Stories that Reconnect: a practice of peace
Ilaria Olimpico
“By peace, we mean the capacity to transform conflicts with empathy,
without violence, and creatively — a never-ending process.” (Galtung, 1996)
Stories that Reconnect (StR) is a map for reconnection to the self, the other, and Nature via social arts. It is a practice of peace.
The triple dimension of reconnection is intertwined with empathy cultivation, nonviolent behavior, and courage to act creatively.
We live in a moment of poly-crisis, uncertainty, complexity, polarization. More than ever, the world needs to rediscover the connection and interconnection of personal, social, and ecological. Connection is why we’re here; it gives purpose and meaning to our lives (Brown,2010).
Arts are perceived mostly as channels of free expression. Concerning peace, they are used as a form of activism to resist, to protest, and to denounce. And they are. But, in StR, arts are recalled in their potential for personal/social transformation (Boal, 2006; Hayashi, 2021) in a horizon of post-activism (Akomolafe, 2017).
The map of StR is an overlapping of three maps coming from: Work that Reconnects (Macy, Brown, 2014), Focusing (Gendlin), Theory U (Scharmer, 2007) / Social Presencing Theatre (Hayashi, 2021).
The focus on “stories” brings a post-colonial narrative questioning (Said, 1978; Fanon, 1952; Adichie, 2009), an interdisciplinary healing narrative perspective (Siegel, 1999), and an ancient/fresh practice of listening and sharing. Stories are told with oral and written words, bodies, and voices.