Author: Jess Boctor

I’ve written here and here about failure. It is an essential part of life with which I am well aquainted, and often well tethered. There are days when I feel like I drag my failures behind me like ghostly shakels, their clanging only heard by my ears.

So imagine the freedom I felt when I heard Sean Carraso tell a group of the worlds best and brightest, “Fail.”

“Fail” he said, “and then fail again. When you are all done failing. Go and fail some more. If you’re not failing, then you’re not outside of your element and you are not growing. So fail.”

I could hear the click as my shackels unlocked. These failures of mine will no longer bind me. I don’t need to face them with a downward glance, or to pretend they aren’t there. They should be celebrated, because if I have failed than I have done something which many people never will.

I tried.

So here’s to a new perspective and a wish for my future:I hope to fail, on an epic scale.

Beacuse someday I’ll succeed, and that will be an adventure worth telling about.

Continuing the adventure,

Jess

Picutre Taken from Amrit Williams Blog

 

I have learned, through much trial and error and many adjustments of focus, that my purpose is to be a sotryteller. It is who I am.

On Monday I had the privilege to spend the day in a room with some of the best and brightest of Non-Profit and For-Profit organizations. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time; an emotional cocktail I am becoming more and more familiar with as I prusue my role of storyteller.

A common thread throughout the day was colored with the power of stories. Nancy Foster, the First Lady of Long Beach, shared her story of making a difference in her community by speaking out about her own battles with mental illness and depression. Jeff Shinabarger shared his story of using excess to address social needs. Rob Morris shared the story of the moment he realized he never again wanted to be a bystander. Chris Heuertz emphasied the importance of how we tell stories; inspiring a shift in language so the stories we tell will give dignity to their players. Sean Carasso opened our eyes to the stories of children which will not be told unless we are brave enough to tell them.

All around me there were confirmations of something I have learned to hold tightly to: stories are important. 

There will be much to process in the coming days as I once again examine the refraction of my soul, turning the knobs and levers of my life to gain focus on how to live the life of a storyteller.

Continuing the Adventure, 

Jess

 

plywoodpeople.com

love146.org

wordmadeflesh.org

fallingwhistles.com

 

I’m helping out at the Ideation conference today in Long Beach. I was asked to set up the green room for the speakers. It is being set up in a library/office area. This was my impromptu centerpiece using stuff I found in the room and greenroom goodies. What do you think?

Continuing the adventure,

Jessica