Episode Notes

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk. You’ll recognize yourself in these true-life stories from women who are walking their lives while their lives walk them and the lasting difference these journeys have made. I’m your host, Diane Wyzga.

Welcome back to Part 2 of my conversation with my guest Dr. Carmel Finnan, storyteller, blogger, consultant and founder of Story Dialogue who joined us from Berlin, Germany. Her mission is to re-ignite authentic story in a world where ‘fake’ and ‘manipulation’ have taken the driver’s seat in business. Why? Because when we become active participants in each other’s stories we are conversing and connecting. As Carmel says, “Successful businesses know that storytelling is the key to creating a sustainable community and real client connection.” I had asked Dr. Finnan, “Following COVID’s eroding of old narratives who do you see are the new heroes and what does this open frontier look like to you?” Let’s hear what she has to say….

Minutes 23:49

Minute 00 to 2:10     Intro

2:10 to 4:16      COVID and Eroding Conventional Narratives

Following COVID’s eroding of old narratives who do you see are the new heroes and what does this open frontier look like to you?

• We can’t go back to the old normal
• We can wish to have “business as usual” but there’s a lot wrong with “business as usual,” with the old normal
• The old normal wasn’t normal
• We see the fragmentation of the old
• We see what’s disappearing but we don’t have a clear image of what’s emerging
• We’re in the in-between
• We grasp for stories to hold this together, to hold the unknown
• Dealing with the unknown takes the ground from under our feet

Minute 4:16 to 12:00     COVID Heroes

This is a powerfully assertive statement: “COVID opened our eyes to how our conventional narratives  are eroding.” What has changed?

• We stand in a threshold space between narratives: old gone; new not yet crafted
• The Hero’s Journey – as Hollywood showed it – was the matrix of the Western Canon (of literature)
• Joseph Campbell and  Hero with a Thousand Faces after World War II gave rise to comic book SUPER heroes, trust them to save us from the black and white, restore order in the world
• George Lucas took Campbell’s work and applied it to Hollywood
• The business world took George Lucas’s interpretation of Campbell’s work – which was an interpretation of Western literature – and produced this statement: “The Hero’s Journey is in our DNA.” Absolutely not!
• Look at the past 9 months of life with COVID globally
• No more heroes coming to do it for us; we have to be the hero of our own story and do it
• The heroes have been the front line workers, those who worked the supermarket so we could eat, the deliverymen, the people who kept us going, picked up our rubbish – they have helped save us and often for very little money.
• Their heroic work is understatement: support in times of great need, for little recognition of their contribution
• Heroes in 2021 are not glamorous, no celebrity status; they are the mothers, fathers, teachers and all of us caring for each other
• Let go of comic book super heroes
• Stop looking for them
• We here are doing heroic work!
• Developed greater appreciation of those in her community who have helped life go on
• We want this plague to end – we want neat closure – and then normal; but we’re not going there
• We are waking up in a different world of working, living, collaborating
• The new normal is full of doubt, uncertainty, experiences, and skills to help us journey
• Resilience, creativity, deeper appreciation, let go of what doesn’t serve
• We are transforming in our own selves
• We are creating the new

12:00 to 16:40     Threshold of a New Narrative

Standing on a threshold of new narrative. What have you observed has been let go of, and how do you envision that act informing the new narrative?

• Never going back to that job; good money, good lifestyle but not what it’s cracked up to be
• What happened?
• Personal learning in place of old ways and rules falling apart
• People have left relationships
• Desire for different life can now be lived
• Experiencing less materialism; Berlin is an alternative kind of city but it applies
• People want more time self and loved ones
• People got used to the “free time” that came with lockdown
• Agrees it’s been really difficult on parents especially working from home and children learning from home
• Despite those challenges better learning is happening well and there is increased connection at home
• There are and continue to be exciting and amazing shifts in the midst of the pain and upheaval and uncertainty
• Has learned herself that she enjoys her own company and has grown accustomed to it
• Wonderful for introverts

16:40 to 19:40      Legacy

There is a great deal of optimism in this innerView. As we sit here today what lasting result do you want to make, for whom, and how?

• It’s been such a difficult year!
• The human race that we belong to has been through worse
• Each moment in history that was challenging and destructive has been birth of something truly wonderful
• Acknowledges the on-going pain and suffering while suggesting we reach deeper than this
• See the potential to stop and re-orient, re-organize and come up with different agendas and outcomes
• Expects we will trust ourselves and each other more
• Encourages to stop handing our power to super heros in whatever shape they appear
• It’s time to reclaim our own autonomy – step by step, moment by moment
• No quick formula; we reclaim our own power
• “There is a greater narrative unfolding for us.”

19:40 to 23:49     This Dialogue is Enough

Before we end, is there something that was left unsaid?

• Trusts that the dialogue will happen and we will arrive at the insights
• We are enough, the day is enough, this dialogue is enough

Before I say thank you I want to mention that all social media links and connections to Dr. Carmel Finnan and  Story Dialogue will be posted in the Episode Notes. I hope you drop by and check out the many resources, events and blog posts as well as consider booking a free session to dialogue with Dr. Finnan. If this conversation has been any indication I can only imagine what a personal session would be like!

Thank you very much, Carmel, for walking along together, for sharing your work with us, sharing yourself and your story with us, and helping us to look for, connect with, and engage with authentic story. I just believe the world will be a better place because of you and what you are helping show us. Thank you.

Thank you, Diane. It’s been such a pleasure to talk with you.

Here we are, at the end of the road but not the journey. Thank you for listening to this episode of Stories From Women Who Walk with your host Diane Wyzga and my guest Dr. Carmel Finnan, founder of Story Dialogue in Berlin, Germany.  Remember to visit Dr. Finnan, check out all the many resources available to you on her website, and consider booking a consultation to work together. All links to social media and how to keep in touch with Dr. Finnan are in the Episode Notes.

You’re also invited to check out over 250 episodes of Stories From Women Who Walk found on Simplecast or your favorite podcast platform. This is the place to thrive together. Come for the stories – stay for the magic. Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, follow, share a nice shout out on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time! You will have wonderful company as we walk our lives together!

BIO for Dr. Carmel Finnan

Dr. Carmel Finnan worked for almost 20 years in academia in Ireland as a researcher and lecturer in literature, language and  cultural studies, before starting her own business in 2015.

Dr. Finnan  built on her academic career and love of literature to become a Storytelling and  Marketing Consultant. She works with professionals & small business owners who are tired of the complex, expensive marketing tactics on offer and want an effective, simple alternative based on human-to-human connection.

Dr. Finnan developed a marketing strategy around the principle of ‘storytelling as dialogue’, i.e. replacing the conventional monologue form of taking AT an audience with dialogue where we learn to listen, reflect and then respond to our audience.

She believes that dialogue is not just a different way of doing business, it’s also a more meaningful and authentic way of engaging with others and with the world.

Dr. Finnan currently works and lives in Berlin, Germany.

How To Stay in Touch With Dr. Finnan

carmel@storydialogue.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmelfinnan/

Show Contributors and Production Team 

Dr Carmel Finnan Storyteller Consultant & Founder Story Dialogue

Diane F Wyzga Podcaster & Story Artist Consultant

Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

Darwin Carllisle & First Class Reels

About the Guest

BIO for Dr. Carmel Finnan

Dr. Carmel Finnan worked for almost 20 years in academia in Ireland as a researcher and lecturer in literature, language and  cultural studies, before starting her own business in 2015.

Dr. Finnan  built on her academic career and love of literature to become a Storytelling and  Marketing Consultant. She works with professionals & small business owners who are tired of the complex, expensive marketing tactics on offer and want an effective, simple alternative based on human-to-human connection.

Dr. Finnan developed a marketing strategy around the principle of ‘storytelling as dialogue’, i.e. replacing the conventional monologue form of taking AT an audience with dialogue where we learn to listen, reflect and then respond to our audience.

She believes that dialogue is not just a different way of doing business, it’s also a more meaningful and authentic way of engaging with others and with the world.

Dr. Finnan currently works and lives in Berlin, Germany.

Contributors