(SSIR Review's "Amplified Voices: GlobalGiving's Storytelling Project Turns Anecdotes into Useful Data")
In Hawai'i, storytelling, which locals call "talk story" (and which covers everything from catching up on family news to old wives tales), was and is an essential part of the culture. However, in more traditional Western societies and organizations (grandiose statement, take it with a grain of salt -- though I've done my research and worked for one!), statistics and results are valued over stories. Because numbers are measurable, they are a more reliable resource. But numbers can be mislead, too.
This article in Stanford Social Innovation Review demonstrates how talk story can contribute to determining the needs of a community and evaluating the efficiency of existing nonprofits and businesses.
(Side note: I'm considering going to graduate school for Linguistics at CU-Boulder -- I deferred for now -- to examine the deep waters beneath interactions between such nonprofits/orgs and the communities they work with. Because even using direct Q&As and the best of intentions, things can go awfully awry.)
Of course, any thoughts, ideas, or sources you have are more than welcome. Just an update on my ponders!
As for the cheer...
Blog JeannieJeannie is always great for beautiful design and a pick-me-up. In this case, she shared these images from London-based artist and illustrator Aled Lewis, from his series called "Toy Stories." The fun photo-meets-illustration works went towards satisfying some of his create-every-day-for-a-year commitment. And it's fun fun fun.
Happy Aloha Friday! I have a lovely friend visiting starting this weekend, so I may slack slightly. I'll take plenty of beach pictures to make up for it.
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