There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Dr. Maya Angelou

I’m Keith. Admittedly, when I encountered the idea of storytelling gaining notoriety as a core competency of immense value — I viewed it with skepticism. A narrow understanding of storytelling guided my lack of enthusiasm, having been conditioned to believe intelligent people do not dominate conversations. As a child, I was taught the word story was a polite way to say lie. A storyteller in essence was a lair, and not to be trusted.

I now understand storytelling as a way of articulating any value that may have been added (or loss for that matter) as a result of an event transpiring. Storytellers are not to be immediately considered as manipulative (even though some are). They have a way of delivering information with enough resonance that it prompts behavioral change, or at the very least a reasonable person to act. It is professionally enriching and personally cathartic, routine and mindful storytelling. In my line of work, storytelling allows for inclusivity, validation, enactment of human centric policies and programs to improve healthcare delivery.

Personally, the benefits split along three paths: sharing my journey in hopes of others’ sharing theirs; providing vicarious learning experiences for those interested (given we are more alike than we are conditioned to believe); and freeing the psyche from oftentimes unproductive rumination.

I appreciate you for visiting.