Posts Tagged With ‘ @STORYTELLING+ ’

Author’s Note: This post isn’t intended to be how-to. Rather, it’s intended to be a why-not. The stunts we can pull — and the trouble we can get into — are limited only by our imaginations. And if you’d known Grandpa O’Brien, none of what you’re about to read would surprise you. To the south of us, between our home and the next one down the street, there are two empty building lots. Across the field behind our home, running east, and on the hill that rises up from the field, there’s a street that runs parallel to ours. Two new houses have been built on that street. The sewer... Continue Reading

Author’s Note: I was once asked by a devotee of Simon Sinek if could state my why in five words. Because I’m a writer, I cheated; that is, I hyphenated. My response was, “I write to restore self-faith.” When I said that, I didn’t mean my self-faith. I meant I write to restore the self-faith of all those who’ve abandoned theirs, surrendered theirs, or had theirs stolen. I seem to be developing a morbid case of FOMO (fear of missing out). It stems from my increasingly empirical sense that I may be one of the very few people on the planet who’s not on a spiritual journey. Please don’t... Continue Reading

The Marshall Tucker Band released its self-titled debut album on Phil Walden’s Capricorn Records in 1973. As soon as my buddies and I heard “Take the Highway” and “Can’t You See”, we were instant fans. In 1977, the band released its sixth album, Carolina Dreams, which was certified platinum in the same year and was their most commercially successful album. It contained the track, “Heard it in a Love Song”, that reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts. “Heard it in a Love Song” provoked philosophical debate that endures to this day. The controversy is about the last two lines... Continue Reading

On Monday, April 8th, we’ll conduct Byline 360˚ as you’ve come to know and love it. Then, we’re going to take a nap for two months. Starting Monday, May 13th, 2024, we’ll begin meeting twice a month, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, for three months. But this time, Byline 360˚  will be an actual workshop, with actual work to be done between sessions. In short, we’ll talk, draft, share and discuss our drafts, then revise and refine them. Over our six sessions, we’ll figure out why we do the things we do when we write, which of those things we might do better, and which of those things define... Continue Reading

On April 23rd, I’ll be leading a discussion in Salon 360˚. The title of the session will be the same as the title of this post. Inspired by some of my recent experiences with a longtime friend, the discussion has ties to the Herman Melville short story, “Bartleby the Scrivener”; to Unsheltered: Voices from the Street, a book being compiled and published by 360˚ Nation and Peggy Willms — and to A Bronx Tale. In short, the session will be about reconciling: The desire to bring about what we believe to be favorable outcomes The illusory and presumptuous nature of control The relinquishing... Continue Reading

Tim Steinruck is a solo rock artist with 30+ years of music and performance experience. His soul awakened to a deep connection with a calling that entwines music, life, mystery, and a passion infused with purpose. Through a teenager’s drive to push the limits, a journey into the world of music began. Elevating to an egoic high, with a slippery slope back down, Tim discovered his true nature in the calmness of mind, body, and spirit. Music became the thread that weaves all of life’s treasures grounding the messages of life’s meaning through the element of song. Envision yourself on the same... Continue Reading

I have a theory that, for some people, the calendar just stops. It stops at different times for different people. But it definitely stops. All of their cultural influences — sartorial, tonsorial, musical, et al. — freeze. I don’t know if those freezes could be considered time warps. It’s more likely they reflect periods of time in which the frozen people were most comfortable. I developed the theory in sixth grade. It was 1966. I was 12 years old. I had a classmate named Dennis Kennedy. I don’t know how old Dennis was. But he shaved, smoked, and drove his own car to school. His calendar... Continue Reading

Author’s Note: This story was prompted by my wife, Anne, with whom I shared the story I’m about to share with you. When I told her the story, she said, “Six strings. You should write about that.” And people wonder why I love her as I do. The woman is like the tide she comes and goes. She knows the things that I can just suppose. (Dan Fogelberg, “Comes and Goes”) On January 13th of this year, Craig James and Mac Bogert included me in some email correspondence having to do with the fact that Craig was changing the strings on his acoustic guitar for the first time in something like... Continue Reading

That may seem like an odd title for this post because it’s a celebration of the Holiday Season, a reflection of my incorrigibly stubborn hopefulness, and an acknowledgement of the inscrutability of human nature. So, perhaps I should explain. The world, as you likely know, is rife with turmoil. I say as you likely know because the world’s always in turmoil. We’re human beings. Turmoil is what we do. And why not? We’re really good at it. We’ve been good at it for our entire history on the planet. That turmoil manifests in our 24-hour news cycles with stories of rising antisemitism, of... Continue Reading

Ya know what I was thinking about today? Nothing. I put in a full day of work, but I gave my mind the day off. That’s right. I was on something like cerebral autopilot. I had things to do, but they were routine enough and I knew them well enough that they didn’t require creative thought. So, I drifted, dreaming wide awake. It’s my version of creative tension. The term, creative tension, was coined by Peter Senge in his 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. He thought competing ideas in teams and organizations created tension, which he took to... Continue Reading