Our poet-inspired approach to storytelling

By Lauren Cook, Founder + Lead Strategist

Good storytelling always begins with listening. Or even more fundamentally, with paying attention. Mary Oliver, the amazing Pulitzer prize-winning poet, writer, and thinker ends the first essay in her collection Upstream with this line: 

“Attention is the beginning of devotion.” 

Oliver was primarily inspired by connections with the natural world. She was devoted to noticing her surroundings and seeking inspiration from them. Her instructions for living were simple:  

“Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”  

These instructions inspire our work at Connecting Our Stories. Since our framework for connective storytelling journeys from input to story, the Mary Oliver inspiration is a beautiful roadmap. Here is how we interpret it for our work: 

Pay attention.

Listen. Ask. Look for what is at the head + heart of the matter. Tap into intuition. 

Be astonished.

Connect with individuals and communities in an authentic way. Hear their stories. Honor them. Appreciate and be inspired by their strength, perspectives, skills, and ideas. 

Tell about it.

Create reflections of those connections to inspire impact. Strategic roadmaps, blogs, briefs, videos, photography, graphics, and more. 

Again, it all starts with paying attention, which can be a challenge when distractions dominate our lives. But our team is skilled at slowing down, listening with intention, asking connective questions, and making the thoughtful move instead of the quick or “productive” one. Better stories come from attention and devotion. And this is how we work.