The fields of marketing and publicity these days are thoroughly couched in terms of storytelling and narrative.Īnd Rotary has always known it. Microsoft, IBM, Verizon, SAP – they all have storytellers on staff. In October, United Airlines hired a chief storyteller. Nomads telling tales around a fire knew it. Cave dwellers knew it, even if they told their stories in pictures. But the importance of storytelling is epic. The dictionary definition is succinct: Narrative: A spoken or written account of connected events. Our childhoods, our families, our joys and sadnesses – we go through the years amassing material, which we craft into the ongoing personal narratives that make up our inner lives. We all have stories they’re what life is made of.
It saved me from being pulled into the Grand Canyon.Īnd it left me believing in a kind of magic: that because I once saved a tree’s life, another tree saved mine. It would have kept going and taken me over the edge – except for a lone piñon pine tree that happened to be growing at the rim at that spot. Then it trapped my leg and dragged me toward the rim of the canyon. Suddenly, the boulder shifted and rolled over me, breaking my hip and pelvis. I was visiting the Grand Canyon with a friend and, in a rush to catch the sunset, plopped down on a boulder to take in the view. It grew to tower above the two-story apartments, where it stands majestically to this day.įast-forward a few years. We sneaked in one last time, dug up what we thought was a shrub, and planted it next to his family’s apartment. But Barry and I vowed to save a piece of our forest. First a dirt road appeared, and soon the air was filled with the whine of chainsaws. News & Features (down arrow opens sub-menu)>īut one day, crews arrived to cut the forest down. Our Programs (down arrow opens sub-menu)> Get Involved (down arrow opens sub-menu)> Search SubmitĪbout Rotary (down arrow opens sub-menu)>