Teller of Stories

I have a guilty pleasure.  I only indulge it privately...solo.

I...am...addicted to...

Wow, I can't believe I am admitting this publicly! (Gulp!) I am addicted to...American Pickers.  Yep, that's right.  I am addicted to a television show.  No I realize many, many people are addicted to TV shows.  But I don't watch TV...even make a lot of proud noise about how I don't watch TV.  But I cannot resist American Pickers, so to get around this little rule of mine, I simply purchased it on DVD.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are the stars of the show, and they make their living 'telling the history of America, one piece at a time'.  Each and every episode they unearth new treasures which provide a living history lesson as well as a glimpse into the distant past.

I am in love with the the idea of 'picking'...finding items that other people say are no longer of any use, that may have even been discarded. I love giving these items a new home and a pride of place while I dig deep to understand their original use(s).  Once I understand their story I look for ways to utilize them in new ways, combining them with other items in order to infuse them with new life and give them a new purpose which broadens the story they have to tell.

I do the same thing in my consulting work, where I am a teller of stories • A preserver of memories • Someone who contemplates the past while dreaming of the future.  I love to understand where a thing has been, and I want to know how and where the thing got its start, what purpose it has served, how long it has served that purpose, and what it experiences it has seen and lived through.

We cannot truly embrace the future unless we understand the past.  In the same spirit we can't really know where to go unless we can see possibilities where others see none...'Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else, and thinking something different.' -- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.  Roger Von Oech says...'By changing perspective and playing with our knowledge, we can make the ordinary EXTRAORDINARY!'

In the coming weeks, I will be laying out my own Cabinet of Wonders 'Museum'.  Each month I will focus on a different genre or item as I seek to bring forward my own experience of these items and the role they play in my own story, as well as the story of others.  But first, I want to lay before you some of the reasons I believe it is vital to share these kinds of things with one another!