Jonah Sacks
For some time I have been thinking about
creating a website to give expression to my particular perspective and versions
of practice in regard to the Buddha’s dharma, philosophy, and meditation.
Because the Internet has become such a sprawling “Tower of Babel,” my main
concern was that I produce something unique and helpful. However, I am now
beginning to realize that I will also need to tell a compelling story.
In light of this, I picked up Jonah Sachs’s
book, Winning the Story Wars. Sachs,
an internationally-known storyteller, author, designer, and entrepreneur, has
been centrally involved in the creation of a number of entertaining and notable educational
resources on the web, such as The Story of Stuff,
a critique of modern consumerism, and The Meatrix, a critique of factory
farming. Winning the Story Wars is a
fun, fast read that covers a lot of ground. His main premise is that as human
beings our lives are made up of stories. In the past these were largely
religious and philosophical ones; however, many of these old stories are in
decline, and this creates what he calls a “myth gap.” People hungry for
meaningful stories are being deeply influenced by the de facto
alternative, marketing. Unfortunately, for the last several decades,
advertising and marketing have become a “dark art” where the main theme is
inadequacy: make people feel inadequate about themselves, and then provide them
with the magic product that will complete them.
From here Sachs guides the reader through a
series of exercises to figure out who they are—their real values and core
message. He also helps readers figure out who they are speaking to and how to
speak to them truthfully and in a way that will interest them, particularly on
an archetypal level. Sachs closes with the admonition that whether we are part
of an organization or working as an individual, we must follow through on the
values and vision we have just communicated. Sachs’s hope is to transform the
once “dark art” into a medium that can be used to empower us worker-consumers
to become citizens again and to take active responsibility for the world.
- Ken
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