YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is really cool is that these guys are huge Hugh MacLeod fans!

Check out the images in the background!

And did you catch the Seth Godin quotes?

Very cool!

Have you ever thought of making a personal documentary to tell your story or maybe the family story?

Well that is the idea behind relate your story.

Darin Johnson talked to me about the idea of making a professional personal documentary and it makes total sense.

We all have a story to tell and typically wait too long to think about sharing that story.

Or by the time we are ready to talk there is nobody around to listen or record the tale.

With all the new technology at hand you would think we might be more apt to tell and share our past, think again.

Maybe that is a project for one of my classes, record the family story!

Maybe that is something we need to do at the end of our school mile stones, make a personal documentary of record.

Imagine sharing your primary school video of advice with your grandchildren?

Hmmm I think Darin is on to something!

The problem with storytelling is we are caught out by context!

We, you and I , feel that it is the job of some people to tell a story and not the job of others.

We are all storytellers and we need to constantly practice and refine our skill.

In fact in any context there are multiple stories and we all need to spend a little more time thinking about how we engage the art of telling a story and ultimately engage with a story creating the next chapter of the story we are part of.

Jack Hillwig a colleague at Zayed University has pointed out that it is not always easy to tell a story.

Sure, some contexts make telling a story more challenging than others but I believe that there is always a way to communicate information building on the principals of a good story.

The problem of course is we are losing the ability to tell a story as we move into the 140 character environment where short is sweet.

Storytelling is multi dimensional and emotional and in our face.

You might even call storytelling personal theatre.

The reality is we need to embrace the art of storytelling as a multidisciplinary art and encourage it as opposed to suggesting that it is the domain of some and not others.

Nancy Durate has produced a nice YouTube piece on engaging through storytelling, this is worth a watch!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Content is important BUT context is also very important.

Do you really listen?

When you are listening do you get the point?

Or do you hear what you want to hear?

There are always alternatives and how we use them depends on us!

Watch this video, at least 3/4 of the way and you will see exactly what I am talking about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Locker 2375 c16

The Lab.

Of course you can only run so fast in the hall before you become an obvious target of the hall monitor in training, Mr. Smith!

Actually, the gang as I have now come to refer to them, was pretty sure that the administration had installed human speed-detecting webcams around the school to cut down on students moving too fast!

Of course there was a huge debate ongoing in the staff room about what walking too fast was.

Omar had placed a listening device under a lamp to get the inside scoop on what was happening on campus, as any student council president should.

Ana and Kevin took it as a personal challenge to send the system into chaos by reprogramming it and substituting in video of a tortoise on a skateboard being pushed down the hall by a ferret.

Imagine, the administration thought that this was happening in real time!

After day three of the video feed being simulcast, at exactly 12:03pm, and the extraordinary number of teachers milling about in the hallway, also at exactly 12:03pm, we knew that we were right, hall speed was being monitored.

From that moment on we were careful to move fast but not so fast as to attract attention.

Nathaniel pulled me aside just in time to miss the glaring eyes of the science teacher, Mr. ½amolaculemissing.

“We need to get into there”, Nathaniel said pointing to the science lab.

“We need to take a look at this latest piece of paper left in place of the detention book, which if we do not find very fast we are going to be in it so deep that Ms. Shelley’s face stuck to the floor in a pile of paper pulp will look like art” Nathaniel said with a little smile.

“Speaking of Ms. Shelley it looks like she is still there, but I see the janitors have put those yellow slippery when wet cones around her”, I was beginning to wonder if this was  a bad dream! Is it possible that someone thought that Ms. Shelley stuck to the floor was art?

I knew it wasn’t a dream because at that exact moment Jeanne walked past me, slammed her heel into my big toe and winked as she whispered, “thanks for the cake”!

Instinct told me to chase Jeanne, but before I could react Nathaniel pulled at my arm distracting me.

The question going through my mind was why the science lab?

“What are we looking for”, I said with more than a hint of question as I sure did not want to get on the bad side of Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing.

Michael had already tested Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing by putting popcorn, crazy glue and a dozen eggs into the microwave oven in the lab and setting the timer for exactly the time that Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing had his 13th coffee break of the day!

Well not only was the lab not a pretty site, but the punishment for Michael, well, it is still ongoing and he completely sidestepped the detention hall.

Michael is serving out his time collecting cockroach samples from the septic tank of the school.

Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing is a world respected cockroach collector and his passion is using the little beasts as wall art!

“Max we need to get into the lab and power on the MAC127 portable OSmicroscope to get a better look at this piece of paper”, Nathaniel said as if this was something that he did on a regular basis.

“But the whole lab is like a bank vault with triple locking systems and an air movement sensor, not to mention laser detection units that reset every 4 seconds”, if the room was locked there was no chance of us getting in there I told Nathaniel, hoping he would agree so we would not have to join Michael.

Nathaniel gave me that look as if to say that we were no at a Chucky Cheese, this is the real world and if there is one thing to learn about the real world it is to always have a plan.

Nathaniel reached into his pocket and squished what looked like a piece of snot between his fingers and then stuffed it into his ear!

I thought I was about to vomit and then Michael ran past us with what looked like a rat hanging on his back.

Instantly I realized that there are worse things than the old snot-talkie!

Nathaniel mumbled a few words, obviously he was in communication with someone.

Nathaniel looked over at me and whispered, “Sam seems to be manning the technology today”.

Like magic the red light on the handset strategically placed beside the lab door went from amber to green and an electronic click could be heard, the place was open.

“We only have 5 minutes and 34 seconds before the secondary alarm system is activated so we need to move fast”, Nathaniel said as he worked his way through the lab to the microscope.

I looked at Nathaniel and it was as if he was reading my mind.

“Max here is the thing.  Not only have we always had a piece of something from your locker show up when things have gone missing or been moved, but we have also had a calling card left. The only way to verify the calling card has been through a reverse polarized magnification of the object  left and the only place we can do that is in this lab”, how did Nathaniel know all this I wondered.

“Guys you have less than 3 minutes”, Sam said over the snot-talkie, which I had also added into my ear.

Nathaniel motioned for me to come over.

From the look on his face it was clear that as he suspected the disappearance of the detention book was indeed part of the larger picture.

“Look at this Max”, Nathaniel said turning his face away from the monitor and waiting to gauge my reaction.

There in plain sight was a word that sent a shiver up my spine because there was only one other place I had ever seen it, on my locker!

Geyomi was the word!

I looked at Nathaniel, Nathaniel looked at me and Sam shouted into our ears, run you have 12 seconds before the lab is locked down!

The Noise

After that morning thumb wrestle I had a nagging feeling that something was up!

The first clue was me loosing a thumb wrestle with my Dad.

Me losing is about a likely as seeing a flying camel in art class, ok English, well maybe in science… you get the idea.

Once Dad was out of sight I tentatively sized up my locker.

I had been in it not more than 10 minutes ago and all seemed to be in order.

I was sure if I cracked the locker open it would be a whole different story.

It took me a while and 3 detentions to come to the conclusion that there was something off about my locker.

The first time I began to get suspicious was when we were sitting in English class reading a poem about a chocolate cake.

Not any chocolate cake but a flying chocolate cake with green icing.

There is little doubt that Ms. Shelley our English teacher is mad, and I don’t mean angry.

If you were not a bit mad would you have a class read a poem about a chocolate cake, then buns, then bread and finally pasta, all chocolate, and then find a link to Shakespeare and the Merchant of Venice?

The guy had to eat Ms. Shelley said and what did her eat?
You’ve got that right!

Well it was in the middle of that very poem, line 74 to be exact, when Ana looked at me and then Kevin looked at me and I looked at then and figured that someone was once again eating too many beans for lunch and again I was catching the blame for the odd odor in the room.

But I hadn’t farted, I save all those for science class there are fume hoods there.

The questioning glares were coming my way from the crack undercover commando team because they heard something in the hall.

Ms. Shelley was so busy describing how the green icing rolled off the plate and onto the hand of Shakespeare as he wrote pretty much every poem that she didn’t see Ana take a look out the window using a mirror attached to a telescopic pencil and some kind of computer gizmo on her mobile phone wrist watch.

The hall was clear she signaled as the class began to get wrestles and a bit hungry as the poem now moved onto some other sweet food item, all of the poems in the class had been about some kind of food that has a calorie count of at least 1500 a serving.

Kevin slipped a funny looking hose to Ana that she plugged into her watch and the hose, like a snake, slithered under the door of the class and into the hall.

As Ms. Shelley seemed to come back to earth and do a bit of yodel, like something out of the sound of music, Kevin signaled to pull the snake back and everyone broke into a state of hysteria as the clock counted down to home time.

Just as the bell went Ms. Shelley shouted, “about time, oh did I say that out loud or in my head”, I passed her a package of well-expired Oreos to which she thanked me and ran out of the class as if she had fire ants in her pants.

Abdullah was laughing with a sly grin in the corner of the class, the same Abdullah who put a squirrel in Ms. Shelly’s desk, making me think that there was a good chance those fire ants were there.

Well Ana, Kevin and myself huddled in the corner and the discussion returned to the sound.

There was no doubt the sound had come from my locker.

But Kevin had been watching it all day because he wanted the Oreos so he knew there was nothing in it that might make such a racket.

Sam’s locker maybe.

Sam had been know to leave a kiwi bbq in his locker for over 40 days and aside from an interesting smell there seemed to be books and things moving.

And what was really cool was that everything was covered in an orangey moss that had a striking resemblance to Elmo!

But my locker was clean and Kevin could certify that.

Just as we were going to go and give the locker a good kick and open it like we were samurai there was a huge scream and panic in the hall.

Our first thought was that Ms. Shelley had forgotten where she put down the packet of Oreos, but no the commotion was coming from way down the hall close to the ping pong table.

Standing in front of her locker Erin could not believe her eyes.
The locker was empty. Nothing was in it.

No books, no lunch, no shoes NOTHING, absolutely nothing.

Well not absolutely nothing there was a scratch mark of sorts that if you cupped your hands over your eyes to shade them from the florescent lights looked like it said 2375.

MAAAAAAAAX was what was being screamed in the hallway.

As I ran to the end of the hall thinking I had won some sort of voucher I saw Ms. Shelley standing there, looking and tapping her long freshly manicured fingers, with one slightly chipped nail reflecting light into my eyes and almost blinding me.

“Young man explain this!”

“Uhhhh, maybe when you were reading the poem your nail got caught on a page?”

“Oh what, oh what have I done to deserve this”, Ms. Shelley said looking at her finger and then pulling a bit of Oreo cream out from under a fingernail.

“Young man why is your locker number in this absolutely spotless locker which 35 minutes ago had so much stuff in it that it might have been a fire hazard?”

Ana looked at me, Kevin looked at me and in unison whispered, “you’re on your own”.

“Uhhhh maybe Mr. Howsley has taken the stuff to use as a cultural display?”

“Young man march” Ms Shelley said.

If I cannot follow through on promises how can I expect my children to?

Today I start 1000 words a day, the story that has been rattling around in my brain.

Locker 2375 (Geyomi)

I am not sure who said it first but it must have been a really switched on person. But I do remember my Dad always saying be careful what you wish for. I wish I had thought about those words as much then as I am now.

—————

I am an ordinary grade 6 student, at an ordinary school, in an ordinary city in rather ordinary times.

My name is Max, My brother is Dex and my best friend is Ana. And there is nothing ordinary about us.

Well, I thought my school was ordinary, and I really did think that I lived in ordinary times.

As it turns out nothing is really ordinary, we see what we want to see and we see those things as we want to see them and often the reality is way out there farther than you can stretch your hand or right on your nose when you have that funny itch.

Some people say I am lucky.

I am not sure luck is involved here. As the days go on, and on, and on, I am beginning to wonder if what I found might not actually be some form of cruel punishment my Mom and Dad thought up to make me put down my PSP, practice the violin and maybe not read as much!

I have actually thought that my parents might be involved, then again they are clever but not that clever.

I happened onto something that most people will never experience, even some I have shared this with have not seen it for themselves but believe, just because.

Sometimes you just have to believe and when you do drop your guard, just a little, in that instant something akin to magic enters the empty space and plays all sorts of tricks on you, some real and some I am sure imaginary. The problem is figuring out where the imaginary begins and the real stops.

I read a lot, I mean a real lot.

I always have a book tucked into my notes so that when the language teachers are droning on I can invest my time well.

I read in science, math, English and even in the toilet if I can smuggle my book out of class with me. Yes I do wash my hands and use hand sanitizer!

But I don’t read Harry Potter and there are all sorts of books that bore me maybe even make me wonder about the mental state of the author was when they put pen to paper.

That is why this process, this manuscript, this story is making me a bit worried.

What I am writing is not a fairy tale that I hope to entertain people with or maybe even make a movie!

No, when I graduate from school I want to be a legoimagineer or a prize winning pastry chef, maybe a butterfly keeper!

What I am recording here and now, under my duvet with the ceiling fan turning and the lights very much on, is a guide.  Yes a guide. A guide on how to understand what is happening around you when you know that something is going on and it has nothing to do with teachers, a silly friend or a pet hamster someone has smuggled into class to put in the teachers desk!

My brother and Ana claim to not see these things like I do BUT Dex leaves the light on at night, won’t go upstairs alone and never has a shower without someone else in the bathroom. I think he sees as much as I do but is too scared to admit it, even to me.  So I go along with him winking and nodding but always keeping an eye on him to learn what he really does know!

Ana, well she sees it all I am sure but thinks that it would be childish to admit she does, just like she says Hannah Montana is for babies but knows all the songs by heart.

I know what I am saying is a bit vague, but you will understand very shortly that to not read and reread these words is akin to walking through life with only one eye open.  And you know what I sometimes think that it might be easier to walk with one eye.

Over the span of 6 months some very strange things happened at my school. And they still happen but I have learned to ignore them most of the time.

Six months ago my school was new. New desks, new teachers, new students, new everything except the building.

The building had been, I am told, a school before but I am not so sure.

We moved in to the school to the sound of workmen, some smiling and some hustling from here to there with a look of panic on their face.  The principal said that they had to get the job done and were behind, hence the panic, but I suspect they saw more of what I saw than they let on.

Slowly the workers finished, the pool was filled, the walkways completed and the final pieces of trim fixed to make this school a finished learning environment.

When you look at the place it is spectacular!  But looks can be deceiving.

And the more I look around today the more I realize how out of place so many things are, have been and will continue to be.

What I am going to share with you is happening right in front of your eyes and is happening constantly!

Don’t be scared by what you are going to read. There is nothing to be scared about. There are no skeletons, ghosts, mummies or slime here. Just a boy telling you what you need to know

To ignore what I have to share is like walking around with one eye closed and that means you are only seeing half of what is happening around you.

—–the security guard

Dance, communicate, connect and in the process tell a story about humanity.

Makes me wonder, wonder why we seem to think things need to be complicated to be effective.

What Matt reminds us, and TED is it how you tell the story that matters.

How well do you connect?

Here is a little twist on the Hassal exercise.

In 50 words can you describe what makes your career interesting? Worthwhile? Interesting? Worth doing?

Imagine if you were put to this test on a monthly basis?

In 50 words how would you convince someone that what you do is what they should adopt as a career?

I am interested in how an accountant, garbage collector, McDonald’s burger agent or a bank teller might employ 50 words to describe what they do in a motivational manner!

Go for it!  50 Words on you!