Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 4: 10 Friends & Family Members
Project Reminder
In case you were trying to remember what my newly select project was…
Problem: Environmental conversations carry a stigma that hinders people from discussing their feelings of joy about nature, and horror, alarm, and grief over it’s destruction. In the end, they just end up feeling alone and misunderstood.
Solution: Organize a Nature Story-Sharing Meetup, fostering a community where individuals can share personal, inspirational, and meaningful stories from nature and the environment. It’s documented that storytelling has a power to influence, teach, and forge bonds with other people. There’s almost a primal connection that comes with hearing other people’s stories. I’m hoping that with this project, it will help to de-stigmatize environmental conversations, while also helping people to bond with others over their connection to the environment. More than anything, I’m hoping to create a healthy soil where people can form deep roots with others – the foundation of a dedicated community who love nature.
Exercise 4 Reflection
After going through Exercise 4, I’m feeling more excited for my project than ever. I had to talk with 10 friends and family about my idea and ask for advice. Through the conversations I’ve had, what started as a simple little idea is now starting to grow in my mind – the potential it could have. The different ways in which it could grow. It’s cliche, but the project does feel like it’s starting to have a life of it’s own.
Going through this for the 4th time, I’m not surprised at all that the advice I got was helpful beyond my expectations – I’ve now well learned that when you talk to a wide variety of people and ask for advice, you’re going to hear ideas and input that you never would’ve thought of on your own. I now strongly believe that if you want any project to be successful, getting input from as many people as you can is critical; I don’t think any project reaches full potential without it.
Part of the fun of asking for advice is also seeing how it is received by others. Initially, I enter the conversations with a butterfly or two in my stomach – what if they don’t like it? But as the conversation goes on and my idea starts to become clearer in their mind, the conversation usually goes from a little hesitant and reserved (on both sides of the phone) to openly sharing ideas, with both people waiting to say what they’d like to about the project. I think that almost everyone I talked to would be interested to see how the project evolves and grows.
Onward to Exercise 5: 5 People Who Feel The Problem
And so I move on to the next step – Exercise 5: 5 People Who Feel The Problem. I need to track down 5 people like me – people who want to talk more about nature and the environment with their friends and family, but feel like it’s hard to do, and see if they feel the same way I do, as well as whether my solution would be a solution for them.
Eugene’s Project Conversation Starter
I’ve been working on draft of my pitch based on the conversations asking for advice I’ve had already. It’s less formulaic and more conversational, which I think would get me to the advice I like faster. Just for the heck of it, I’ll post it here!
Conversations about nature and the environment carry stigma: they can get controversial, political, and guilt-trippy, so people tend to want to avoid them, making it hard for people like me, who want to connect with others through nature. Personally, I find it really hard to bring up talking about nature and the environment, even with friends and family.
What I’d like to do is to build a community based on feelings from nature by creating a story-sharing meetup event – really simply, an event where people can come and share meaningful stories they’ve had in nature. I’ve been toying with calling the event The Campfire. As a kid, I loved hearing stories that my dad would tell me. I remember the giddy excitement I’d feel as my dad started to launch into one of his life stories. There’s something primal about storytelling. It’s gone back thousands of years as a way to pass on knowledge, culture, and moral values. Stories also have the power to influence opinions and help form deep bonds with other people. My eventual goal is to lead people through sustainability, but I don’t think that sustainability is where you start when you want to influence minds. You start with connection. You start with community. You start with The Campfire.
Please note: “The Campfire” name is an idea I’m toying with, it might be a little cheesy, but I also kinda like it so I have it in the pitch, but it’s likely not gonna stay for the next conversations.
Thanks for reading all. If you’re someone who feels there’s a stigma around environmental conversations and would like to share your ideas on this project with me, shoot me a message! You can be one of my 5.
