I recently volunteered at a nursing home for Christian Brother’s. The project is affectionately entitled “Project Bro”. The premise is that students visit with the brother’s who sign up to be visited. The students are allowed to spend about 15-20 minutes with each brother. This is one of my favorite service projects at school. I find it so interesting to hear their stories. They hold so much of the history of my school and of the world, I can’t help but eat them up. Plus, many of them have such strong Bronx-Irish dialects–how could you not just want to listen?
The last brother I visited with was a retired English professor. He asked us questions such as where we were from and what we are majoring in. I proudly shared that I am a PR major. Hearing that, he went on to tell us all about his favorite thing in the world; a good story. His entire life he has been infatuated by the art of story telling. He loves words and loves the tone in which a great narrator can bring to a story. We talked at length about this, comparing great fictional stories to the bible. Ultimately, they’re both stories. Ultimately, we all love to hear stories of life, conflict, and love.
I walked away from that conversation with a lot to reflect on. Professors and professionals constantly stress the importance of the story. People love following a good story and sharing their own stories. This is why social media has exploded in the way that it has. It serves as a platform for people (and companies) to share their story. I realized that my story telling needs to be fine-tuned. Maybe a resolution for the new year would be to work on the art of story telling, because after all it is definitely an art.
Until next time,
Miss Enlund
MissEnlund 