"The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door (P. N/A)."
As Clarissa Pinkola Estes notes, utilizing the power of storytelling can do more than inform people, as it can lead the way for many opportunities, including feeding a yearning for imagination, a curiosity about the world, and a willingness to share and learn from various forms of rhetoric. By looking at storytelling as a door, I find it beautiful to envision a form of communication in which it is up to the reader to decide exactly what that door can be, and where it will lead each individual. Because of this open-ended and imagination-based quality, I have always shared a love of storytelling and more recently my interest in podcasting.
My first take at podcasting is displayed in the first 4 episodes listed below. I was working as an intern at a non-profit foundation in Denver, Colorado named the Puksta Foundation. Puksta provides students that have a passion for civic and community engagement and opportunity to develop projects based on their topic and a platform to share it. In the first 4 episodes of Maybe It's Rocket Science I was humbled to interview passionate students about various interesting topics.
Starting at the fifth episode I begin to switch up my approach to storytelling. After learning more about storytelling through audio I have come to find that I still have much to learn but it has been fun discovering new ideas and techniques thus far. Click on the episode name to go to the individual page.
Communicating to loved ones who have opposing viewpoints compared to ours can be uncomfortable and hard to navigate. In this episode we break down methods that teach you how to talk to those who you surround yourself with about politics.
Episode 2: Educational Escapism
Discussions about incarceration have always been a high priority for social justice warriors. From access to livable conditions, to the 3-strike rule, and to education, there is no lack of angles to take. This episode talks about how education is an important asset to those incarcerated.
Episode 3: Another Mental Health Episode
Coming from a generation whose mental health is consistently a point of discussion, I figured why not have some professionals on to talk about the important aspects of understanding our changing mental state in our society. Social media, depression, anxiety, ignored groups of people, and the outcomes are discussed in these 2 episodes.
Episode 4: Finding the Red Flags
Sexual assault, harassment, and everything in between are a part of the reality of so many of us. Gender violence can expose itself in many ways, and in this episode, we talk about exactly what to look for, what these red flags mean, and how abuse is reported on college campuses.
Episode 5: This Episode is About Your Ex
This episode features two women who share their experiences with narcissism and how it affected their lives and relationships with others. Narcissists have a funny way of getting other people on their side, meaning it can be more difficult to leave an abusive relationship when everyone is telling you it is okay or in fact your fault. Let’s talk about it.
Who doesn’t like reading? I suppose that is a trick questions since we read things all day on social media, or a news article or an actual book. There is one group of people that do find reading to be a bit boring and you guessed it, it's children. But they are the most important group that should be reading.
Episode 7: Another Story About COVID and Electronics
Possible WWIII, a worldwide pandemic, a revolution in our midst, natural disasters, 2020 is honest to god terrible. Remote learning is in full affect all around the world, but in the US specifically not everyone has the ability to login due to the lack of equipment. Not to mention, younger kids have quite adverse effects to electronics while in development. All of this in the episode and more.