S. We did that by telling stories. 

In Latin, in the simplest ways, we introduced characters (stuffed animals donated to me by members of UUCG became these characters). These stuffed animals did things (action). These stuffed animals went places that we named in Latin (Starbucks, Kroger, the theater, to a football game). At some point, we used the word “eheu!” which is Latin for “oh no!”  And we learned some words for various kinds of trouble or problems. Always, always, always, the trouble was followed by a surprise “babae!” As a result of the character doing things, going places, experiencing a trouble which became a surprise, change happened for the characters.  That part of the story was timed to occur just as the end of class bell, with students complaining that they wanted more of the story–which would take place the next day.  And the next.  And the next. They always wanted to come back for more.

Students never had to memorize anything. They never had to study for a test. They just had to show up and listen to and engage in the story. In Latin. Our failure rate dropped to zero. Our retention rate soared. All of this, with a dead language. All of this because of story.

Because our brains are built around storytelling. We come alive in the midst of our own stories. We tell ourselves stories all of the time, to soothe ourselves, to make meaning of things, to explain a past event, to find our way forward, to stand firm in who we are, what we cherish and how we understand ourselves and our being in the world. 

We can enter into a story about ANYTHING, whenever we want to. Pick a topic, simple or complex, joyful or frightening. Who is involved? What have they been doing? Where are they going with all of this. What obstacles have they run into? What surprising outcomes did they experience? How did it change them?

And, we can make this very personal. I am a character in this story. This is what I am doing. This is where I think I’m going. Here are the troubles I’m encountering. The surprises I’ve encountered, so far, are these. Here is how they are changing me. 

Make some time today and notice your own stories. 

~Bob Patrick