{"id":41,"date":"2026-07-26T02:59:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/?p=41"},"modified":"2026-08-03T23:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:05:04","slug":"reflection-blogging-power-of-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/2026\/07\/26\/reflection-blogging-power-of-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection Blogging: Power of Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Storytelling is humanity&#8217;s oldest technology. Through <strong>Module 10<\/strong>, we learn how keeping, sharing, and making stories about our lived experiences deepens our felt sense of shared humanity. Here, I can offer two anecdotes:<\/p>\n<p>Narrative inquiry reminds me of an exercise I was introduced to during an online workshop during the early days of lockdown and virtual facilitation. It was an event hosted by David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris, a Restorative Justice practitioner. He taught us a unique way of engaging with others, a method borne from restorative circle keeping that helps participants find safety and bridge the distance over Zoom. The practice is to ask, &#8220;Who are you?&#8221;, listen, and repeat <em>seven times<\/em>. Each layer reveals another facet of the storyteller&#8217;s identity and complexity. The activity also asked me to reflect and ask myself what ways I want to show up and be seen or understood today. When we tried this technique with each other, every person had their own distinct way of responding. This question opened up lots of colorful stories for some, while others listed off ways they are in relation to the world, through titles used by loved ones, backgrounds they come from, or even emotions they are riding out in that very moment.<\/p>\n<p>David also hosts a podcast, where he invites his guests to open with a self-introduction using this practice. Take a listen!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Amplify RJ (Restorative Justice), Speaking Out Cost Me Everything: A Conversation on Shame, Burnout, and Worthiness w\/ Michelle MiJung Kim\" src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1371496\/episodes\/17592011-speaking-out-cost-me-everything-a-conversation-on-shame-burnout-and-worthiness-w-michelle-mijung-kim?client_source=oembed&amp;iframe=true#?secret=Q7Y1jnVOoH\" data-secret=\"Q7Y1jnVOoH\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>During my years in Los Angeles, I worked at Visual Communications, a media arts nonprofit. There was a program integral to the organizational mission, called <em>Digital Histories<\/em>. It&#8217;s a series of monthly workshops aimed at connecting and engaging with the underrepresented and <strong>misrepresented<\/strong> Asian Pacific American (APA) older adult population. Led by professional filmmakers and documentarians, the <em>Digital Histories <\/em>program cultivates participants\u2019 artistic expression and teaches media literacy to seniors in the community. Since its inception in 2003, the Digital Histories program has produced over 225 short films.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Seniors are particularly marginalized and alienated, so a major benefit of the program is that it helps them connect with new people and discover new skills. The purpose of encouraging them to use their unique voices and perspectives<span style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">\u00a0and to shape their own narratives is so that our society continues to honor the fact that passing down stories is\u00a0<strong>an act of power<\/strong><\/span> capable of transforming future generations.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"\">We see the positive impact of storytelling, allowing artists to explore and share stories of family histories, coming to terms with a gay child, and senior love and dating. The exhibition of these films educates viewers about APA history in California and illuminates how place helps shape identity and community.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Every year, the cohort&#8217;s screenings are sold-out programs at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival (even with a matinee and evening screening!), and as always, there is not a dry eye in the house. Luckily, you can watch the projects from home, right here: <a href=\"https:\/\/vcmedia.org\/dh-alumni-projects\">https:\/\/vcmedia.org\/dh-alumni-projects<\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_102\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-102\" style=\"width: 733px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-102\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/603\/2026\/08\/DH-Kirby.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"733\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/603\/2026\/08\/DH-Kirby.jpg 733w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/603\/2026\/08\/DH-Kirby-300x236.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-102\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/vcmedia.org\/digital-histories\"><em>https:\/\/vcmedia.org\/digital-histories<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>Digital Histories<\/i>. (n.d.). Visual Communications.\u00a0<span class=\"url\">https:\/\/vcmedia.org\/digital-histories<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Storytelling is humanity&#8217;s oldest technology. Through Module 10, we learn how keeping, sharing, and making stories about our lived experiences deepens our felt sense of shared humanity. Here, I can offer two anecdotes: Narrative inquiry reminds me of an exercise I was introduced to during an online workshop during the early days of lockdown and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/2026\/07\/26\/reflection-blogging-power-of-stories\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Reflection Blogging: Power of Stories<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":875,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/jannaxzw144\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}