Every month, people from all over Gainesville, from diverse walks of life, come together to share personal stories with each other. There’s laughter, there are tears, and every month, a community forms. This Thursday, we’re meeting again for this, the monthly Self Narrate storytelling meetup.
Since February 2014, we’ve met 18 times and hundreds of stories have been shared at and around these monthly gatherings. Every month, we start with a setlist of stories. These are from people who have contacted us since the last meetup and informed us that they had a story they felt inspired to share. Following the setlist, we open the floor for anyone in attendance to share a story. Every month, amazing stories are shared by people who did not show up thinking they would tell a story. Storytelling is contagious!
We started by meeting at the Alachua County Library and quickly moved to The Brew Spot, a restaurant that served as our meeting space for most of 2014. 2015 has seen us taking over our current location, The Bull, the third Thursday of each month.
The meetups have been a remarkable platform for storytelling and community-building. Friendships have formed and amazing stories are shared every month.
If you’re asking yourself what a storytelling meetup is like, check out these recordings.
Two videos were captured at a meetup. You can view these here:
Some of the stories shared at the meetups have been featured on Self Narrate podcasts. You can stream these here:
We meet the third Thursday of each month at The Bull and October’s meetup is this Thursday from 7:30-8:30PM. Learn more and RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1652190185050178/