The Power of Story

Story shortens the distance between you and me.

Telling our stories helps us understand who we are, why we’re here, and what we have to give.

Hearing people’s stories makes the other familiar

Doing this with honesty and courage creates empathy and connection.
This is how we find our way back to each other.

What Is Life’s Echoes?

Life’s Echoes is a place for stories – yours, mine, his, hers, theirs.

We live in a time of uncertainty and division, making it hard to listen deeply and speak authentically.

We use technology to soothe and distract us. We are digging our heels into ideologies and identities instead of opening our eyes and ears to different perspectives and possibilities. This concerns me. I want to do something about it.

I was recently reminded that lasting and impactful change starts within the individual. We must be the change we wish to see in the world (Gandhi).

I wish to see individuals, families, communities, churches, businesses, and politicians crossing the divide with empathy and charity. I wish to see more collaboration and less obstinance.

I wish for us to understand the impact of words and take responsibility for our language. I wish for us to seek common ground so that we may create more generous and joyous connections.

One of the things I’ve learned in over twenty years of storytelling is that regardless of whether or not I agree with someone or even like them, once I know their story, it’s impossible for me not to be compassionate. I may still disagree and maybe not like them, but I can hear them. I can value them. I can treat them with dignity.

Creating an environment where people feel safe enough to let down their guards and risk being seen and to share their stories is how I can be the change I wish to see.

What do you wish to see? How can your story be part of cultivating that change?

Elizabeth Ostler

I laugh loudly
Live and create with joy and gratitude
Reverence the individual’s journey.
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Storytelling Workshops

Learn how to stand in your truth & tell your story. 

Transform your experiences into stories.

Share your stories so they connect and impact your audience.

Work with Me

Cultural Master Narratives

I study cultural master narratives.

Cultural master narratives proscribe how individuals are supposed to behave and who they are supposed to be in order to belong to a culture. They are so well known within a culture that they are invisible, yet they are the primary way of determining belonging within a culture.

My Research.