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Storycatcher: The Power of Story to Change Our Lives
Story is the heart of language. Story moves us to love and hate and can motivate us to change the whole course of our lives. Story can lift us beyond our individual borders to imagine the realities of other people, times, and places. Storytelling — both oral tradition and written word — is the foundation of being human. In this powerful book, Christina Baldwin, one of the visionaries who started the personal writing movement, explores the vital necessity of re-creating a sacred common ground for each other's stories. Each chapter in Storycatcher is carried by a fascinating narrative — about people, family, or community — intertwined with practical instruction about the nature of story, how it works, and how we can practice it in our lives. Whether exploring the personal stories revealed in our private journals, the stories of family legacy, the underlying stories that drive our organizations, or the stories that define our personal identity, Christina's book encourages us all to become storycatchers — and shows us how new stories lay the framework for a new world.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2005
72 people are currently reading
603 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 23, 2020
"Yet the question remains, what stories will we save? And the question arises, what stories might save us?"- Christina Baldwin, Storycatcher
When I saw the title, I immediately thought of my Native Canadian dreamcatcher, I was thinking how great it would be to have a device like that to catch stories. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that job falls to us humans, and if you think of a human being as a repository of knowledge and experiences, it's clear to see how important collecting these stories is. It's even more poignant when one thinks of our loved ones who have passed on and all the untold stories that disappeared with them.
It took a book like this to show me just how stories can be used, and just how crucial they are, beyond mere entertainment and education. Apart from reiterating the importance of oral tradition,this book helped expose me to new avenues I had never considered. What I like about stories is the connections they create. But that's not all they do:
“Story opens up a space between people that is unbound from the reality we are standing in. Our imaginative ability to tell story, and our empathetic ability to receive story, can take us anywhere and make it real. In the act of telling story, we create a world we invite others into. And in the act of listening to story, we accept an invitation into experiences that are not our own, although they seem to be.”
Baldwin says stories can unite. She mentions events such as 9/11 and the 2004 tsunami in which stories helped to unite people in a powerful ways. She also says they can do the opposite and then touches on the religious narratives that divide us. It also brought to mind how damaging some racial and cultural narratives can be, in fact, I was listening to Canadian rapper Shad's song "Brother (Watching)" in which he discusses stereotypes black youth face and how they are formed by the popular media, not by the youth themselves. (http://genius.com/Shad-brother-watchi...).
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jhn3...
I was also touched by the healing nature of storytelling and how having something inside that we want to share but don't (or can't) can have consequences:
"Unarticulated story lives in us like electricity.”
”We record unspoken experience in the mind and body, but unless we can story it out, experience remains inside us shrouded like fog hanging over water. We may act on these unspoken tensions, but we act blindly. We whistle bravely forward, a small, lost skiff, sounding a horn in the mist. And often we crash upon unseen shoals. Unarticulated experiences that are not allowed into the story can show up years later as trauma, disease, mental illness, or a midlife crisis. But when these same experiences are shifted into language and successfully worked through in the healing power of story, they lay the groundwork for transformative personal development.”
I quickly became a fan of Baldwin’s warm, evocative writing voice, as well as her enthusiasm for writing. She has definitely inspired me to do more with story in my life. Even if you’re not convinced that stories are important, I'm sure Baldwin will convince you that they are. And not just other people's stories, but our own too. I think it’s easy for us to think our own stories are inconsequential but I learned that all stories are important:
“We understand the power of the self-story by listening to each others’ stories. Other people’s stories send us scrambling through our own story looking for correlations, similarities, or different possibilities.”
The more I read this book, the more I thought of my own stories, the ones I want to share.It’s more than sharing stories but it’s also about using stories for positive change. That might sound airy and idealistic to some but there are plenty of examples of how stories have changed the world.
Recommended for those who love stories. Lots of writing prompts to inspire us all.
When I saw the title, I immediately thought of my Native Canadian dreamcatcher, I was thinking how great it would be to have a device like that to catch stories. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that job falls to us humans, and if you think of a human being as a repository of knowledge and experiences, it's clear to see how important collecting these stories is. It's even more poignant when one thinks of our loved ones who have passed on and all the untold stories that disappeared with them.
It took a book like this to show me just how stories can be used, and just how crucial they are, beyond mere entertainment and education. Apart from reiterating the importance of oral tradition,this book helped expose me to new avenues I had never considered. What I like about stories is the connections they create. But that's not all they do:
“Story opens up a space between people that is unbound from the reality we are standing in. Our imaginative ability to tell story, and our empathetic ability to receive story, can take us anywhere and make it real. In the act of telling story, we create a world we invite others into. And in the act of listening to story, we accept an invitation into experiences that are not our own, although they seem to be.”
Baldwin says stories can unite. She mentions events such as 9/11 and the 2004 tsunami in which stories helped to unite people in a powerful ways. She also says they can do the opposite and then touches on the religious narratives that divide us. It also brought to mind how damaging some racial and cultural narratives can be, in fact, I was listening to Canadian rapper Shad's song "Brother (Watching)" in which he discusses stereotypes black youth face and how they are formed by the popular media, not by the youth themselves. (http://genius.com/Shad-brother-watchi...).
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jhn3...
I was also touched by the healing nature of storytelling and how having something inside that we want to share but don't (or can't) can have consequences:
"Unarticulated story lives in us like electricity.”
”We record unspoken experience in the mind and body, but unless we can story it out, experience remains inside us shrouded like fog hanging over water. We may act on these unspoken tensions, but we act blindly. We whistle bravely forward, a small, lost skiff, sounding a horn in the mist. And often we crash upon unseen shoals. Unarticulated experiences that are not allowed into the story can show up years later as trauma, disease, mental illness, or a midlife crisis. But when these same experiences are shifted into language and successfully worked through in the healing power of story, they lay the groundwork for transformative personal development.”
I quickly became a fan of Baldwin’s warm, evocative writing voice, as well as her enthusiasm for writing. She has definitely inspired me to do more with story in my life. Even if you’re not convinced that stories are important, I'm sure Baldwin will convince you that they are. And not just other people's stories, but our own too. I think it’s easy for us to think our own stories are inconsequential but I learned that all stories are important:
“We understand the power of the self-story by listening to each others’ stories. Other people’s stories send us scrambling through our own story looking for correlations, similarities, or different possibilities.”
The more I read this book, the more I thought of my own stories, the ones I want to share.It’s more than sharing stories but it’s also about using stories for positive change. That might sound airy and idealistic to some but there are plenty of examples of how stories have changed the world.
Recommended for those who love stories. Lots of writing prompts to inspire us all.
April 15, 2008
I've always believed that each life has a very important story, even those that at first glance don't seem glamorous or adventurous. In fact, my favorite memoirs, biographies, and oral histories tend to be more about real people who never consciously realized the importance of their lives.
Perhaps that is why I have always kept a journal. I am ever writing and editing the story that is my life. Trying to figure out how my experiences have made me the way I am. Looking to create the story that I want to be told to my grandchildren.
For those who haven't yet found the power of personal story, Storycatcher is the answer. In each chapter the author shares accounts of individual and family experiences. Then, at the end of these sections, she includes a number of questions to get the reader started on his or her story.
Perhaps that is why I have always kept a journal. I am ever writing and editing the story that is my life. Trying to figure out how my experiences have made me the way I am. Looking to create the story that I want to be told to my grandchildren.
For those who haven't yet found the power of personal story, Storycatcher is the answer. In each chapter the author shares accounts of individual and family experiences. Then, at the end of these sections, she includes a number of questions to get the reader started on his or her story.
February 8, 2017
There are thousands of books about how to write, writing memoirs or journals (Baldwin wrote several of those) and telling one's personal story. But what about telling the family story, the neighborhood story, the community story, the world story? What about the oral tradition? We heap glory on writers, but the tradition of storytelling is much older than the invention of writing.
Baldwin has written a beautiful and thoughtful book about the value of oral storytelling, how stories give us both a footing on the past and a tool for imagining our futures.
Baldwin has written a beautiful and thoughtful book about the value of oral storytelling, how stories give us both a footing on the past and a tool for imagining our futures.
March 15, 2009
A fantastic meditation on the power of storytelling and storycatching. Well written and very poetic. This is not a how-to book even though Christina provides questions to start you on your journey. Stories touch every aspect of our lives. Read the book and then attend one of her workshops. I have an autographed copy that she signed after one of her lectures.
May 25, 2010
This is an excellent resource for those who value story in their life. The content is wonderful and gave me an entirely different way to think about story and its impact on our lives. It made me all the more enthusiastic about getting my heritage photos into my heritage scrapbook and TELL THOSE STORIES! This is one I'll be looking to buy for my book collection! Excellent book!
February 25, 2021
Not my usual read at all, but a course required I pick it up, and my god, I have never hated required reading more than I have with this one.
I have never encountered a more severe case of purple prose in all my years of reading. The author rambles on about story in ways that are so deeply abstract that, in the end, nothing of substance is said. While the passion is there, the author presents everything in the most convoluted way possible with little to no straightforward explanation of things. Words are made up to describe things and then treated as if they're common-knowledge phrases for what they describe. It's enough to drive me to tears with confusion as I desperately try to puzzle out what is being said. The book speaks with a self-grandiosity as though listening to someone talk about a life event or sharing one's own story is an act of martyrdom worthy of sainthood.
While I know it isn't quite this, I can only compare the experience of reading this to having someone tell an anxious person that yoga will cure them. It feels desperately neurotypical.
I have never encountered a more severe case of purple prose in all my years of reading. The author rambles on about story in ways that are so deeply abstract that, in the end, nothing of substance is said. While the passion is there, the author presents everything in the most convoluted way possible with little to no straightforward explanation of things. Words are made up to describe things and then treated as if they're common-knowledge phrases for what they describe. It's enough to drive me to tears with confusion as I desperately try to puzzle out what is being said. The book speaks with a self-grandiosity as though listening to someone talk about a life event or sharing one's own story is an act of martyrdom worthy of sainthood.
While I know it isn't quite this, I can only compare the experience of reading this to having someone tell an anxious person that yoga will cure them. It feels desperately neurotypical.
August 26, 2007
"The self-story is the narrative voice in the stream of consciousness that runs babbling along the edge of our awareness. Minute by minute this narrative defines who we are and what we are capable, or not capable, of doing." --Christina Baldwin
Story shapes and defines not only our individual lives but those of families, societies, and cultures. Becoming aware of our stories empowers us to shape them, as they shape us. Instinctively, I’ve known this for a long time, but no one could express more eloquently than Christina Baldwin the power and pervasiveness of story.
Reading Storycatcher, I found myself becoming more and more sensitive to and aware of my own stories—those I’ve lived and those I’m living now—as well as those around me. I found myself making conscious choices about elements of my life story that can do with a little editing. This is a life-changing book that has the power to enlighten, encourage, and inspire.
Story shapes and defines not only our individual lives but those of families, societies, and cultures. Becoming aware of our stories empowers us to shape them, as they shape us. Instinctively, I’ve known this for a long time, but no one could express more eloquently than Christina Baldwin the power and pervasiveness of story.
Reading Storycatcher, I found myself becoming more and more sensitive to and aware of my own stories—those I’ve lived and those I’m living now—as well as those around me. I found myself making conscious choices about elements of my life story that can do with a little editing. This is a life-changing book that has the power to enlighten, encourage, and inspire.
August 20, 2010
Wow--I love this book--story, story everywhere. I decided to try out storytelling in the opening moments of a committee meeting last night, as a way to then ferret out some of what are our goals. I liked how it worked--I wonder what my Goodreads friend who was there experienced.... The point of the book is "for us to notice how the story we make of the moment becomes the life we lead." Within me I'm carrying this day and the words and silences we shared. Even if the moment gets buried and lost in a treasure trove of moments, it gives me strength to do the far more difficult things. What is the treasured moment you carry in your pocket right now?
August 9, 2013
I have always believed in the imortance of narrative form and how the way we tell our story really shapes how we experience "reality." So this book was largely "preaching to the choir." Even so I found the first two chapters to be outstanding and felt called upon to invite many friends to read this book. I did, after awhile find the later chapters to be somewhat repetitive and now as gripping. But overall I recommend this book for its views on story in our lives, in the life of our nation and of the world.
March 30, 2010
The essential nugget I grabbed was that we don't know how our stories, or the stories that have gone before us will affect those who hear the telling. This book is worth having as a reference should you decide to work on teasing out family histories from taciturn elders, or need to engage grumpy strangers in an slow-moving line at the airport. I wish I could print out the "Tell Me A Story" prompts at the end of each chapter as they provide great ways to jump start a writing practice.
August 31, 2015
For many years I've been journaling trying to capture everyday moments that became extraordinary ones.
I"be learned well the power of story telling to my children, grands and great grands and in writing & preaching sermons. Stories & word images truly capture our lives. I've been writing my memoirs for 15 or so years. I stall for long lapses. This book has revitalized my writing energy & effort.
I"be learned well the power of story telling to my children, grands and great grands and in writing & preaching sermons. Stories & word images truly capture our lives. I've been writing my memoirs for 15 or so years. I stall for long lapses. This book has revitalized my writing energy & effort.
July 10, 2012
An inspiring read about the power of story and how we can access it in our lives. This book is quite different than I'd expected and not so much about writing but more about telling stories. Stories from the author's life infuse each chapter and questions at the end of chapters prompt memories and made me think more deeply about my life.
July 15, 2011
Christina's masterful storytelling in Storycatcher will lead you not only through some of her most treasured stories, but also encourage you to write your own.
August 17, 2011
Great writing exercises for anyone who wants to write a memoir of their life and times.
July 11, 2013
Baldwin gave me language to communicate what I already believed but hadn't articulated.
June 15, 2015
Very good inspirational book
July 21, 2012
As best summarized in the dust jacket: "...Christina Baldwin...explore the vital necessity of re-creating a sacred common ground for each other's stories. Through story and example, Baldwin presents storytelling as an innate skill we can remember and practice. She shows the power of story to connect life experiences so that we can share them, learn from them, and teach each other through the medium of a good tale." In the introduction the author goes on to state: "This book explores three premises about story: 1) How we make our experience into story determines how we live our personal lives 2) What we emphasize and retell in our collective story determines whether we quarrel or collaborate in our community 3) What we preserve in larger human story determines what we believe is possible in the world."
What sets this book apart are the numerous personal stories that the author shares, that help make the concepts more applicable and concrete. The breadth of the impact of stories - on self, family, organizations, spirituality etc. is also commendable. Christina's passion about storytelling is contagious and excites readers to listen to others' stories and tell our own.
Finally, the chapter - The Power of Story In Organizations (Chapter 8) - particularly resonated with me. It illustrates the importance of stories to reinforce and support the company vision and values. Overall, a great and recommended read on story telling and it's power. For another recommendation on the same topic, please see my post on The Story Factor by Annette Simmons - http://timesheetchronicles.wordpress.... .
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1) "Story is narrative. Words are how we think; narrative is how we link. Story narrative has a sense of beginning, middle, and end. Story features characters, place, things happening; tension between what is known and unknown, between what is expected and what is surprise. Story takes life events and combines what's happening with all our thoughts, feelings, and reactions. And all these elements combine inside story into sense making. Story is the sweet nectar of language."
2) "Each of us has someone who put the honey in our heart. That person is often an ordinary person who becomes extraordinary person who becomes extraordinary through the power to touch another life. Teaching ourselves to recognize these persons and remember these moments is essential to becoming a Storycatcher."
3) "Storycatchers are: 1) intrigued by human experience; 2) inquisitive about meaning, insight, and learning; 3) more curious than judgmental; 4) more in love with questions than answers; 5) empathetic without overidentification; 6) Able to hold personal boundaries in interpersonal spaces; 7) able to be present while others experience emotions; 8)able to be present while others have insight; 9) able to safeguard the space for listening; 10) able to invite forgiveness, release, and grace; 11) aware of story's power and use it consciously; 12) practitioners of the heart of language."
4) " We are the species that has evolved with language; or perhaps we should say, language evolved us - Mary K. Sandford"
5) "In serving as the heart of language, story imparts four distinct gifts...1) Story creates context, 2) Context highlights relationship, 3) Context and relationship change behavior and lead to holistic and connected action 4) Connected action becomes a force for restoring/restorying the world."
6) "Revising he self-story provides the foundation for doing our life work, and for seeing our lives, whatever we choose to do, as a never-ending story."
7) "When people...rethink their personal stories, they begin to build a sense of connection and responsibility. They recognize that their actions can matter...They learn to view their personal stories as intertwined with history. - Paul Rogat Loeb"
8) "The work of story catching in organizations starts with the search to discover how this original groundwork has survived within the swirl of influences that have shaped the organization so far. We look for the interplay between the founding values of purpose story and the innovative mutations of organizational life. Toke and I all this the dance of the now and the purpose. The now consists of real people working together in real time. The purpose is the basis for the now; it is the initiating energy that set the organization into being."
9) "When we apply storycatching skills to the conversations going on around us in organizations and listen to these stories consciously, we can tell whether the purpose is being reinforced, shifted, changed, sustained, ignored, or undermined. When the purpose story is tended, people's day-to-day stories reinforce how successfully the organization is fulfilling its purpose is being reinforced, shifted, changed, sustained, ignored, or undermined. When the purpose story is tended, people's day-to-day stories reinforce how successfully the organization is fulfilling its purpose under current conditions. If the purpose story is lost, misrepresented, or hoarded by leadership, the day-to-day stories speak of frustration, abandonment, and fragmentation."
10) "What we need is hope. Hope is the story that keeps us going. Hope says the world is still beginning, life is young and still getting organized. Hope says come on in, there's something only you can do, a story only you can share. Hope defines this time in history as a great turning; a time when human beings are taking our place as the earthly one capable of wisdom and good judgement. Hope blows evidence of this capacity back into our hearts, and fills us with stories that inspire action."
11) "The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is to live inside that hope. - Barbara Kingsolver"
12) "Story is a search for community that allows us to share, build, and learn from each other. Intentional storycatching is a movement in the making, ensuring survival of the stories through oral and written traditions. Recognizing story as an act of citizenship, we know that the world can change on a word. Story can save us. We choose whether we want to live in hopefulness or despair. Storycatchers choose hopefulness, knowing that story has the power to change our lives."
What sets this book apart are the numerous personal stories that the author shares, that help make the concepts more applicable and concrete. The breadth of the impact of stories - on self, family, organizations, spirituality etc. is also commendable. Christina's passion about storytelling is contagious and excites readers to listen to others' stories and tell our own.
Finally, the chapter - The Power of Story In Organizations (Chapter 8) - particularly resonated with me. It illustrates the importance of stories to reinforce and support the company vision and values. Overall, a great and recommended read on story telling and it's power. For another recommendation on the same topic, please see my post on The Story Factor by Annette Simmons - http://timesheetchronicles.wordpress.... .
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1) "Story is narrative. Words are how we think; narrative is how we link. Story narrative has a sense of beginning, middle, and end. Story features characters, place, things happening; tension between what is known and unknown, between what is expected and what is surprise. Story takes life events and combines what's happening with all our thoughts, feelings, and reactions. And all these elements combine inside story into sense making. Story is the sweet nectar of language."
2) "Each of us has someone who put the honey in our heart. That person is often an ordinary person who becomes extraordinary person who becomes extraordinary through the power to touch another life. Teaching ourselves to recognize these persons and remember these moments is essential to becoming a Storycatcher."
3) "Storycatchers are: 1) intrigued by human experience; 2) inquisitive about meaning, insight, and learning; 3) more curious than judgmental; 4) more in love with questions than answers; 5) empathetic without overidentification; 6) Able to hold personal boundaries in interpersonal spaces; 7) able to be present while others experience emotions; 8)able to be present while others have insight; 9) able to safeguard the space for listening; 10) able to invite forgiveness, release, and grace; 11) aware of story's power and use it consciously; 12) practitioners of the heart of language."
4) " We are the species that has evolved with language; or perhaps we should say, language evolved us - Mary K. Sandford"
5) "In serving as the heart of language, story imparts four distinct gifts...1) Story creates context, 2) Context highlights relationship, 3) Context and relationship change behavior and lead to holistic and connected action 4) Connected action becomes a force for restoring/restorying the world."
6) "Revising he self-story provides the foundation for doing our life work, and for seeing our lives, whatever we choose to do, as a never-ending story."
7) "When people...rethink their personal stories, they begin to build a sense of connection and responsibility. They recognize that their actions can matter...They learn to view their personal stories as intertwined with history. - Paul Rogat Loeb"
8) "The work of story catching in organizations starts with the search to discover how this original groundwork has survived within the swirl of influences that have shaped the organization so far. We look for the interplay between the founding values of purpose story and the innovative mutations of organizational life. Toke and I all this the dance of the now and the purpose. The now consists of real people working together in real time. The purpose is the basis for the now; it is the initiating energy that set the organization into being."
9) "When we apply storycatching skills to the conversations going on around us in organizations and listen to these stories consciously, we can tell whether the purpose is being reinforced, shifted, changed, sustained, ignored, or undermined. When the purpose story is tended, people's day-to-day stories reinforce how successfully the organization is fulfilling its purpose is being reinforced, shifted, changed, sustained, ignored, or undermined. When the purpose story is tended, people's day-to-day stories reinforce how successfully the organization is fulfilling its purpose under current conditions. If the purpose story is lost, misrepresented, or hoarded by leadership, the day-to-day stories speak of frustration, abandonment, and fragmentation."
10) "What we need is hope. Hope is the story that keeps us going. Hope says the world is still beginning, life is young and still getting organized. Hope says come on in, there's something only you can do, a story only you can share. Hope defines this time in history as a great turning; a time when human beings are taking our place as the earthly one capable of wisdom and good judgement. Hope blows evidence of this capacity back into our hearts, and fills us with stories that inspire action."
11) "The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is to live inside that hope. - Barbara Kingsolver"
12) "Story is a search for community that allows us to share, build, and learn from each other. Intentional storycatching is a movement in the making, ensuring survival of the stories through oral and written traditions. Recognizing story as an act of citizenship, we know that the world can change on a word. Story can save us. We choose whether we want to live in hopefulness or despair. Storycatchers choose hopefulness, knowing that story has the power to change our lives."
April 23, 2021
Love the heart and pen of Christina Baldwin!
"Story is the narrative thread of our experience - not what literally happens, but what we make out of what happens, what we tell each other and what we remember."
This is how she begins the book and spends the remaining time elucidating the healing work of "storycatching" - the telling and witnessing of story - and the personal, familial, and community healing that can and does take place by those who care to share and / or listen.
Throughout the book she offers question to ponder or offer to others in an effort to build personal and interpersonal legacies of storytelling.
If you are one who journals, one who writes anything at all, one who tells or gathers others to tell stories, this is a book you will want to read and keep in your personal library.
Thank you, Christina Baldwin (and Linnea, too), for all you do to make the world a better place!
"Story is the narrative thread of our experience - not what literally happens, but what we make out of what happens, what we tell each other and what we remember."
This is how she begins the book and spends the remaining time elucidating the healing work of "storycatching" - the telling and witnessing of story - and the personal, familial, and community healing that can and does take place by those who care to share and / or listen.
Throughout the book she offers question to ponder or offer to others in an effort to build personal and interpersonal legacies of storytelling.
If you are one who journals, one who writes anything at all, one who tells or gathers others to tell stories, this is a book you will want to read and keep in your personal library.
Thank you, Christina Baldwin (and Linnea, too), for all you do to make the world a better place!
November 2, 2020
The author's devotion to and passion for story is so evident it's like a brick to the face. She discusses the importance of story in lyrical language that clearly conveys her love. The questions posed at the end of each chapter are interesting and thought-provoking.
That said, the book is massively abstract. It seems to go on and on without much new being presented; it's simply the same thing said in a different way. The abstraction and dreamily waxing poetic were so prolific that hardly any room was left for concrete ideas and suggestions. And so I'm left being very firmly convinced of the power of story, but not quite knowing what to do with that knowledge.
That said, the book is massively abstract. It seems to go on and on without much new being presented; it's simply the same thing said in a different way. The abstraction and dreamily waxing poetic were so prolific that hardly any room was left for concrete ideas and suggestions. And so I'm left being very firmly convinced of the power of story, but not quite knowing what to do with that knowledge.
April 18, 2018
I honestly had a love/hate relationship with this book. When Baldwin launched into actual storytelling to make a point, I was mesmerized. But when she got back to the academic side of story catching I got bored easily and had a hard time getting through it. So I went from compulsive page-turning to having to re-read a sentence three times to digest it. The book was definitely worth reading, but is not one I would go back to.
February 1, 2023
What surprised me as I read this book was all of the twists and turns of storytelling. I’ve always loved hearing and listening to other people’s stories, but until I had read this book, it had never landed how important and healing stories are! Well, through Christine’s gift of sharing stories, the benefits and healing powers of storytelling landed! I am grateful and will certainly work this tool into my life!
July 25, 2020
Christina’s book about the importance of sharing our stories helped in my understanding and writing of my personal story, and its connection to others through their stories.
I love one of her concluding phrases. It so captures the beauty and essential purpose am in being a sharer of stories:
“Storycatchers choose hopefulness, knowing that story has the power to change our lives.”
I love one of her concluding phrases. It so captures the beauty and essential purpose am in being a sharer of stories:
“Storycatchers choose hopefulness, knowing that story has the power to change our lives.”
June 2, 2024
Way too wordy for the value of the content.
June 12, 2008
Interesting book - a sort of self-help-ish approach that sees story as a way to understand and integrate our lives. The points are a bit "wispier" than I'm used to reading - though I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, this is not a philosophy book. The idea of cultivating people that make room for, understand, and tell stories as a way of forwarding personal, organizational, as social development does seem like an interesting one. And I think there are some useful perspectives on how to live such a life.
March 31, 2009
This book is wonderful for a writer of family history. Baldwin brings to the table a wide range of informative material.
January 30, 2011
I am a "storycatcher" via my digi scrapbook pages :) This was an interesting look at how story plays a part of our lives and how important it is to human connection.
Want to read
August 24, 2009rec from Erin
December 4, 2009
so far I'm not likin' it......
October 25, 2010
Dreamy with writing tips--not what I was expecting from the title. I did, however, find some useful things for my research.
August 11, 2016
Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews