Around the world in (less than) 80 days

About this workshop

Stories are part of our lives since the dawn of time.

We probably started in caves, listening to tales around a flickering fire crafting moving shadows on the walls. Tales of fear and survival, of grandeur and rejections… offering a mirror through which we can look at our lives.Today, we are surrounded by stories. Whether it's books, movies, series,... Even our social networks encourage us to publish stories.

Through this experimental workshop, I invite you on a journey to stop time and reflect on the impact of stories in our world. On how we can tap into their wisdom and look through the mirror (dare I say through the looking-glass?), and see what we can bring back.

We might be tempted to use tales to describe the patterns and behaviours we see in others, imagine what could happen if we directed them to ourselves, and our understanding of the situation? What part am I playing here?

You will not leave the day with yet another tool to impose your views onto others. You will not learn to convince others or change them.

What I hope is that, after every session of this workshop, you'll gain yet another perspective to look at yourself and what's happening around you. That you will tap into the power of stories and metaphor to shape meaning, sharing your views with others and work on common understanding.

What I hope is that, after this workshop, you will be inspired to reuse any part of what happened that day in order to foster better connections with the humans that surround you.

Online

In times where we are discouraged to leave our homes, hug our friends and families, I invite you to take a tour around the world. Over the course of five sessions, we'll share stories from different countries, different continents, different origins... each of them with a specific gem that we'll uncover together through shared dialogue.

The best part of it? Since travel options are limited, you will discover all these wonders from around the world... from your comfy chair!

The workshop will run over five bi-weekly 90 minute sessions starting May 13th until July 8th.

Inspiration

I stand on the shoulders of giants. I'm not sure I could reference all the inspirations for this workshop. Maybe it started with my babysitter who had a complete collection of Grimm's fairy tales that got me hooked. Maybe it's the boardgames we played with my siblings, the choose your own adventure books I read.

The british authors Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams showed me it's possible to write witty stories that mirror our society; Neil Gaiman showed me what happens when you look at the world and take a step sideways.

Finally, this workshop has also been inspired by my friends Tobias Mayer, Francis Laleman and Sivasailam Thiagarajan (Thiagi) who inspire me every day to continue practicing my facilitation skills.

I'm excited to start this journey with you, curious to discover what's going to come out of it and look forward to your participation!

Pricing

Since we live in peculiar times, this workshop is offered in a "Pay what you want" format.

Whether you wish to participate for free or whether you wish to pay for your participation is entirely up to you. If you'd like to participate financially, please note there is a 21% Belgian VAT and 3% PayPal fees, and take into consideration that I will roughly get 76% of the amount.

Whatever you decide to pay will be for your own journey, whether you can make it to one, two or all five of the sessions!

Please add the amount you wish to pay on the registration page, and I will contact you for the payment.

Practical details

The workshop will happen over Zoom. So, once you register, you will get receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. Please keep this link safe.

Also, make sure you mark these events along with the Zoom link in your Calendar for the five dates below. If you're joining us now, you'll see session feedback links for the past events, this might help you decide whether this journey is something you'd be interested in.

Wednesday May 13th, from 17:00 till 18:30 CEST Session feedback on LinkedIn

Wednesday May 27th, from 17:00 till 18:30 CEST Session feedback on LinkedIn

Wednesday June 10th, from 17:00 till 18:30 CEST Session feedback on LinkedIn

Wednesday June 24th, from 17:00 till 18:30 CEST - Session feedback on LinkedIn

Wednesday July 8th, from 17:00 till 18:30 CEST- Session feedback on LinkedIn

Find your local time here: https://savvytime.com/converter/cest-to-edt-cdt-mdt-pdt/5pm

Each session is self-contained, so even if you can't make it to one of the sessions, you are welcome to join us for part of the journey! These sessions will not be recorded. Since most of the session happens during the conversations in breakout rooms, it wouldn't make sense anyway.

Questions, Concerns

Feel free to contact me should you have any question about this event. You can find me on LinkedIn or contact me through email: charlouis.demaere@gmail.com.

Feedback from a previous one-day session held in London last July

Should Stories Pull, Push or simply Move you? by Cathrine Linde Jensen