May, 2015
CREATIVE STORYTELLING: “MONKEYS DO NOT HAVE TO BE BROWN.”
Are you using your unique quality to express your story in an engaging creative manner, or does your story look, sound, and feel just like your competitor’s? The key to an engaging story is to break free of conventionality, express your true colors. As my mother told me when I was 5 years old: “Monkeys do not have to be brown.”
My story, my purple monkeys.
When I was first in school my main love was to paint. Big newsprint paper, huge easel (bigger than a kid!), big brush, and big pots of amazon acrylic paint set.
Being the quiet type, my story was communicated through art. My subject matters were always of nature, animals, the wild things of my imagination, multiple rainbows, and of course some characters from the pages of my hero; Dr. Seuss. One of my favorite scenes was deep in the jungle with monkeys, all sorts of birds and animals in trees. My monkeys were purple, green, pink, blue, not a brown monkey in the bunch.
This perplexed my kindergarten teacher and after about a month of painting monkeys other than brown…I had all my paint colors taken away except for black, brown and green. My teacher told me: “Monkeys are not purple, pink or blue…they are brown.” I was to get “real” and paint black rocks, brown monkeys, brown tree trunks, and green leaves. I was crestfallen and consequently teased by my fellow painters. I came home in tears and told my story of “lack” and judgment to my mother.
Being a very strong and wise lioness, my mother took me straight back to school and marched into the principal’s office. I was left sitting in a cold “after school is out’ foyer while my mother demanded my paints be re-instated. My mother and principal finally came back into the foyer, shook hands, the principal nodded and smiled at me. Mom and me went home. Next day, I arrived at my class and all my paints were at my easel with my grumbling teacher telling me: “Paula, you are allowed to paint with any colors you want.” As she walked away I remember her saying to herself “Crazy girl, crazy mother”. Again, I went home in tears, again we went to the principal’s office, a quick handshake, now with eye-to-eye stern nods.
After a long weekend expressing protests of never wanting to go to school again and claiming to be ill, my mother walked me to school. A new teacher greeted me. Giving me a big smile and a hug, she told me: “Paula, you are such a talented artist!” I immediately loved her. The brown monkey teacher had been fired. Victory for purple monkeys!
Everyone has a purple monkey.
It’s a jungle out there; one’s survival is dependent on the conviction, expression of your unique passion, your determination, and not compromising the telling of your story.
Creative storytelling: You can call it brand, story, purpose, emotional hook, essence. It is what comes directly from you…and only you…no one else has this quality; no one else has this story of YOU. That’s where the purple monkey comes in! Your purple monkey is the unique expression of your magical “how”. Imagination is your best tool to create and show your “how”, your story.
My support group (my mother and principal, new teacher) and me standing ground for my purple monkeys influenced positive change. They continue to be my imagination muse.
Purple monkeys serve me well. They are magical; they help me see things from a different point of view, to ignite and express the heart of things via my art. My “how” is to express story in the form of art that shows and communicates other’s “purple monkeys”.
Step away from conventionality; break free into the art of YOU.
Just say “no” to conformity. Follow the advice of John F. Kennedy: “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Being different from others can be a discouraging thing when others do not feel safe with “outside of the box” thinking. Using one’s imagination, being brave about how you do things, is absolutely necessary to innovate, grow, and influence. When you talk about story or “brand” identity, those who break free of popular conformity, who see and take the risk of supporting their “something different”, are the ones that gain passionate audience loyalty, and success. Examples: Virgin Airlines, Cirque du Soleil, Fed-Ex. For these folks the phrase of “You can not do this” becomes a rally cry to “just do it”!
Telling your purple monkey story.
Get in touch with what makes you tick. See all the areas in which you flow beautifully, what you enjoy, how you influence, why you influence. That’s a start to your finding your purple monkeys. (They are just hanging in the tree waiting to jump into your lap.).
Doing some exploration with your creative juices, brainstorming, doodling, writing, all are ways to find out the magical “how” of you. Below are a few things to get you going.
1. You need a way to connect to your creative YOU. The original “Imagineering” team at Disney used a technique called “Casting for a Team” to explore deeper self-awareness. To be a great caster for creative teams they found that recognizing your own strengths and weakness is the first step. Go ahead, write down a list of your own “pros and cons” then imagine your pros as actual beings that are creating new ideas using their talents. Find folks who are good at what you consider your weaknesses and form positive creative partnerships!
2. You need a support group to acknowledge your creativity. Visual quick sketch recording, sessions, journaling, are very effective in showing the how, the why and the whats of your ideas, products, talks, services. Better yet, they show others your talents, offerings so everyone can be on the same page and rally around your journey.
3. You need to grow and exercise your creative muscles. Take yourself on a visual brainstorming ride with a Quest. My one-on-one Sketch Quest sessions help you see the unique, the purple, pink, blue and green monkeys that are waiting to be discovered.
Give me a call to set up a plan to find and express your purple monkeys. Quick sketch visuals are fun…just like non-brown monkeys.
Conclusion: Monkeys may seem to be brown. As you look deeper and closer, they are actually made up of many colors, gold, pink, with shadows of purple and blue. Your story is your art, your purple monkey, your creative expression…keep imagining, keep painting!
Thanks for your interest and sharing!
I’m Paula Brown; Visual Scribe / Feng Shui practitioner / Author / Animal Communicator. I am a visual storyteller showing you how to IGNITE YOUR STORY, YOUR ENERGY, YOUR WELL-BEING for both business and home. My site is: www.chilightful.com Connect on: LinkedIn, Twitter. and you can “like” my facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ChiLightful
