Storytelling has always had the power to transform to create change on the personal, community and global levels.  Stories can only transform if they connect.  Connecting through story requires that the storyteller to accept meaning as co-created.  The storyteller and the listener co-create the meaning of a story. 

For those of us working for progressive social change are we ready to let go of some of our control in the stories we tell?  Doug Lipman offers us this wonderful insight and poses to us as social innovators a remarkable challenge.

“Transformation cannot be controlled or predicted.  When it happens, it may be pleasant.  It may even be ecstatic or awe-inspiring.  It may also be terrifying.  When the unity of the world clicks into focus, you may be put off balance by noticing your connection to something larger than yourself.  Being big may mean giving up the reassuring boundaries of your smallness.”

What are we missing when we push out our stories cemented in our certainty of how the world should be and rock solid in what we need to do to get there? Can we excavate the possibility of co-creation?  Can we be big enough to let go of our smallness?