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AHN NEWS: June 2006
This month's issue of AHN News is dedicated to STORYTELLING and the MYSTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH. I interview author Jane Hughes Gignoux about her book, Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death and Beyond. I also review the book, Storycatcher: Making Sense of our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story by Christina Baldwin. This month's featured link is the Healing Story Alliance and in particular, their project Stories for Children in Crisis.
Also thanks to those of you who wrote in about the last issue on Dreams and Creativity. I include some of your responses in the Readers Respond section below. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please send them to me at marydaniel@artheals.org.
May this current issue inspire you to explore stories as a means to integrate life's experiences and make peace with the great unknown.
-Mary Daniel Hobson, Director, Arts and Healing Network
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AHN INTERVIEW:
Jane Hughes Gignoux
Jane Hughes Gignoux
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"Each individual life is a story - a story that, like all good mystery tales, often unfolds with unexpected twists and turns. The challenge then, is to be present and embrace our unfolding life story, including the transition we call death."
-Jane Hughes Gignoux
Jane Hughes Gignoux, is the author of Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, and Beyond, a collection of stories, myths and poems from cultures around the world and throughout time. She gives experiential workshops around the US and South America, sponsored by hospices, hospitals, universities, healing centers and federal prisons. She is also a certified civil celebrant and a volunteer playtherapist with HIV pediatric patients at Harlem Hospital. Mary Daniel Hobson interviewed Jane in May 2006 about her many roles weaving together storytelling, performance, and the great mystery of life and death.
Mary Daniel Hobson: Tell me about your background. When did you get involved in the arts -- theatre, storytelling, etc.?
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Jane Hughes Gignoux: One of the threads that has gone through my whole life, that has been important, has been storytelling -- stories, performance. When I was four years old, my mother took me to see Hansel and Gretal at the Metropolitan Opera. I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was absolutely the most thrilling performance that I could ever have imagined. From then on I continued to be engaged with and fascinated by performance.
Some Folk Say by Jane Hughes Gignoux is a wonderful compilation of stories from around the world through the ages. It offers a cross-cultural view of life and death. It is a great tool to help those -- especially children -- who are grappling with the larger questions of meaning and what happens when we die. Click here to order.
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I went to a girls school, St. Agatha's. There, in addition to all the normal academic subjects, we had something called "Rhythms." We'd go into the gym -- all grades did this K through 12 -- and we were encouraged to use our bodies to express an idea or a feeling. We would huddle with a friend or two and come up with an idea and then go over to the piano lady in the corner, and ask, "Do you have music that goes sort of 'dittily, dittily, dittily?'" Then she'd play something, and it would be just right! It involved self expression through movement -- to me it was thrilling.
My connection to storytelling and performance continues to this day, because I give workshops around the country and I read stories from my book and other stories. My intention is to bring the stories to life helping people really embody the material -- not just intellectually, but viscerally. So we act out ideas and concepts and do all sorts of experiential exercises.
Mary Daniel: In a recent article, "Going Deeper", you write that "In my professional work, I have found the use of story to be a highly successful means of helping people find a way through to their own openings." Can you tell me more about this phenomenon and share an example?
Jane: Stories can open doors for people, give them permission to think about relationships in new ways, and offer new possibilities. For example, Tom, an inmate at the Federal prison in Florida, who originally wrote me back in 1999 asking about more stories, was transformed when he read, "The River," a tale of reincarnation and redemption from the Tlingit people of coastal Alaska. When I interviewed him later that year and asked what it was that had struck him about that story, he told me that when he had found himself convicted of a crime and sent to prison, he felt as though he had died. For him, it was as though he had cut himself off from those whom he cared about the most -- his family -- and was, therefore, irredeemably lost. Reading that simple story of rebirth "among his own people" gave Tom back his life. His fellow inmates told me that he was a changed man with a new lease on life. He is out of prison now, and I hope doing well.
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Mary Daniel: Do you believe art can heal and if so, how?
Jane: I certainly believe that art can heal. Art, true art, whatever its form, is created out of the artist's passion and struggle to communicate -- with words, images, sounds, movements, or a combination thereof -- a transformational experience. The mystery, if you will. When that experience resonates with some questioning, unresolved, or wounded aspect of the receiver, healing occurs.
Mary Daniel: You have been working for many years as a volunteer playtherapist, using storytelling and performing with children with AIDS. Tell me more about this work.
Jane: I was recruited to work in the out-patient clinic of Harlem Hospital's Family Care Program, serving HIV pediatric patients and their families. My job was to give each child that I interacted with a one-on-one positive, supportive experience of being there. Basically I sat on the floor or at a table and played with them. We used blocks, wired wooden bead toys, crayons and paper, play dough, simple puzzles, etc. I would challenge some of the older kids (mostly boys) by making them do the puzzles with their eyes closed. Sometimes they would get frustrated but I kept saying, "You can do it, I know you can do it!" Even "cool" older kids would grin from ear to ear when they had managed to complete a puzzle without looking. With the younger ones, who were very hesitant to use crayons, I would exclaim at their timid efforts, post their papers on the wall (when I was allowed to) and proudly show whatever parental figure had brought them to the clinic. I used as my role model, a wonderful nurse at the pediatric department of the medical group where my four children used to go. She knew exactly how to relate appropriately to kids -- from newborns to teenagers -- so that they each felt special and appreciated.
In the early years at Harlem Hospital, I learned a great deal about how children, often very young children, cope with death -- see "The Question" on my website. Unlike most adults, they seem to handle their situations with enormous grace and without fear. During those early years, I got to know some very special young people who taught me many precious lessons.
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Mary Daniel: You have authored a wonderful book, Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, and Beyond. What was the inspiration behind creating this book?
Jane: Some Folk Say is is a collection of stories, myths, and poems about life, death and beyond. One day, about eight years ago now, while I was volunteering with the HIV pediatric kids at Harlem Hospital, I was talking to the psychologist who handles those patients, a young fellow. He was on his way to the ICU to see a teenager there and he wanted to take him something to read. He was hard-pressed to find something appropriate to read to an inner-city thirteen-year-old about death, about what happens when you die. So he said to me, ³You know, someday I'm going to write a book called Some Folks Say, and it's going to be a collection of stories from around the world about what happens when you die.² As he was saying that, something shot down through the top of my head and exploded inside of me. It was as though every cell in my body stood up and yelled, ³Yes!² Then I heard myself saying, much to my surprise, ³Oh Michael, I want to help you with that project!² So we started to work on it, not knowing quite what we were going to do or how. We worked together for about a year, and, then, it became clear that Michael really didn't have an interest in this book. I still felt powerfully compelled to keep going, however, to keep working on and complete the book.
The book has been out now for almost eight years. It continues to attract people who are asking questions about life, death, and beyond. Over and over people tell me that stories in Some Folks Say have allowed them to open up conversations with an aging parent, a spouse, or other loved one. People also use certain stories to open their imaginal realms when pondering unresolved issues in their own lives.
Mary Daniel: What do you believe happens when we die?
Jane: Nobody knows really what happens after death but I have a sense that maybe, what happens after death may be different for different people, just as individual experiences in life are so varied. Science tells us that intention is causal. Well, if that is true, what we put out in the way of core intentions (often held well below the conscious level) may influence what happens when we put down our physicality and move back into spirit. There is an enormous amount of evidence now of the "near death experience," so we have some clues into what might transpire during and after our transition from what we call life into death. I wonder, however, whether people (often scientists) who are firmly convinced that nothing happens after death -- it's a one-time experience with no afterward -- may not, in fact, have no afterlife experience. I think we get what we need in this life and probably that holds true for whatever may be in store after we leave our bodies. In my workshops and individual work, I introduce very early on the concept that life and death constitute the ultimate Mystery -- they are two aspects of what, for us with our limited field of awareness on planet Earth, is beyond our knowing. I invite people to recognize and respect that reality of being part of that existential mystery.
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Mary Daniel: What advice do you have for anyone who is interested in using storytelling to grapple with the questions of life and death?
Jane: To anyone interested in using storytelling to address issues surrounding life and death, I would say, "Yes, just do it!" The folktales of the world have been generated, used, and passed down orally from generation to generation precisely because they are addressing those great mysteries. Most such tales were created originally in response to a child asking: "How come...?" or "Why is it...?" or some other variation of the wondering, curious mind.
For more information on Jane Hughes Gignoux, please visit her web site at www.lifedeathbeyond.com.
New Dimensions has created an audio program with Jane called "Making Friends with Death." Click here for more information. |
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FEATURED BOOK:
Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives Through the Power and Practice of Story
By Christina Baldwin
 "When we pay attention to our life story, and to the stories of other people around us, and to the story of the time and place in which we are living, we become Storycatchers. Storycatchers are people who value story and who look for ways in their everyday lives to honor storytelling and listening, story writing and reading." -Christina Baldwin
In her new book, Storycatcher, journal writing pioneer Christina Baldwin invites everyone to become a "Storycatcher" and reminds us that storytelling is an innate skill that we can all remember and practice. As she explains, "We require story in order to link up with each other. Story couples our experiences, mind-to-mind and heart to heart. Story is the electromagnetic conductor that brings us close enough together to make the leap of association and identification, to see that another person is a variation of ourselves."
This book is full of wonderful stories, wide-ranging and vividly-told. Each chapter is devoted to a different topic such as "Creating a Story of the Self," "How Story Heals Family Heritage," "The Power of Story in Organizations," and "How Story Shapes the Spiritual Dimensions of Our Lives." Each chapter concludes with suggested writing exercises to help the reader access and record their own stories. This is an inspiring resource for anyone who wishes to use story as a healing catalyst.
This 252- page hardcover book was published by New World Library in 2005. Click here to order through Amazon.com
Christina Baldwin also has a web site at www.storycatcher.net/ where you can learn more about storycatching, hosting story gatherings and writing groups, accessing story-based initiatives and resources, and more.
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FEATURED LINK:
 Healing Story Alliance
www.healingstory.org
As their home page reads, "Our purpose is to explore and promote the use of storytelling in healing. Our goal for this special interest group is to share our experience and our skills, to increase our knowledge of stories and our knowledge of the best ways to use stories to inform, inspire, nurture and heal. We also wish to reach beyond our storytelling community to share with those in other service professions: therapists, clergy, health care practitioners of all kinds, anyone who can see the benefit of story as a tool for healing."
In particular, their web site has a section dedicated to Stories for Children in Crisis. As project director Laura Simms explains, "There are immediate ways to help our children find calm while feeling strong emotions. One of these is the intimate sharing of stories.... " To learn more about this projet, click here.
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READERS RESPOND
To the May issue on Dreamwork and Creativity
Jill Mellick writes:
 Dear Mary Daniel,
Thank you for your kind review of the earlier version of my book. I am pleased that you have found it helpful, Mary, and that you believe others might too. It might be helpful to your readers to know that the version that you are reviewing is an earlier version of the book. It has now sold out and the new edition, title, The Art of Dreaming is available both in hard cover and soft cover with slightly different titles in each. They are each more reasonable in price than The Natural Artistry of Dreams, which is only available mainly as used copies at this juncture. I hope this is helpful to you and to your readers.
Warmest regards and what a good website you have,
Dr. Jill Mellick
Elizabeth Lombardo writes:
I read your recent issue on Dreams and Creativity and was very pleased. This is a passion of mine. I wanted to mention to you my dream teacher who does some amazing work with Creativity -- Robert Moss at www.mossdreams.com
I'm offering a 4 week dream group based on Robert's work starting June 6 and thought I should pass it on to your organization in case there are inquiries for a dream group in the Bay Area. I would greatly appreciate any referrals.
Thank you for such a lovely newsletter.
Blessings and gratitude,
Elizabeth Lombardo
Please send us your thoughts and feedback on this issue of AHN News.
Was this issue of AHN News helpful and how?
Do you have other resources about storytelling and life and death you would like to share?
Are there other topics you would like to see addressed in AHN News?
Please send your comments, ideas, and feedback to marydaniel@artheals.org.
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