Recently I told a friend of mine that I thought the environmental movement was using scare tactics too much and was too depressing in its arguments. He replied that it may be true about the fear, but he didn’t think the environmental community was depressing enough.
There is a story that a human life is like a man riding a donkey with a tiger walking behind him. The man lives in fear of the tiger. Sometimes he goes faster, sometimes he goes slower. Sometimes he looks and feels more. Sometimes he goes to sleep on the donkey. The man is always afraid that if he turns and looks at the tiger too closely the tiger will eat him. But the truth is the tiger does not care whether the man looks or not. Death waits for us all – while walking right behind our shoulders.
April 9th-11th, 2010 an eco-teller’s retreat will take place in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Interested storytellers, environmental educators and interpretive naturalists are welcome to attend.
The retreat is open to any person who is currently considers themselves an amateur or professional storyteller, environmental educator or interpretive naturalist. The retreat is organized by Read more »
Press Play to hear Michael Cotter speak on farming the heartland of American storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #057 Michael Cotter
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Farming the Heartland of American Storytelling.
Brief Bio
Michael Cotter is the first national storyteller to perform personal stories on the main stage at Jonesborough, TN. He is a semi-retired farmer and winner of the 2009 oracle award for excellence in storytelling.
Press Play to hear Doug Elliot talk about using storytelling to support nature based education on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #090 Doug Elliot
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Sharing the Passion of Nature through Storytelling.
Doug Elliot Writes…
How do you find a story in nature (or anywhere else for that matter)? I often start with an incident, an encounter, a problem or a question-something happens to you, you meet someone, see something, or you wonder about something. The narrative I tell is my journey of investigation, trying to figure it out.
The incident is your hook, not only to your listeners when you’re storytelling, but also to yourself as an explorer and an investigator. Then I let my curiosity be my guide. I start asking questions. Any journalist will tell you your ability to get a good story is often directly related to your ability to ask good questions. The first and probably the ultimate resource is yourself. How do/did I relate to that incident, encounter, problem or question? How did I feel?
The next step might be an initial resolution concerning Read more »
Press Play to hear Kevin Strauss speak about applying storytelling to environmental science on the Art of Storytelling.
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Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #087 Kevin Strauss
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Applying Storytelling to Environmental Science.
Written by Kevin Strauss… Introduction:
“Environmental Storytelling” has become a popular subset of the storytelling world, but until recently, there was little agreement about what it was or how to do it. In this Blog follow-up to my interview on the Storytelling With Brother Wolf, I provide a definition for “environmental storytelling,” describe what makes a good nature or environmental story, and give some resources for environmental stories.
What Is Environmental Storytelling?
Environmental storytelling is the act of using live narrative performance to teach an audience about the natural world, how it Read more »
Fill out the form and press play to hear Jack Zipes the preeminent writer about and translator of fairytales will be appearing on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Dale Jarvis in the Flesh.
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Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #060 Jack Zipes
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Fairy Tales are still relevant to the children of today.
Jack Zipes writes… At their best, the storytelling of fairy tales constitute the most profound articulation of the human struggle to form and maintain a civilizing process. They depict metaphorically the opportunities for human adaptation to our environment and reflect the conflicts that arise when we fail to establish civilizing codes commensurate with the self-interests of large groups within the human population. The more we give into base instincts – base in the sense of basic and depraved – the more criminal and destructive we become. The more we learn to relate to other groups of people and realize that their survival and the fulfillment of their interests is related to ours, the more we might construct social codes that guarantee humane relationships. Fairy tales are uncanny because they tell us what we need and they unsettle us by showing what we lack and how we might compensate for lack.
Fairy tales hint of happiness. This hint, what Ernst Bloch has called the anticipatory illumination, has constituted their utopian appeal that has a strong moral component to it. We do not know happiness, but we instinctually know and feel that it can be created and perhaps even defined. Fairy tales map out possible Read more »
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Brother Wolf, Environmental Storytelling, Griot, Healing Storytelling | Brother Wolf | 
August 29, 2010 12:20 pm | 
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