StoryToGo

Exploring storytelling in its many forms in this digital age

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Featured in Feedspot’s Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs

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What a great way to start the day off, by opening an email from Feedspot Founder Anuj Agarwal congratulating us on being featured in Feedspot’s Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs! We sit at #4, and find it rather fitting that on a list of Canadian Storytelling Blogs that a Newfoundlander sits at #1!

Have a read to discover the other wonderful sites on the list!

Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs

What’s made us even happier is that after reading we decided to look up Feedspot’s Top Canadian Travel Blogs, which is a top 70 list. #12 on that list is Go Far Grow Close, a travel blog developed by one of our past students, Nicole Hunter, in our BCST 1073 (now BCST 3073) – Building Your Digital Media Presence and BCST 1193 – Social Media Storytelling. This is very well deserved, as Nicole has worked hard at her storytelling, approaching it with love, passion, and attention to details on things like SEO – continuing to build, learn, grow, and develop long past our courses. Well done, Nicole!

Our own digital travel magazine, Roamancing, is also on the list at #19! And we see a number of other friends of ours from the travel community featured on the list as well. Check them out!

Top Canadian Travel Blogs

Congratulations to all the sites listed, and for all the hard work and passion that you have poured into your storytelling over the years!

Also a shout out of thanks to Grant for the Web, BCIT, and CNIE (through the AMTEC Trust Award), whose support have helped to fund much of our storytelling here the past couple of years.

Art Therapy Student Life: An Introduction

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As a new member to the StoryToGo Team, you probably don’t know who I am! My name is Bjorn and I finished my undergrad at the University of Victoria last summer where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in art education. I am now a student at the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute where I am studying to become an art therapist. Through my posts, I aim to document my life as a student as well as introduce readers like you to the field of art therapy and its many benefits. Who knows, maybe you will decide that this is the field for you!

What Brought Me to Art Therapy?

Art has always been an interest of mine but I didn’t take it seriously until I discovered the field of art therapy. I started off without a minor added to my program but I started to feel like something was missing. I yearned for a creative outlet but I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it into my studies. Sure, I could take a fun elective but if my program was feeling dull then, I felt as though I would find my future career to be dull as well. I searched and searched on what I could do with my psych degree and stumbled across art therapy. I immediately knew that it was perfect for me because I was able to combine my passions of psychology and creativity.

I added art education as a minor just before my final year at UVic so I could get a foundational background in art before applying for art therapy programs. Altering my degree so late in my studies made me nervous but I noticed a major improvement in how much I enjoyed my coursework. I also know many people that have changed their majors multiple times and are now thriving. Sometimes finding what is right for you takes time and that is perfectly okay.

What Is Art Therapy?

At VATI, I have learned that art therapy is a mental health profession that combines the process of creative art expression with models of counselling and psychotherapy to enhance emotional, physical, and mental health. It provides the client with an opportunity to explore personal problems and potentials, resolve conflicts, and facilitate self-awareness and understanding through the use of simple art materials. 

A tranquil scene of nature made by me (watercolour)

Art therapy has been proven to be effective in areas such as: 

  • Addictions or substance use issues
  • Developmental disorders and disabilities
  • Coping with physical health conditions
  • Depression, anxiety, and mental health
  • Trauma or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
  • Aging and geriatric issues

Because art making occurs within the realm of the imagination, it opens the door to the story, and to remembering important events that may have been forgotten, or whose significance is unknown.

Tracy Councill

In my own practice, I aim to facilitate a non-verbal means for individuals and groups to connect with and express thoughts and emotions that are difficult to communicate. Sometimes words can be limiting in their definitions and expressing through art can expand those boundaries. While talking can be a part of the art therapy process, I view the act of expressing through art to be successful.

Art Prompt: Colour Walk

If you are looking for something creative to do this week, I recommend going for a colour walk around your neighbourhood. You can do this by yourself or with others if you choose. The goal of this activity is to connect you with your surroundings.

Materials Needed

  • camera

Steps

  1. Pick a colour.
  2. Walk around your neighbourhood/community and search for your colour.
  3. Take pictures that showcase your colour of choice. How creative you get with this is up to you!
  4. Walk around for as long as you see fit.

Questions to ask yourself

  • Is there a reason you chose your colour? If so, Why?
  • How did you showcase your colour in each image? What led to your artistic decisions?
  • What did you find interesting about the colour walk? What stood out the most?
  • Did you make any discoveries?
  • Were there any difficulties? Was your colour hidden or abundant?
  • Has your connection to your surroundings changed as a result of this activity?
  • If you did this as a group, you can discuss these questions with each other. The group aspect is interesting because even if you all take the same route, you will have different photographs to share.

*Disclaimer: Completing this activity is not equivalent to an art therapy session with a qualified professional*

Colour Walk in Red
A sample from a colour walk I did following the colour red.

I still have a year left at the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute and have a ways to go before I can become a registered art therapist. Currently, I am completing practicum hours at an elementary school where I am learning a lot and having fun. Each day I fall more in love with the profession and I am excited to take you all along on this journey.

You can get additional updates by checking out my Instagram.

References

Canadian Art Therapy Association. (2017). What is art therapy.
http://www.canadianarttherapy.org/what-is-art-therapy/

Councill, T. (2016). Art therapy with children. In D.E. Gussak and M.L. Rosal (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of art therapy (pp. 243-251). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Canadian Artist Denis Nokony Invites Those Who Wish to Celebrate the 46th American Inauguration to Use his Artwork ‘Peace Arch’ Online for Free

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In tribute to the 46th American Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, our friend and Canadian artist Denis Nokony invites anyone who wishes to celebrate the unity and friendship between Canada and the United States of America to utilize his artwork entitled ‘Peace Arch’ for free online, provided they credit him as the artist, are not making money from sharing the piece, and do not alter the image.

‘Peace Arch’ by Denis Nokony

‘Peace Arch’ – About the Artwork

‘Peace Arch’ is a 38”x 40” acrylic painting on canvas that was first created in 2004, representing our shared border between British Columbia and Washington at Peace Arch Park in White Rock, BC and Blaine, Washington. It’s day has come to be shared on the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Denis Nokony – Meet the Artist

Denis looking like the badass artist in his pandemic mask.

As written by Robert Enright of Denis Nokony’s 1981 exhibition at the Mendel Art Gallery entitled, ‘Figure in Landscape: Drawings’, “The drawings present a synthetic relationship between the figure and the landscape, between being and space, and between quotidian observation and dramatic realism. Mr. Nokony is involved in a process that is both a retrieval and a reinterpretation of prairie space through its human dimensions.”

Landscape and sky feature prominently in much of Denis’ artwork, perhaps as a result of his upbringing in the Canadian Prairies, having been born in Oxbow, Saskatchewan. He became interested in drawing and caricature at an early age. Having, however, only ever taken one drawing course from Canadian painter Reta Cowley, as a young university student at the University of Saskatchewan where he studied political science, he considers himself to be a self-taught artist.

Pre-Covid photo from the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival with this writer, Matt Andersen, and Denis Nokony.

Over the years, Denis has had a number of careers, in which art has played a prominent role from commercial artist and freelance illustrator to art teacher to arts development officer to Assistant Director for Cultural Services for the City of Burnaby today. Throughout all of this, Denis has continued to create and exhibit his art. While his medium of choice has predominantly been drawings and paintings, it has also include a National Film Board short animated film entitled ‘The Giant‘.

To touch base with Denis or inquire about his art, he can be reached at denis[at]storytogo.ca.

E² – Entertainment & Education : At Home Entertainment Magazine ~ Edition 2

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We invited you to join us as we launch into new opportunities and connect with creatives, educators, and natural and cultural history interpreters from around the world!

Photographed by Manyu Varma, via UnSplash.

3,2,1 … Blast Off! The StoryToGo Classroom Soft Launches

Phew!  It’s been a busy Spring and Summer for us, as we’ve been building the new StoryToGo Classroom and developing and teaching some initial courses there.

We’d love to invite you to come check it out. Just click on the button below.

Visit the New StoryToGo Classroom Site

As those of you that are regular readers here are aware, StoryToGo is a community site developed by Lori Yearwood, Kevin Ribble, and myself (Erica Hargreave) to explore contemporary storytelling, education, and culture with colleagues from across Canada and around the World.

While we are just getting started, stay tuned on the site for:

  • Contemporary Storytelling Courses (spanning the arts)
  • Marketing and Branding Courses
  • Technology Courses
  • Youth Camps, Classes, and Virtual Field Trips
  • A Culture Hub (with courses that allow you to virtually travel and learn about different cultures around the world)
  • A Health and Wellness Centre (with classes and courses in yoga, mindfulness, office exercises, and nature escapes)
  • A Teacher Hub (with resources for educators)

If you are interested in creating and building courses with us, please reach out. We’d love to chat.  Aside from creatives in a variety of disciplines, we’d also love to involve some of the tourism, parks, and arts organizations that we’ve worked with over the years in developing classes and courses for the Culture Hub and Health and Wellness Centre.

The Courses on the site are a mix of Open, Free, Paid, and Private Group Courses. Below we share a few of the initial courses that are available there now.

Some of the Initial Camps and Courses in the StoryToGo Classroom

As we soft launch the new StoryToGo Classroom site, we invite you to checkout our initial classes, camps and courses!

Open Courses:

Free Classes:

Online Summer Camps:

Online Music Lessons:

Photo by Fitsum Admasu, via UnSplash.

Upcoming Online Camps and Courses at BCIT

We are rather delighted to be developing and delivering BCIT’s first ever online summer camp! 

The camp, Animated Stories, will be offered twice this summer:

  • July 27 – 31 for 8 – 13 year olds
  • August 10 – 14 for 13 – 17 year olds

Also this coming Autumn, we will be offering both of our post-secondary accredited, online courses through BCIT’s Broadcast Media and Communications Part Time Studies Program.

We hope to see you in class!

In other exciting news, we have just signed a contract with Tom Skerritt’s new channel, EVRGRN, to stream and distribute the full documentary version of Naturally Ours : Salt Spring Island.  This means new channels and air dates to catch the documentary, starting with STIRR for those of you in the United States!

And don’t forget, you can still watch the full documentary on Fearless, and the web series on Seeka TV and Stareable!

Stories That Matter to Us

The last few months have held many things that impact our team of storytellers deeply and personally.  We’ve done a little writing on that.

Black Lives Matter

Mindfulness

Meditating

Healthy & Fun

Eating Well

Connecting from Afar

Torre Unconf 

Recently Lori and I had fun participating in an Unconference that Torre hosted.  This was a great way to connect with new colleagues around the world and discuss ideas. 

Future StoryToGo Unconf

As such we are exploring the idea of hosting a StoryToGo Unconference this coming winter as a way of bringing people together around the world in the creative arts, tourism, education, technology, and health and wellness.  If this is something that you’d enjoy developing with us, please drop us a line.

Stress Free Summer Festival

Speaking of connecting from afar, our friends at Master Peace are hosting a week of interesting and free talks until Friday July 17th, with their Stress Free Summer Festival for those of you interested in partaking.

Stay safe and well, and find things to keep you laughing and dreaming.

With healthy wishes from Erica, Lori, Kevin, Anne, Alex and the rest of our Ahimsa Media, StoryToGo and Roamancing team.

The Power of the Protest – Positive Changes Coming from the June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests

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One of our Roamancing writer’s recently did the research and wrote a letter to a loved one about Systemic Racism, Police Brutality, and positive change coming from the Black Lives Matter Protests and Marches to explain to them why the current Black Lives Matter protests and marches are needed. As we feel this is an important issue and think she did an excellent job of both researching and addressing the problem, we are sharing her letter in 3-parts, here, on Being Emme, and on Roamancing. Her research is focused on the United States, but as is evident in the news in recent weeks, this is very much an issue that needs addressing here at home in Canada too. You can read the first part of her letter by clicking here and the second part of her letter here.

We chose StoryToGo to share the final part of Alex’s letter, as it shows the powerful and positive impact that one form of storytelling can have – that of the protest. These are also stories that we wish to share further, and by sharing them in 3-parts that span 3-different sites with 3-different communities of readers, we hope that Alex’s research and words will resonate further.

June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dear …

I took your advice and have been doing a lot of research and reading on the subject and I wanted to share with you what I’ve found.

It’s okay if we don’t see everything the same way – I’ll always listen and think about what you have to say and hope you’ll do the same for me! Because what’s the point of having a brain if I don’t use it for critical thinking? You taught me that. 

Anyways love you lots and hope you’ll read with an open mind.

Alex Charters

Below is a continuation of Alex’s letter that began with the sobering facts on police brutality and a brief history of systemic racism.

A poignant question at the Black Lives Matter March in Phoenix, Arizona (June 2020).

I understand a lot of what you said on Sunday and agree that Canada is not America. We have our own problems that we need to face but I think supporting the Civil Rights Movement in America is very important right now. (And added by the editor similar issues do exist in Canada, particular towards our Indigenous people.)

The international support and media attention have forced America to take action and start making real change.

Alex Charters

Positive Changes Coming From the Black Lives Matter Protests:

Re: George Floyd

Photo care of Lorie Shaull

Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of George Floyd. This is almost unheard of with 99% of officers getting no charges in the shooting of suspects. 

Re: Breonna Taylor

The ‘no-knock” warrants that allow police officers to enter homes without providing any notice will now be regulated. 

Re: Michael Brown

Ferguson (where Michael Brown was murdered) just elected its first black mayor and she is also the first female mayor.

Other Positive Moves

Black Lives Matter Protests in Phoenix, Arizona – June 2020
  • In California, prosecutors are lobbying the state bar to ban district attorneys from accepting money from police unions.
  • In Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he will “seek to identify $100 million to $150 million in cuts from the LAPD,” and that the funds will funnel into different areas such as jobs, health care and education.
  • In New Jersey law enforcement will be adding mental health professionals, as well as other reforms.
  • In San Diego police end the use of carotid restraint.
  • In Colorado a bill was introduced to address abusive law enforcement.
  • Unanimous passing of mandatory police education and bias training passed through Michigan’s Senate.
  • Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to require police officers to intervene anytime they see unauthorized use of force by another officer and to ban police chokeholds altogether. 
  • In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to redirect some of the New York Police Department budget toward youth and social services. De Blasio also committed to repealing Section 50-A, which prevents the public from accessing disciplinary records of police officers.
  • The US Marine Corps released guidance on the removal of public displays of the Confederate battle flag. 

I think the problems black Americans are facing are very real and these protests are an extension of the Civil Rights movement from the 1960’s. These movements are pivotal in making change.

Alex Charters

For a first hand account from the Black Lives Matter protests and marches in the United States, read Lori’s experiences partaking in the marches in Arizona, as an interracial family.

References

A Children’s Yoga Adventure Story Created in Elementari

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Lori Yearwood created the most beautiful, calming, and relaxing animated adventure story today using Elementari – a platform designed to allow children, youth, teachers, schools, and adults to create interactive, animated stories. Lori’s story is crafted to give kids at home a relaxing yoga experience that takes them on a virtual adventure to a day at the seashore.

A Children’s Yoga Adventure Story to the Seashore

Watch, read, listen, and enjoy!

As you watch, read, listen, and enjoy the story above, wait for the flashing white arrow. Click on it to turn the pages. If it does not appear, then click the left arrow on your keyboard to flip the page. Also, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for things to click on within the story iteself.

Elementari

We were fortunate enough to ‘virtually meet’ and learn about Elementari from one of the founders, Nicole Kang. Nicole kindly participated in our new vlogcasting series on Sustainable Funding Solutions for Media, Educators, and Technologists. You can watch the premiere episode of the vlogcast featuring Nicole and Elementari, below.

Elementari is currently helping teachers and parents, who are looking for ways to keep kids learning during the COVID-19 school closures, by giving them free premium access to their interactive storytelling platform to help kids learn how to read, write, and code.

Request Free Premium Access

Lori Yearwood as Phoenix Rising

Aside from being one of the Founders of StoryToGo, Lori Yearwood is a children’s book author and has a newer not-so-secret identity as a yoga and exercise instructor. You can follow along with her yogi adventure at PhoenixMoments on Instagram.