Category: Story Hits

And The Day After

November 16, 2020

Listen to TinaO read this poem below.

A feminist on the day after the 2016 USA election

I want to complain and trash the beach 

spill obnoxious tins of paint

confused by yellow shades of not-quite-green hues

all over the rocks

crash multiple bins of soot wrecking the sand

smearing clouds of murky shadows out to the wind

I am stained by this

I am slashed by this 

and I want to crumple the shoreline

drenched in wax

from holding a vigil

for an exhale that turned to anguish

with no chance to settle

I am furious

I bet I can swing King Tide logs over my head

fling them 

into the ocean

followed by these legs on a torso

this is no longer my body 

for I have left

Instead, 

I walk the beach

to make sense

of the madness 

I somehow

never saw coming

I fucking hate surprises

avoidable fingers

caught in windows and snagged in doors

or train wrecks we say never happen

until they do

now 

I bring 

teapots and towels

rings and rodents

fire and feathers

bobbles and babies

to this water

my hair is on backwards

and my neck

lays on the ground

I am not here

She screams into the pillow

suffocating

the trembling

the shaking 

and the bruised women

out from this silent

nod to misogyny in power

one hand on his bible

the other up her skirt

This is the man

they freely chose

to lead the very country where feminism

cut her teeth

so today I can walk

with multiple careers and a baby on each breast

Today I am a fraction safer on the street

even if every woman still knuckles 

her keys in her hand

to reach her car

For the next four years

you will find me

smashing teapots

and bleeding into the ground

This reality

is not mine

and yet 

if you visit my kitchen

you will find

I haven’t a cup left

Four years ago I woke up in shock that the world had gone mad. When Donald Trump was elected president it haunted me for days.

This is the morning after…

The day after the 2020 election, it was a very different walk on the beach for sure.

2016 and the Day After

This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…

and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:

Stories won’t let go of you until they’ve been fully heard.

This is release #8 of sixteen Story Hits (vlogs) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1, you can start at the beginning with: Out of the Water here. 

I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).

On my 50th Birthday, if you’re on my VIP list, I’ll be sending you 50 Days of Christmas Story Gifts from Dec. 25th to February 12th. If you want some story goodness filled with sneak peeks into the creation and rehearsal process, plus be able to pre-order the book, and order tickets to the show, click here and the let the gifting begin! (You’ll get a bunch of cool story right away)

UNDER THIS, PLEASE PUT THIS IN THE PARAGRAPH FORMAT:

I have to close one story to open another. 

Thank you for listening.

xT

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.

An Angel in my Car

November 14, 2020

Listen to TinaO read About it here.

About it

I’m struggling with it

It’s not new

but it 

looks 

so damn easy,

also not new

I hear

it 

can be,

easy

I keep hearing it

I should know it

by now 

Like really know how 

by now

Like if I don’t know,

it 

by now,

then there’s got to be something wrong with me

because I’ve watched every damn video there is

about 

it

and I still can’t seem to get 

it

So I read the books 

you recommend 

about it

Listen to the words

you tell me

And keep telling me

And telling me

And telling me

And telling me

About 

it

And I ask for more

Because I want 

it

And it 

looks so easy

it seems

So easy

But it’s

not 

for me.

I ask

What else don’t I know about

it?

You know I even had someone create a meditation for me 

About it.

I slept with 

it,

the meditation

and I dreamt about 

it

Woke up with it

Spoke with it

Joked with it

Croaked with it

I didn’t toke with it

I don’t 

smoke 

it

I think I’ve had it

Because your encouragement is 

starting to feel 

like nagging

The truth is

I suck 

at it

being supported

and ocean swimming

has been my greatest teacher

Where We’ve Been – Circa 2017

Pre-Triathlon Iron Man 5150

I was four months out of cancer treatment when I started training for the Iron Man 5150 (Olympic distance triathlon). I could barely swim ten strokes without losing my breath.

I had suffered a shoulder injury after a full on knock down drag ’em out with young son and couldn’t rotate my shoulder.

But I was committed to the race. I trained with a kickboard up to ten days before the swim. After being told I would be disqualified if I brought my trusty board, I panicked. This video is less than seven days before the swim.

So an Angel took a seat in my truck today. Just in time.

This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…

and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:

Stories won’t let go until they’ve been fully heard.

This is release #6 of sixteen Story Hits (vlogs) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1 or more and want to start from the beginning, you can start here with: Out of the Water. 

I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).

I have to close one story to open another. 

Thank you for listening.

xT

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.

If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. 

CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.

Too Woo Woo for Me

November 2, 2020

Artsy

Listen to TinaO read the poem here.

I’m one of the girls you think about 

*

Listening to snowflakes

growing holly from my elbows

cedars flanking my spine

and this collarbone, 

dotted with red berries

*

I walk these paths,

barefoot, 

toes, who can’t help themselves but flirt 

with you, 

each padded foot-fall 

across the forest floor

smirking

and winking, 

sparkles lifting off 

from the soft bed 

of the earth

with each step

*

You notice

She’s cute

you think.

Skirt smudged with sand

jacket dripping with ocean behind her

always 

with a stone in her pocket

*

The wondering 

where her mind goes

How her hands move 

How her throat opens

How sound carries through her body

How she breathes in colour

*

Artsy

is what you say

not at all, what you think

but it’s the only way 

you know how to explain 

the taste of how she lives

from your mouth

WHERE WE’VE BEEN – circa 2016

I was working through the label of ‘woo woo’ which is thrown around lovingly and always jokingly… but always with an element of judgement underneath.

It was time to say… I am woo… and it’s what makes me think the way I do.

A little time in one of my favourite places – Mt. Gardiner Dock – 2016

This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…

and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:

Stories won’t let go of you until they’ve been fully heard.

This is release #5 of sixteen weeks of Story Hits (vlog) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1, you can start at the beginning with: Out of the Water here. 

I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).

On my 50th Birthday, if you’re on my VIP list, I’ll be sending you 50 Days of Christmas Story Gifts from Dec. 25th to February 12th. If you want some story goodness filled with sneak peeks into the creation and rehearsal process, plus be able to pre-order the book, and order tickets to the show, click here and the let the gifting begin! (You’ll get a bunch of cool story right away)

I have to close one story to open another. 

Thank you for listening.

xT

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.

If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.

Your Voice Matters

October 8, 2020

Nails

Listen to TinaO read the poem here.

Being literal is not my jam

as I stuff crayons into a rock faces

and wait for the wax to melt

so I can read

*

and typing isn’t logical

either

still once upon a teacher with cigarette long pink nails

taught me how to use the home row

fake I’m sure

the nails that is

but she could do it without click clacking at all

how real is that?

How to unwind mistakes from the roller of the

type

writer

so quietly

folded silently

with painless, spotlight-less

voice-less error

and drop it

drama free into the waste basket by your calves

from your skirt

because secretaries are discreet

*

her nails

had a voice

but she did not

*

Mrs. Hinton

taught me to type endless amounts of words

without

making a sound

Listen to TinaO Read the Poem here.

My VERY FIRST video ever recorded – 2014

Oh my… It’s interesting to me that I find this video cringe worthy. I realize that says more about my ego than it does about the video doesn’t it?

I think I sound preachy.

I think I risk being ‘divisive’.

I think I sound green and innocent and immature – and feisty.

Isn’t it interesting how much effort it takes to say something publicly?

That is my lesson in this video. I cared a lot about the stand the teachers were taking back then in 2014. The kids were out for five months. Nuts right? But I was firey about supporting the teachers so much so that I decided to share my world view in my first video ever.

This is the video that launched a thousand vlogs.

There are things in this video I want to take back, like the poem I’m reading above. I want to silently remove it from the roller, fold it up and painlessly drop it into the waste basket. And isn’t that interesting too?

The truth is, my position hasn’t changed at all, I just wish I could present it better. Again… totally, my ego talking. This was almost seven years ago. Wild.

You know, I wonder how much more willing we would be to truly say what we think and feel, if we acknowledged the courage it takes to be seen doing and saying anything at all.

I wonder.

This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…

and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:

Stories won’t let go of you until they’ve been fully heard.

This is release #4 of sixteen weeks of Story Hits (vlog) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1, you can start at the beginning with: Out of the Water here. 

I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).On my 50th Birthday, if you’re on my VIP list, I’ll be sending you 50 Days of Christmas Story Gifts from Dec. 25th to February 12th. If you want some story goodness filled with sneak peeks into the creation and rehearsal process, plus be able to pre-order the book, and order tickets to the show, click here and the let the gifting begin! (You’ll get a bunch of cool story right away)

I have to close one story to open another. 

Thank you for listening.

xT

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.

Hold on to What You Know – TinaO

September 28, 2020

Drivers

Listen to TinaO read this poem here.

Four wheels don’t make a driver

Some of us are gap fillers

Never considering how long it takes to stop before we start

or leaving a space between the cars

or a breath before the accident

–

Drivers read the room

they notice the way the rain hits

the window

It’s the rhythm of our repetition 

and our listening through the weather

that keeps us rooted,

We drive through the exhale we can no longer hear

–

Drivers always take in

what doesn’t move around them

they drive conversation so they don’t sputter and fall  

they grab up all the discomfort 

like doughy circles of bread

squishing them into cubes

between our fingers 

and palms

smaller and smaller

until just dense enough to stomach them

in one 

efficient swallow

–

We drive the impossible 

into the wreckage of exhausted potential 

–

We’re weird like that

Drivers

–

We think anything can be done,

rescued,

revitalized, 

made into something it’s not 

and never has been

–

We tell ourselves 

capacity 

is a moveable thing

and not a boundary 

or a sign of where something ends

where we’re so full we simply cannot take any more in

Drivers look at these lines as cartoons, 

something we can erase and redraw

or pick up and put down wherever we need them to be

–

But drivers don’t read maps this way

on paper

on the road

or in actual life

where breathing back and forth 

can happen,

No,

valleys, cliffs and deserts are not

merely suggestions 

there

We are drivers

and we will drive til it’s done

–

I am a driver

I have driven the things I want into what I want them to be

Til I see a moment like it’s not 

Til it’s better

Because I made it that way

–

I get shit done,

I make up new rules for the road

and I can see in the dark

–

So why?

Why would I stop driving now?

–

Listen to this poem ready by TinaO here.

Story Hit #3 – Hold on to What You Know

(or How Live Your Best Story Came to Be)

From Where We’ve Been: TinaO’s Story Hit’s Compilation

https://youtu.be/-UDdZ0qmmmo

From October 2016 – almost three months post cancer treatment

These vlogs track where we’ve been together over the last seven years. I share them with you to close one story and open another.

This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:

Stories won’t let go until they’ve been fully heard.

This is release #3 of sixteen weeks of Story Hits (vlog) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1 and #2 and want  to start from the beginning, you can start here with: Out of the Water. 

I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).

On my 50th Birthday, if you’re on my VIP list, I’ll be sending you 50 Days of Christmas Story Gifts from Dec. 25th to February 12th. If you want some story goodness filled with sneak peeks into the creation and rehearsal process, plus be able to pre-order the book, and order tickets to the show, click here and the let the gifting begin! (You’ll get a bunch of cool story right away).

Thank you for listening.

xT

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.

If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.