The "Aha" Moment by Shelly Siegel

Storytelling can bring about the "aha moment". Not just for the listener, but for the teller as well. Oprah Winfrey defines an "aha moment" as, "A moment of sudden inspiration, insight, recognition or comprehension." I'm wagering that most who have heard someone tell a compelling personal story, have had some type of emotional response. Or perhaps there were moments that triggered similar memories.  There is evidence that having these types of reactions stimulates the brain by activating the mood enhancing chemical, dopamine. That's one of the many reasons why storytelling is so engaging. 

I am at the beginning stages of learning this creative art form. I'm a first-time student in Liz Warren's course, "Creating and Telling Personal Stories", offered through South Mountain Community College's Storytelling Institute.  Students are given the opportunity to develop personal stories by crafting them, telling them, and then receiving feedback from others in the class and the instructor. Developing a personal story is a process, and also involves making a series of decisions. The class begins with various exercises allowing students to play around with prompts that help to generate memories. This allows us to sift through them and choose one as a base to work from. After some serious fishing around through my lifelong collection of memories, one somehow floated to the top.  Aha! I found my first story. Then came the hard part. I needed to give my story a shape.

I experimented with a suggestion we had learned in class; say your story out loud to yourself. I was alone in my car at the Costco parking lot.  I began reciting my story while watching shoppers go in and out of the store.  Suddenly, I lost all sight of them. As I spoke, I was transported back in time. I saw the expressions on the faces of my story's characters, and I was clearly inside the rooms, hallways, and buildings where my story took place. As I went on reciting, new ideas began to formulate.  Aha!  Later, when I practiced telling my story to a friend, they asked questions which gave rise to aspects that had never occurred to me. I reworked several parts, and my confidence grew. Finally, when I told my story to the class, the feedback was astonishing and surprising.  My classmates gifted me with new insights that had me thinking about myself and my story in new ways.

Oprah was also quoted as saying, "I always love those moments when I sit down to talk to somebody and they say things that make me look at life or a situation in a completely different way." When listening to someone's personal story, they grant us permission to enter their world.  We begin to see and feel what they experienced. Once the "aha moment" happens, the synapses suddenly begin to ignite, as the brain makes connections to bring about a new understanding.  I invite you to pay attention to the "aha moments" in your life, and use them as a guide.  I invite you to use them in your own storytelling journey. Perhaps something unexpected and wonderful will come to light!

(The picture at the top shows Shelly and Bridget Murphy at the Desert Botanical Garden during their first trip to AZ to visit the SMCC Storytelling Institute.)

Comments

[Mindytarquini]

I call that aha moment, the moment the angels give me a nudge. Thanks, Shelly!