Story Connection: How a Carrboro writer brings people together with storytelling
ARTS & CULTURE
By Pamir Kiciman
Correspondent
CARRBORO — On a cozily warm fall day on Thanksgiving week, The Local Reporter spoke with writer Julia F. Green at Lanza’s Cafe.
Green is a Carrboro-based storytelling practitioner, writing coach and creative writer. She teaches storytelling and hosts shows and community events (the next one is on Dec 6, see below).
Because telling stories is integral to many art forms, story ‘practitioners’ approach it as a distinct expression and discipline, practicing it in its pure form, minus the associations with other arts.
“Storytelling is really magical because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Green explained.
Telling stories dates back to prehistoric times and some of the earliest examples may be pictorial, such as cave murals. Oral traditions of passing on stories became established as cultural development took place.
Since storytelling predates writing, it became humanity’s primary mode of communication, with essential functions like preserving culture and history, educating children, entertainment, and memorizing myths and legends. It’s a tradition that occurs in every world culture.
Green spoke about her first experience teaching it at the ArtsCenter. She was a writing instructor there and was asked if she was interested in teaching live storytelling. That class filled up and as she recounted, “it was an incredible group of people and a transformative experience.”
Strangers in the class became friends and confidants, and a high school student whose 18th birthday coincided with the last class broke through his social anxiety and shaky sense of fitting in and gained confidence as a result of his storytelling experience.
This is an example of how storytelling has evolved from its historical roots and found a new function and purpose in a contemporary context.
As the conversation continued, a practical aspect of Green’s personality and teaching emerged. Her role is to help identify the stories people want to tell and tell them in the best way possible. How she goes about that isn’t so esoteric.
“We have the instinct to tell and construct stories,” she said. “Some of the work is just teasing and elevating that instinct and teaching people to trust that instinct.”
Green pointed out that we ingest stories all day from sources such as movies, TV, social media and people telling us their stories and vice versa. This gives us “an internal barometer or radar to measure, ‘oh, that part feels right in my story and that part feels a little off,’” she elaborated.
In her classes and community events, she covers technical and craft aspects of getting up and telling a good story.
“The harder stuff,” Green said, “is getting someone in touch with that instinct to say, ‘you know your story, you know how stories work.’”
Her Story Connection classes and shows is where all the coaxing stories out of people happen. On December 6, Green will host a Story Jam for the first time. This free event is open to the public, and you can experience storytelling as an audience member or craft some stories to tell in a supportive environment.
“Prompts are the departure point when I teach, which are these initiating invitations,” Green said referring to how she provides guidance. “I use prompts to get people going and stimulated.”
According to Green, simple prompts such as remembering a time when things went wrong, an unexpected surprise, or receiving a mysterious gift give participants places from which to grow.
“What I like to do is help people develop their stories, start to get a shape and a feel for what that story is and how it’s going to come out,” she said. “Once it starts to feel a little solid, then we can talk about pacing, body movement and voice modulation.”
Storytelling is an interactive experience for everyone in the room. The imaginary “fourth wall” of traditional theater isn’t there. Green pointed out that a lot of laughing and enjoyment goes on.
It’s also a permissive space, allowing everyone to explore and express things they normally don’t. This leads to a sense of sharing and identifying with each other and learning from others’ stories.
Listening is fundamental to storytelling and a vital life skill. “There’s nothing more powerful than getting people in a room listening to each other,” Green added.
“Storytelling provides this opportunity for connection across communities and identities. There’s no barrier to accessibility. You don’t need special equipment. You just need to be able to communicate and have the desire to share your experience.”
Green also runs regular writing groups for those who are either working on book-length projects or are in a committed writing practice and want accountability and feedback. Another part of her work is with businesses and professionals who want to both improve communication and confidence and work better together and have more joy.
“The mission of my work is to find creative joy in everything that we do big or small, and I have it on good authority that that is possible,” Green said to make a point about reversing the thinking that both writing and whatever your work is has to be hard and suffered through.
She doesn’t deny that suffering is part of the human experience and notes that we’re programmed to suffer as well, but she feels that some of the antidote is to find joy and connection where we can.
“My work centers around helping people to tell their stories, find their unique voice and helping people find their joy in the work that matters to them.”
When our ancestors could control and use fire, other than warmth, fending off predators and cooking food it created a natural magnet for social bonding and gathering after dark. It has been suggested that our minds developed through the sharing of stories.
Stories are a powerful way to share our experiences, values and dreams with others in narrative structures that further understanding and empathy.
