Storytelling Can Change the World

Someone asked me this week why I thought storytelling could change the world.  It's quite simple really:  storytelling is what makes us uniquely human. Animals cannot relate to one another in the same way we do through stories. Without the ability to tell stories, we are no different than animals. Stories are a powerful way to create empathy, to bridge divides, and create connection. Simply put, stories bring people together, despite our differences and conceivably, can make the world a better place through that bond. Yet, my fear is that we've lost the art of storytelling.

People have been telling stories for thousands of years. In fact, ancient peoples used stories as the medium to pass down culture from one generation to the next. Without it, there is no continuity, no string that ties us back to our past. The job of the storytellers in ancient cultures was to share the origins of their people, and why the rituals of their culture have so much meaning.

Historians and curators of today are our modern village storytellers. They piece together history and make sense of what might seem like disparate bodies of work, but together, these pieces form the chapters of a compelling narrative. The storyteller's job is to connect the dots of culture and to weave a fabric of history so its clear how we arrived where we are today. Importantly, they also foreshadow the arc and trajectory of what the future may hold.

This digital age has only made it more difficult for storytellers. There's just too much information to sort through & curate. I recently heard from a TED talk stating that the biggest challenge of our time is to archive all the digital information that is being created today. And because its all digital, pockets of brilliant world changing ideas may go unnoticed, or worse yet, lost forever in corner of someone's hard drive.

We all have a role to play as modern day storytellers, so we all have the power to bring people together. I want nothing more than to help others tell their stories, especially the next generation. That's why I started Thrīvera. We want every young person to be able to tell their story. Stories were never meant to be buried within the heart and mind. Stories, by definition… are meant to be shared.

Marvin Abrinica

founder of Thrīvera

Letters from Schoolmates: A Collection of Notes c.1932-1933


The other day, we found a treasure in a dusty old box in the corner of our basement. The box contained a yellowed autograph book that belonged to a 15 year girl named Martha. She turned out to be my wife's grandmother who lived to be 87, and only passed a few years back. This treasured time capsule contained beautiful & witty notes from her teenage friends at Marshall High in 1932.

There's something captivating about the poetry, the penmanship, and thoughtful spirit of these youth memorialized in these pages. It's a stark contrast to the flippant text messages and empty e-mails we offer today. I was struck that this is 1932-1933, during the deepest and darkest part of the Great Depression. And yet, these young hearts and minds are as resilient as ever.

For the month of March, I'll post a new note every couple of days.  Today's line:

"Love is a funny thing, something like a lizard. 

It wraps itself around your heart and jumps into your gizzard."