Introduction

Who Am I, Again?

We start it simple -
I am Lethan.

I am also a brain injury survivor with a Master of Arts degree in Storytelling.  Who Am I, Again? is a storytelling piece - what I call a verbal collage - that shares the experience of Brain Injury using the oral tradition.

I’ve worked and lived with this piece for more than a decade, and have had the privilege of sharing this story at events throughout America, but now feel it is time to take a look at this story in a new way. With this in mind, I’ve decided to write a book to accompany the spoken performance.

What will this book be?

I want a book that provides something more - something that doesn’t look to mimic the storytelling, but that will provide something different.  It’s with that goal that I’ve started to create a list of what will be included in the book:

1) An explanation of my process in creating the Who Am I, Again? - one of the great things about creating this story was the process - the serendipity of events as they came together as well as the discovery process in organizing all the stories collected, and I think an explanation of my technique may be useful to other story collectors.

2) The use of storytelling as a healing tool - at times, common sense healing will be forgotten in medical practices, and I feel that using storytelling is an example of that.  What’s exciting is that I am beginning to see more medical literature that recognizes how storytelling is psychologically and physically beneficial.  I want to take some time to review and comment on that literature.

3) How this story has been responded to and affected my experience - I have come to a strong belief in the power of story through my experiences, and I have seen many audiences respond to Who Am I, Again? in some interesting and moving ways.  I feel that sharing these experiences will add to the case for the power of storytelling.

4) A script of Who Am I, Again? - the story provides the starting point for this project, so I feel it is appropriate and some people may appreciate having a copy of the script available.

5) A in-depth look at my personal experience with TBI - Who Am I, Again? is a performance piece that is meant to teach, but also to entertain.  For this reason there is a limited time to present, and because of this, there are many experiences that are not discussed - some that I have never related.  It is my goal to share a less refined story and once again be in touch with the raw emotions of the experience.

Now, please note, this is just a starting point.  The final book might include more topics, or some might be cut - this project is still brand new, so I really don’t know, but that’s where you come in…

So what’s the blog about?

As I settled into this writing process, it occurred to me that one of the things I love most about storytelling is the interactive creation of the story, and in some way I want to have that with this Blog .  While I can’t get the immediate reaction feedback that’s part of storytelling, I can get your comments on my thoughts as they grow and your responses to pieces I write.  And that’s what this blog is for - I want to know what you think about this project.  What do you think should be included in this book?  Am I minimizing any set of experiences that I’m not aware of?  Does the style of writing keep your attention?


So please, join with me in this process - share what you like or don’t like about the project, share your stories, share some time and just read along.  I’m excited to begin this, and am thrilled that you’re joining me for a bit.  Let’s see what happens next…