…and learning to share

A persistent theme on this blog over the years has been the value of collaboration, and the capacity of social media to enhance it. Whether it is preaching on Mary, promoting ‘The Littlest Star‘, finding out about prayer, creating a map of awe, or writing my wordle biography, collaboration offers so much. How do we really feel, though, when someone else has the same idea as us…and maybe even does it better?

When I wrote my book, Stale Bread, in 2007, I included a little game in it which I had already been using for a while. I called it Story Prop, and it runs like this. In pairs, find an object in your pocket or handbag, and take it in turns to tell each other:

• where it came from
• how it got to be there
• where it will be in five years’ time

Over the years I have had little groups of people trying this out, and to their delight they discover that they can tell stories.

Meanwhile, in another place, Rory O Connor was having a moment of revelation about helping people to tell stories. After a lot of sketches and prototypes, his Story Cubes came onto the market in…2007. The 9 cubes have 54 faces between them, and 10,000000 possible combinations. Once rolled, the player uses the 9 pictographic images to create a story beginning ‘Once upon a time’. When I came across them this week I immediately placed an order, and can’t wait for them to arrive.

Image: storycubes.com

I am not sure that they will supplant Story Prop, but I shall certainly add them to the armoury. In the end, it is story itself, rather than any proprietorial relationship to ideas, which excites me.