Stories are a primary mode of human communication and thinking — and one that we have employed since the dawn of time. Why?

Stories have depth and multiple dimensions; they help us create human connections in a world that seems complex, sometimes (or often) threatening, and increasingly dehumanizing.

Stories give us context; they can help us bridge gaps and heal wounds. Stories reveal our beliefs and the lenses through which we view our world; and as such, our stories shape our experience and the future that will unfold.

Without conscious, cohesive, authentic stories, we're left with bits and pieces of data that lack alignment, and are disconnected from a unifying purpose, vision, context, community or core value.

The ways we tell stories

We "show, tell, and feel" stories, using our auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modes of giving and receiving information. We also intuit some of the stories that take shape within us.

Here are just a few of the storytelling approaches we might choose to explore and use individually or in organizations:

• Inner-Stories: Identifying the stories we're living, or that are living us, and are evident in our patterns of thought, speech, and action;
• Visioning: Opening to intuitively, or spiritually, guided visions of a particular direction or course of creativity or action;
• Visualizing: "Painting the ideal scenario" in words, sounds or pictures in a way that makes it real for us;
• Journeying: Using guided visualization and other techniques to identify and/or empower healthier, more joyful stories;
• Journey Maps: Drawing stories, making a chronicle of our journey;
• Case studies and scenarios: Sharing examples of how things can or are being done;
• Marketing: Your livelihood or organizational story, and how it's told to customers, employees, collaborators, or others in your community;
• Conversation & Dialogue: Sharing, co-creating, and listening to stories in community with another individual or group;
• Informal story-sharing: The proverbial "water cooler" chat, or internet threads, or lunch-time discussions;
• Journaling: Many people capture and begin weaving the threads of their stories through the practice of journaling. Others share this process with the public in "blogs" (online journals).
• Publishing: You can also explore and share your own and others' stories in your articles, essays, web sites, books and other published materials.
• Other communications: To help one group "tell their story," Ivy Sea portrayed a real-life scenario using a "once upon a time" storytelling format, which allowed the participants in the workplace drama to step back and get the distance they needed to see all perspectives of a sensitive situation without their own defense mechanisms rearing up. Another organization hired an acting troupe to "act out" the story as if it were a play, and invited audience members to share their responses to what they saw.

The modern-day relevance of stories

Regardless of the format we choose, stories help us see ourselves and others in safer or more complete ways, so we might take (or find) "the moral of the story" to heart without becoming defensive, without judging it, or without taking it too personally.

Stories are more real than "spin" or "jargon strings," so they seem more believable, because they include specific people and heartful language; they have a beginning and an end and suggest evolution… "this is where we've been, this is what we've learned, and this is where we are now." They connect with the heart and the head and, ideally, the soul.

In the absence of unifying stories, people insert themselves or others into a story of their own making, shaped through their 'old' experiences and beliefs, and supply any missing pieces, from their own perspective.

The result can be fragmentation, conflict, and a lack of compassion and understanding that fuels harmful interactions and outcomes.

At their best, stories are unifying, healing, thoughtful, truthful and well-told, helping us to connect the dots by providing the context individuals need to create connections and identify their place, role and purpose or key motivations.

Mindful storytelling and storysharing opens us to our higher potentials and the greater possibilities as individuals, organizations, and communities.

Update and energize the guiding stories that you live and work by...

Visit Ivy Sea's inspired, thought-provoking blogs:

• Myth*ing Links

• Lyrical Works - Hero's Journey

• Daily Writing Soul Food Cafe

• Stories for Inspiration and Discernment

• Stories for a Changing World

• Storytelling Foundation International

• Story Dynamics

• Knowledge Ecology

Please surf consciously and apply your findings mindfully. There's a lot of great information on the web, but only you can decide what's appropriate for your group, and how it might best be applied.