There is a storytelling-inspired improv game called “I used to be _____ but now I am ______” that we use to warm up a group and at the same time develop ideas and character to explore in scenes. It goes like this: if the group is taking place over zoom…

When Dawn Shedrick, LCSW — a leadership development coach, adjunct lecturer at Columbia University School Of Social Work, clinician and consultant — was a teen, her mother was diagnosed with a progressive form of multiple sclerosis. The oldest of 3, she became her mother’s caretaker. “When I was a younger…

In the clip above, Spalding Gray — one of the greatest storytellers of all time, and in many ways the founding figure of making stage-worthy art from true personal narratives-uses masterful moment-to-moment detail of an ordinary neighbor-to-neighbor struggle to bring home a universal point. The final sentence resonates deeply…

The art of story is a way to reach beyond self-protective defenses for a time, to activate imagination and emotion well enough that listeners feel and think together. This shared experience can build connections through exposing the painful realities that had been hidden by shame. …

“Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond…

Comedy Can Empower Us To Think Creatively Under Stress Comedian Josh Johnson, who has had a long career as a stand-up and won multiple Emmys writing for The Daily Show made a wonderful recommendation for a way to boost well-being when he was interviewed for The Science Of Happiness podcast: Take at least 10 minutes a day “to write…

In a paradoxical way, an improv experience in which we play characters very different from who we are in real life cultivates courage to express our authentic self. There is an improv exercise called Everything Is Alive — also a wonderful podcast by the same name — in which players take on the role and perspective of an inanimate object and tell its story. A popcorn machine at a movie theater gives it’s history and perspective. A pregnancy…

“Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.” Albert Einstein Einstein’s Theory Of General Relativity is a sexy theory, the language rich with references to “gravitational attraction between bodies in space” or “a universe of two.” Perhaps his first experiment to prove his theory was using these as…

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift.” Dr. David Viscott The season of the gift exchange is upon us. We search for the ideal present to light someone up. We stock…