GIANT Expectations

By Nancy Angus

Editor’s Note: In 2016, Nancy took an introductory webinar with StoryCenter. She went on to collaborate with Rani Sanderson in our StoryCentre Canada office, offering digital storytelling workshops in Thunder Bay. In this piece, Nancy reflects on how the digital storytelling process has changed her life and helped support social inclusion for seniors.

I enjoy listening to stories. But more than that, I enjoy helping others to tell their stories.

I’d had that privilege decades ago, as a freelance contributor to a Canadian radio program called Morningside, hosted by Peabody-award winning broadcaster, Peter Gzowski. Years later, as a retiree, I wanted to pursue passions that had been put on hold. I wanted to get back to storytelling and sharing in some way. I did a Google search, found www.storycenter.org, and signed up for the free introductory webinar.

During that session, I learned that StoryCenter has a Canadian operation, StoryCentre Canada, and they were starting to lead public digital storytelling workshops. I was put in touch with Rani Sanderson, and a couple of months later, I had Rani staying in my home in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Superior, and had rounded up five people for a three-day workshop. The digital storytelling session was intense. So much was packed into the three days, but the group gelled, and we became each other’s support network, and even friends. The stories produced at the end were funny, touching, thought-provoking, and real.

That StoryCentre Canada workshop had a profound impact on my life. I knew the method could be a perfect fit for addressing social isolation in seniors, so I drafted a grant application to fund digital storytelling for a group of local seniors who would choose to participate. Our goal was to create an awareness of social isolation in seniors and help move the discussion and action from isolation to social inclusion. Who better to tell people how to do this than seniors themselves?

With Rani Sanderson and Hisayo Horie as our facilitators, and a group of volunteers, including all five members of my first digital storytelling workshop team, we gathered ten seniors ranging in age from 58 to 98. The group called themselves GIANTs (Grand Individuals Aging with Neighbours in Thunder Bay). The GIANT theme is unique to Thunder Bay, because the Sibley Peninsula, seen from the shore of Lake Superior, is referred to as the “sleeping giant,” or Nanabijou (in the Ojibway language). The rock formation resembles a giant sleeping person, and the Ojibway legend has it that Nanabijou, the spirit of the Deep Sea Water, turned to stone when the secret location of a silver mine was disclosed to white men.

At the end of our three-day workshop, the resulting GIANTs stories were so moving that we rented a theatre stage and crew. We packed in an audience of over 200 people, screened the stories, and then, as at a film festival, we invited the filmmakers to sit on stage and discuss their work. One audience member said about the event, “I was completely blown away and brought to tears. I did not know what to expect coming in, and I left feeling motivated, empowered, and truly touched by these individuals.”

As for the GIANTs themselves, they have connected with new friends face to face. Their stories have been shared at local, provincial, and national conferences, and they have been invited to talk to people of all ages about home and neighborhood. Their stories have served as catalysts for action. Professionally archived in the Lakehead University collection, the stories are also used for teaching and historical purposes. Who would have thought that sitting in on a webinar would start this movement—a movement of storytelling, life-long friendships, and community activation? I am so grateful to StoryCentre Canada for facilitating these life-changing projects.

For me, the magic of the Story Circle was the gift of being part of a StoryCenter workshop. Actively listening to each person in the circle and helping them to shape their story is powerful. The final stories are a joy to watch, but all of us who were part of the circle in the development of the stories—the new friends that gathered around a table—truly feel like we helped. The StoryCenter experience is social inclusion come to life. Everyone’s thoughts matter, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued and important, and all are welcome around the table. I like to believe that our GIANTs digital stories are a gift for today’s generation—and tomorrow’s.

View the Thunder Bay GIANTs stories.