Spin the Wheel Tell a Story

version 2 at Apogaea 2013

I was at Apogaea in Bailey,Colorado in June of 2012. I walked by a guy on a microphone at The Story Portal that was telling a very intimate story about his first sexual experience to about twenty people sitting and standing. I was mesmerized. He went into great detail as to how he felt and how he experienced the moment. he stepped down from the mic. 

It was an open invitation to walk up and spin the wheel and tell a story. I stepped up and told several stories that i had never told anyone. I LOVED IT! i wish all the people i knew had heard those stories. most of all i was happy to tell them. No clue if the people in the audience were listening (though there were ooo , ahhs, claps every so often).  The ideas on the wheel were something like.  My First time
I almost died when
My favorite part about life
One time at this burn
It was a dark and stormy night


I went back to Dallas and decided to make my own on mason board with a spinner. I put some paper over the board so it could be written on and be seen easier. At the next burn, FreezerBurn, I took it out and asked people for some conversation starters. I filled in the blanks on the wheel and so it began. I sat up two nights in a row till the wee hours hosting the event around a fire. I think the fire was an essential element to creating a captured audience to listen in on moments to inspire them to share moments.

I feel we are all wanting deeper connections with all those we include in our lives. It seems  our lives have moved away from being able to create those connections and gotten out of the habit to do so.  I like the idea of creating a Smart Phone app that allows for this kind of story telling moment to occur anywhere. while a conversation can serve as a get to know you kind of experience having an external device direct the experience is somehow disarming enough to allow intimacy very quickly.