With so many other clubs on campus planning events based on the performance unit of a monologue, The College Voice wanted to—ahem—throw our ~voices~ into the mix. Kidding, kind of. In all seriousness, the current push to find stories that represent the wide range of personal experiences influenced our decision to begin planning an event that encompasses similar goals. While we are wary of planning an event that infringes on the goals of either As Told By Vaginas or The Color Brave Monologues, we feel what this event would offer brings something different to the table.
When author Colum McCann came to campus at the end of last semester, he introduced the staff to Narrative4, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to community building through “radical empathy through narrative therapy.”
What does this mean? The premise of a Narrative4 event is simple. It is a place to share stories. More importantly, it is a place to develop respect for the stories of others. Each attendee is matched with a random partner to whom they will tell a story from their life that they feel has shaped them in some profound way. It doesn’t have to be a sad story, or any particular type of story at all. It is completely up to the individual.
While the telling of the story can be therapeutic, the real value of the event comes in the second portion, when each attendee must tell the story that was told to them as if it were their own. It is a staggeringly simple and beautiful premise: by taking responsibility for someone else’s story, you take responsibility for your own perceptions of the teller.
What spoke to me in the structure of this event that makes it different than other campus projects is the fact that it is not written or performative. It is a single event that is meant to enact at least a temporary condition of compassion. There are no rehearsals or submissions. You can “put yourself out there” in the simplest action of telling a story and listening to the stories of others over the course of an afternoon.
As someone that participated in what used to be The Vagina Monologues, I believe that the value of the performance for the cast was mostly in what happened off-stage. It is a rare experience to sit in a room with 80 other women, even rarer that those women will reveal pieces of their lives that are ordinarily kept a secret. This environment was one of deep gratitude, joy and support, and it’s an environment that deserves to be spread around the rest of campus in order to open dialogue between the many distinct groups that comprise our campus community. Though the effects of this story-sharing event we hope to put on will undoubtedly be deeply personal, we hope that that it will also play a role in helping students, staff, administrators and faculty communicate more effectively.
In order to make this event happen, we are putting out a call for facilitators to participate in an initial training that will take place in the beginning of March before break. The event will hopefully take place the first or second week of April. We ask for your patience and support as we go through the planning process. Please contact me or Managing Editor, Dana Sorkin, for more information regarding this event, or Narrative4 as an organization.
-Ayla
