What A Story Is Not

It was a quiet Tuesday morning in my hometown on the edge of the prairie. The sun had just begun to peek over the tops of the trees. The birds were just beginning their morning serenade. Ahhhhh It was a quiet and serene morning in my little world. I had just sat down for a […]

Marinating In The Mediocre

It started out innocently enough. Quite pretty, actually. Lovely little messages, dripping down. Falling lightly in our collective lap. Then things changed The wind shifted and the messages increased. Now filling the sky, turning everything in their way into a messy soup. Each message now propelled horizontally like a bullet stream. Making everything indistinguishable, indecipherable […]

You’re Not Done Yet

There’s a great deal to be said about the past four years. Which, of course, is why Webster’s summarized it all with one word. Their word of the year… Surreal Merriam-Webster defines “surreal” as “marked by the intense, irrational, reality of a dream.” That’s a fine definition. But it’s also kind of tricky. Like everything […]

To The Dreamkeepers

Neil Gaiman is a sage of storytelling while he’s awake. And one of the most interesting people alive. But there’s something you may not know about him. He is also a masterful weaver of whimsical, intensely interesting stories while he’s asleep. But dreams are fleeting So, over the years, his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, has […]

Experiences: Safe Havens For Tribe Action

It was an amazing evening. The Robin Hood Foundation had just raised $101,000,000. In one night. At one event. Some people looked at the result and decided the tactic was the secret. It was not The gala itself is not the story. The real story has two parts. First, it’s about all the efforts that […]

How Movements Spread

Once there was a little girl who loved yo-yos. Nancy loved the way they twirled. She loved the tricks they did. She loved the way she could control them with just a flick of her wrist. One Monday morning Another kid brought his yo-yo to school. To him it was just another toy. It was […]

Oh, The Wonderful, New Places You’ll Go

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!   You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go. […]

Modern Movements, #MindTheDigits

By Sam Stern Sam Stern is CEO of MagnifyGood, a communications consultancy that magnifies the good of social sector programs by improving the value of their communications efforts  Creating change After the initial news of Harvey Weinstein’s longtime abusive practices spread across the globe, an innumerable amount of stories began piling up. For almost two months, the […]

All Together Now: Passion, Experience, Story

The people of Pernambuco, Brazil, were up against a death or life situation. And death was winning. Each year, hundreds of members of their community were dying senselessly. Not because of poor medical care But because they couldn’t get the replacement organs they needed to survive. According to Brazilian law, it’s up to the family. […]

Want To Lead A Movement? Start With A Story

Two children were born on the same day in Uganda. Two children grew up in the same Ugandan village. One boy One of those boys dropped out of school. He never learned to read. He ended up cutting sugarcane. He eventually struggled with alcohol abuse and parented many children out of wedlock. The other boy […]