How to Use the Toolbox

• Through telling and sharing our stories, everyone learns something from each other.

• You have the choice to browse and/or read as much or as little of the rich content offered here. It is all intended to provide a context, for those who want it, to better understand the role of stories in our personal lives and communities. Take whatever time you want to explore this, or just dive right into writing and submitting your story!

• There are over 50 types of stories here, each with their own context and prompt for telling the stories we want to share with others.

  • You can also feel free to tell your own story in whatever way feels most comfortable and natural to you. In fact, it might be easier for you tell your story on your own, as you may intuitively know what form or genre is best for you – prose, verse, or any combination of these genres. If you do tell your story in poetry or verse format, choose that as your “story format” in the drop down.

• In using any of the tools in the toolbox, you will be guided to tell your stories in a timeless and universal structure that takes you to a deeper level of meaning and understanding. These stories built upon timeless motifs and archetypes connect each and every one of us as members of the human family.

  • In folklore and mythology, where story or “tale types” are central, there is a long history of identifying, cataloguing, and studying the comparative, universal nature of the motifs and archetypes that exist as part of human experience. In fact, the number of existing motifs and archetypes (or narrative ideas that are repeated as the building blocks of all narratives) was initially determined to consist of some 2500 types which were the basic narrative plots, ideas, or experiences that countless generations of storytellers have built their stories upon.

  • This toolbox focuses on over 50 of the most prosocial, unifying story types, and will be adding more, that lead to transformation and to the highest potential of what is humanly possible, what Maslow called a peak experience. These also lead to self-actualization and community and global actualization, because both are intricately linked together. If we tell and share these stories of what we are most capable of, we will more clearly recognize our shared potential as a human family.

• Browse through these suggested story types for telling the stories of your life, see which ones draw you in, or resonate with what might be on your mind or in your heart in this moment, and find a quiet place to take the time to be with this tool, let it guide you into the deeper story you desire to tell and share. It might work best to write down some notes first from your reflections. Then, turn these notes into a refined, well-thought out, finely crafted narrative and copy and paste it into the submit form.

• We want your story to become part of the Commons here, where it will be preserved and shared, and create connections for you with others through the common motifs and archetypes we all live out in our lives.

  • Use any of the “Submit Your Story to the Commons” forms on any of the Story Types pages. When you complete your story here, we invite you to contribute it to the Commons as part of your legacy for the benefit of all. But before you submit your story, remember to check as many “story types” in the list that fit your story, as this will give it the widest accessibility. As the Commons grows, we will feature stories that express the universal motifs and archetypes that connect us all.