Learning Through Stories
This week I've been hanging out with Laura Contreras Rowe, author of the book, Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women. It's interesting, because we both have a love of stories -- especially those of Latina women! -- and how we can learn from these stories and share them with others.
We share powerful Latina stories to inspire and motivate, to incite movement and excitement, and to open minds and hearts. Stories speak to each of us in ways that are unique and important.
Laura spoke at an after school program to girls in grades 5 through 9, and their families. She talked about her own story, and why it's important to learn from others the possibilities of what can be accomplished.
In a strange coincidence, I was also speaking this week, but at a college and to groups of students. I spoke about what a new Latino majority in the next few years means for California, and how the stories of the women I've spoken with can lead us to important leadership lessons, not just for Latinos but for the rest of the state. Along the same lines, I'll be speaking next week in Michigan again about storytelling and its role in leadership.
As children, we learn from stories -- bible stories, perhaps, or myths and legends, and certainly the stories of our families and our own personal histories. I remember, for example, my son asking over and over for me to tell him the story of his birth. | |
As we learn from stories that are related to us, we also learn from listening to stories of others we meet and get to know, and from sharing our own stories. With the telling of our own stories, we get a chance to reshape and reflect on that story.
As we hear others' stories, we get to think about from whose perspective the story is told, and what other perspectives there might be.
What do YOU learn from sharing your own story, and listening to the stories of others? Are you paying attention to the point of view, the color and scope of the story, and what that story means both for the storyteller and the audience?
This month, as we reflect on the idea of LEARNING, think about the stories you tell over and over, and what they mean. Also consider why others tell their stories, and what you can learn from them.
Here's to sharing all our wonderful, amazing and inspiring stories...
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Please join us on THURSDAY in San Diego from 5:30 - 7:30 at On the Border in Mission Valley (On the Border, 1770 Camino De La Reina, San Diego, CA 92108).
