This one is from the archives.

Life in Transition: Taking Charge in Personal Storytelling

May you live in interesting times … is an old Chinese curse. Certainly no time has been as interesting and as difficult to keep up with than the present. In such a world of rapid and disorienting change, what are the most useful ways to think about the changes and transitions that inevitably beset us as individuals? What are the terms by which we might frame our experiences in order to find meaning, create meaning, or regain a sense of meaning when old certainties start to slip? In short, how do we make meaning out of change?

This workshop focuses on stories as a way to understand crucial junctures or major transitions in our lives. When we find ourselves driven to redefine where are going, it is often in order to make sense of the present. Redefinition begins as a re-telling of our personal stories, altering our perspective on their beginnings, middles, and ends. As we change our personal stories, we begin to change our lives.

The Middle of the Story

In this particular workshop, we look at the middle of the story because the middle of one’s life is often fraught with a particularly hieghtened sense of change and uncertainty. Understanding better the stories we tell can help us negotiate this period of our lives and emerge with a heightened sense of direction.

Sunday and Monday. We begin by discussing various forms of stories that we tell about ourslves including resumes, soundbites, and other forms of self-disclosure, like jokes or personal anecdotes. The day is capped with a look at the movie The Big Chill. It spotlights a group of individuals caught in the middle, as it were. We will look at what kind of stories they tell themselves and how the stories have shaped their lives.

Tuesday. Through these tories and others from your experiences, we will explore the connections between our individual lives, the lives of others undergoing similar experiences, and life as shaped by the ideas and events of our time. We then extend the discussion to include stories from other cultures and their uses, concluding with a review of the stories we have examined and their link with our lives.

Time and Place

Participants arrive Sunday afternoon to register. The workshop begins with dinner Sunday evening. It ends Tuesday at 5:00PM. Breakfast and lunch are provided. All events are casual dress. Dinner Monday is open. Snacks and beverages are available throughout the day. The cost of the workshop is $, which includes meals and all classroom materials.

Those Who Make It Happen

Three people involved here were me, an American lit professor, and the director of Executive Education.