With everything going on in the world lately, we all could use some moral support from others. Whether you’re Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, red, purple, green, whatever; we are all human. We all have insecurities and weaknesses. We all need a pick-me-up every once in a while. Knowing that someone else has your back, stranger or close friend, can slightly improve anyone’s mood. Narrative 4 has a mission to capture empathy by defeating stereotypes and breaking down barriers through story exchanges across the globe.

The following information was provided to me by my professor, Dawn Duncan, who introduced me to Narrative 4 and is also involved.

Originally founded by over 100 writers from around the world, the organization is inspired by the simple idea that “by knowing the story of another, we are able to better understand each other."

Concordia College just ended the annual Symposium Week where the main focus was America and the Middle East. The symposium included many interesting sessions and taught those attending about different aspects of the Middle East. There was a session in which Narrative 4 advertised its mission and even had four students share their experiences.

It’s a simple process really; a group of people is split up into pairs, who are then given privacy to converse together and eventually share a story that is meaningful. As the students shared in the session during the symposium, at first it was kind of awkward. The idea is to be paired with someone you do not know on a personal level, so it’s easy to imagine how awkward it would be to share a personal story with a stranger.

A way to ease the awkward tension is to also remember that there is a guarantee of a safe space. There is no judgment, and your story will not be shared outside of this experience unless you say otherwise.

After exchanging stories with your partner there may or may not be a dinner break, but eventually everyone will regroup and form a circle with the partners standing across from each other. This is the part where the narrative theme comes into play: each person takes turn telling their parter’s story, but from the first person perspective. This not only allows those involved to take a step in someone else’s shoes, but to help them take a walk in them.

The New York Times had this to say about the organization in their feature article, A Tale of Two Schools:

“Narrative 4 continues to expand internationally by collaborating with a host of worldwide partners to replicate the successful story exchange curriculum models in locations such as Ireland, Mexico, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as throughout the U.S. Narrative 4 is working energetically to:

• Provide a state-of-the-art website where participants interact daily to share best practices, engage in philanthropic dialogue, and extoll their N4 experiences.
• Create a working arts leadership network by regularly convening a diverse group of authors and other advisors who are leaders in their field to exchange ideas.
• Offer designed and supported facilitator certification workshops in order to effectively roll out the Narrative 4 model.
• Present story-based art experiences direct to the public (during literary festivals, author events, writing workshops, songwriter performances, and more).
• Partner with community leaders and humanistic organizations from around the world to create a “boomerang” effect, presenting their work to audiences everywhere, while extending the work of N4 to their communities.”

For more information you can go to info@narrative4.com or NARRATIVE4.COM.