Digital storytelling

I've been thinking about the power of story and how we seem to be losing family histories. I've always claimed we have world history, American history, Texas history--but that family history is being lost because we don't seem to be writing down those stories.

But I''ve been wrong.

Last night, I met a new friend at the Navasota Theater. She told me about her interest and decade of work in digital storytelling. Yes, since the 1990s, there's been a movement that began at the San Francisco Bay Area-based Center for Digital Storytelling, located at www.Storycenter.org.

Through digital storytelling, communities, organizations and schools have been using technology to capture 3- to 5-minute stories that focus on the heart's core of a story. Most stories emphasize partricular themes that run the gamut, e.g., from personal stories to historical events, from exploring community and social issues regarding personal views on family relationships, racism and social justice.

The methodology is simple: merge tradtional storytelling with contemporary digital tools, such as photography, audio, video, text and/or voiceover. The way to formulate the script is by asking such questions as:  How do I find meaning in life?  What do I think?  How do I feel?  What's meaningful in my life?

Is this cool, or what?

If you want to explore this dynamic, modern, creative way to tell your story, you can find a FREE webinar on creating digital stories as a "first step of your storytelling journey, and a gateway to further explorations of image, sound and digital media" (www.storycenter.org).

As I've said many times: we are natural storytellers--it is in our DNA. What is the story only you can tell? You can write it, podcast it, video it, draw it... You've so many choices. You need only to choose one and share your unique narrative so that we can connect. So, take your first step and in the words of that famous athletic shoe company: Just do it.

Please.