Fresh Ground Stories

Hey, guess who's back on stage Thursday the 25th

Auntmama!

Yes, it's the return of Auntmama's StoryTable. It ran for 15 years at the old Madison Way Starbucks. COVID knocked it down for a bit, but it's back, and we're all better for it.

I'll be sharing a new story, but the real show is Auntmama and the aunties Kathya Alexander and Olubayo Johnson reading and telling their own stories. It's been years since I've seen all three together, and I'm excited they're back at it again.

Auntmama's June StoryTable, Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup The Aunties are back! After a long hiatus when the world turned upside down, Kathya Alexander, Mary Anne Moorman, and Olubayo Johnson are reviving Auntmama’s StoryTable. Ne

See you this Thursday!

Are you excited for our show this Thursday? Can you picture yourself sliding gracefully into one of our 109 spaces of free parking?

I honestly get excited every time I pull into that lot and don’t have to study a sign that says parking is free 2am - 5am every other Tuesday on leap years ending in 5. When you come to Fresh Ground Stories, you just park your car and walk into the building like it’s 1952.

Here is one of my favorite stories to get you inspired:
https://youtu.be/MvyPn0FFPio?si=QoFBRoP2ufg-bDKE

I also want to share a great new project I just heard about from Ed, one of our tellers from last month. He’s involved with a project called “Belongings,” a short docuseries about ordinary objects from people’s lives. They record people sharing short stories about these little things that mean a lot. I love this idea.

https://belongings.subliminaledfilms.com/

Here’s a quick blurb from their website:
“Belongings explores the emotional lives of ordinary objects. A watch. A chair. A photograph. A stone. The things people keep are rarely just things. They carry memory, grief, identity, history, and love.
Through intimate documentary storytelling, Belongings invites people to share the objects that have stayed with them and the stories those objects still hold.”

They are looking for story submissions, so sit back and look around the room for an object that means something to you. There’s a form to fill out on their website where you can submit your story. This weekend I’m going to wander from one end of my house to the other looking for something that tugs at my heart and then figure out a way to talk about it.

In the meantime, I hope to see you this Thursday on the top floor of the Swedish Club at 7pm for our next show. The theme is, “Stories of someone surprising you.”
https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories/events/314956552/

See you then!

Paul
[email protected]

FGS: Stories of someone surprising you, Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup Just when I think I have someone figured out, they surprise me. Most of the time it’s a beautiful reminder that I’m not in charge of the world and that there’s more sweetne

There's an online open mic with the Guild on June 5 if you're looking for a place to work on a story :)

Seattle Storytellers Guild Seattle Storytellers Guild website, with a calendar of upcoming storytelling events in the Pacific Northwest, and information about local storytellers.

Come see us at Folk Life!

 It’s a big week for storytelling!

We had a fantastic show last night at Fresh Ground Stories, and tonight I hope some of you can come out and see me host the first ever story slam at the Northwest Folklife Festival.

Seven of the eight tellers on the show are from FGS❤️

The show starts at 6 PM in the center theater which is on the lower level of the Armory in the Seattle Center. It’s free to get into the festival and see the show.

Special thanks to Joanna Demarest for making this all happen!

Paul
[email protected]

FGS: Losing It - Stories of being out of control 5-21-2026

The reason I’ll never skydive isn’t that I’m worried that the chute won’t open and the ground crew will find my body, feet sticking up out of the grass like a lawn dart. It’s that I don’t like being told what to do. And as soon as you step out of the plane, gravity tells you exactly what you’re going to do for the next 10-15 minutes. There’s no discussion, no listening to reason. You’re going to be falling at 176 feet per second until you pull that cord.

That’s why it’s always interesting to me how I react when I’m truly out of control. I like to go back and think about why I did what I did. I was proud of myself a few years ago when I had to give the Heimlich to a guy choking next to me at a lunch counter. I stood up, knocked his gut in a couple times, then sat down and went back to my omelet.

I wasn’t proud of myself when I broke my hand punching a wall at 19 when I found out my girlfriend was stepping out on me. I also wasn’t proud of myself when I had a complete mental breakdown in 2012 when the world fell out from under me. I told that story two years later. It ended with a moment in my kitchen that brought me back to life and made me want to see what happened next. I’m still thinking about that time, and hope I’ve gained enough skills that it doesn’t happen again.

I’d love to hear about a time when you or your life were out of control and how you made it through. How did you act in the moment? Were you cool as a Bering Sea ice floe or did you lose your mind and kick a bunch of rocks? Were you dumped? Fired? Evicted? Given a diagnosis? How did you react in the moment and how did you find your way back to Chillsville?

Whatever the story, we'd love to hear it. Remember that a story isn't just a series of things that happened. There needs to be something at stake that you overcome by the end.

Practice the story out loud to as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.

All stories have to be under eight minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but no longer than eight minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.

FGS themes are just suggestions, so you can come out and tell a story about anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.
https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story.
https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Email me, and we can set up a phone call.

See you Thursday, May 21, at 7 pm on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul
Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

FGS - Storytelling Workshop | Meetup This workshop helps you become a better storyteller and to prepare to tell stories at events like [Fresh Ground Stories](https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories) or The Moth. Attend to practice finding, developing and telling your stories.The workshop is free.A diverse group of people attend wit