Be the sky, not the storm
Tips, tricks, inspiration, and encouragement for storytellers of all stripes
Greetings from Sarasota—
The Hyde Park Pack Michigan Adventure ™ has come to an end.
After two wonderful weeks in Harbor Beach and three incredible days exploring Ann Arbor—including a half-marathon training run past Michigan Stadium—we spent Monday and Tuesday in the car, listening to an audiobook, zipping down I-75, munching on cherry gummy bears (Michiganders love their cherries!) and other relatively healthy snacks.
Unpacking? Still in progress.
Sleeping in our own bed? Glorious.
Returning to a wildly overgrown lawn? Ho boy. Our battery-powered mower is in for a brutal weekend.
I don’t know if you’ve felt this before, but ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a bit of the case of the blues in the days immediately following a trip. There’s a similar sensation in the couple days after an opening night, a sudden emptiness, the downward slope after the summit.
As a kid, I thought these blues were a bad thing. But they’re not. They’re proof you had a grand time, that all the time and energy you invested were worth it.
So much of the work of a storyteller is understanding and effectively wielding the power of a shift in perspective. Your own. Your reader’s. Your viewer’s. Your character’s.
I recently stumbled across a fascinating linguistic treat that views my blues with a wiser perspective.
In the Irish language, people don’t become their emotions. They don’t have feelings. They are not sad. They don’t have anxiety. They are not blue or happy, bummed out or excited.
Rather, their language is structured in such a way that feelings are on them.
Check it out…
Instead of I am sad, they say Tá brón orm. Literally: Sadness is on me.
Instead of I am anxious, they say Tá imní orm. Anxiety is on me.
Feelings are visitors, not identity. They arrive, linger for a time, and pass on.
They are weather systems moving across the landscape of your life. Passing clouds, not permanent skies.
We are not the storm.
We are the sky.
Book launched
The newest Ibis Book has taken flight!
Though it strikes me funny that I both launched a book and dropped it on the same day. Another funky linguistic treat!
I took the transcripts of the first 10 episodes of my 100 PLAYS podcast mega-series, gave them a tidy little edit, and compiled them into the various book forms.
Use the purple buttons below to go grab your copies!
And for one week only, the ebook and audiobook are on sale over at my Ibis Bookshop. Amazon will not bend to my first-week-sales-price will, so the paperback is full price. But even so, at $9.99, that’s just a buck a play!
Page&Stage Podcast
A reminder to check out my conversation with the one and only Steve Hoffman.
Steve Hoffman joins me to discuss his journey from inspired audience member to influential story broker at the Norton Center for the Arts. We explore the power of storytelling to heal, build community, and spark connection. Steve shares how he curates seasons, fosters collaboration, and makes the arts more relevant and accessible. From community engagement to the impact of productions like Last Out, this episode is a tribute to the transformative role of the arts in our lives.
You can listen on the Substack App, and all episodes are also available on Apple or Spotify.
Or, if you want to put faces with voices, you can watch the video version of this podcast over on YouTube.
Heads up—both of my podcasts will be taking a dog-days summer hiatus for the rest of August.
So the next couple Mondays will feature Page&Stage archive dives with guest updates. When September hits, we’ll be back with new guests and new plays.
Quick reminder that you are welcome to comment on this newsletter. I do my absolute best to respond to every comment, so if something I’ve offered above tickles that question/comment/complaint nerve in your reader-brain, I’d love to hear about it.
And if there’s a storytelling topic or issue you’d like me to address—writing, acting, directing, speaking, whatever—email me directly at jason@jasoncannon.art. If I don’t have a ready answer, I’ll make it my mission to go find one.
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend—
Jason “Linguistic Treater” Cannon
Love the Irish emotional weathervane tip! I wanna be the sky!