SEVEN STORY STUDIO: YOUR STORY, BECOMING
The best stories aren't Borrowed.
They're (re)membered.
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Are you choosing to Imitate others instead of Owning Your Own Story?
Imitation will always feel safer than daring to be authentically yourself. It's what Thomas Merton called, our "true self".
Nobody likes the feeling of being real enough that rejection feels not only possible, but inevitable.
Borrowed stories come with maps.
Borrowed stories come with built in exit ramps.
[Re]membering your own story isn't easy. It will be some of the most difficult work you'll ever do. And daring to share it with the world is even more terrifying.
But it's the only story you can ever be sure to tell better than anyone else.
And it's the only authentic journey that brings liberation from the pain and lonliness of never being truly known, loved, and useful to your neighbors.
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NATHAN
DANIEL
BLAKE
Appalachian Writer, Storyteller,
& Post-Evangelical Wildling.
New Monastic.
Aspiring Hiker Trash.
For more than twenty years, I've worked as a writer, teacher, strategist, and facilitator to help nonprofits, social enterprises, and grass roots organizations be the agents of change that make our neighborhoods stronger and more resilient. Along the way, I've realized the path to lasting change requires more than effective organizing and economic investment. Lasting change only comes when we repair and [re]member that we belong to each other, to the places we're from, and to the source of our shared life together. We've forgotten how to tell good stories, and we've lost the ability to sit still long enough to listen when one is being told. We forgotten that our lives and and the things we grow exist to strengthen our kinship with the community of creation, and not the other way around. Seven Story Studio is the place where that conviction takes shape. I still pay my bills and support my work by being a professional communicator, but in the second part of my life, my true aspiration feels more like a vocation -- to inspire exponential change by creating spaces where others can [re]member and reconnect with each other, with the land, and with source of all life through storytelling. Come, sit by my fire for awhile. Let me tell you my story, and I'd be honored if you'd share yours with me.
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What does it mean to (Re)Member?
At Seven Story Studio, we talk a lot about [Re]membering.
[Re]membering is about authentically living our lives wholly and honestly with the intent of being reconnected to the larger community of creation -- to the people, places, and power already present among us.
It asks you to see yourself as a cultivator instead of consumer.
It asks you to see your world through abundance instead of scarcity.
It asks you to see potential instead of poverty.
It asks you to see what is scarred as sacred.
It asks you to remember that your driving ambition should be the health of people & place, not profit margins.
You [re]member to reclaim what it means to belong ...
belong within a place.
belong within each other.
belong within creation.
You [re]member to reclaim your life, your purpose, and your potential.
The Seven Story paths to (Re)membering
Writing Services & Communication Strategy
This is how I pay the bills and support my community work.
Whatever you need, I've probably done it -- copywriting, scripts, web sites, grant proposals, communication strategies, and so much more.
And if I haven't done it, or don't do it well, I know the people to work with to get the job done.
I've been honing my craft as a brand writer and storyteller for over twenty years, with a specialization in nonprofits, community organizations, and value-based social enterprises.
Retreats, Workshops, & Community Events
The key to developing healthier communities is to give people the opportunities and space to develop active, healthier inner lives.
Our retreats, workshops, & events are meant to offer a diverse calendar of opportunities to increase our knowledge, understanding, and rest, while renewing a sense of wonder in our individual lives by working cooperatively with an equally diverse community of people.
Keep up to date with our latest offerings -- from spiritual retreats to live storytelling events, TTRPG campaigns to gardening workshops.
And if you have an idea for something else, we'd love to hear it.
Wild Church Gatherings & Spiritual Formation
A deep part of our ongoing work in healing our communities is the part it plays in our larger mandate as humanity to cultivate and heal the whole of creation.
Our Wild Church Gatherings offer a chance to spend time together learning what it means to belong again -- to (re)member what it means to be kin with each other, with creation, and with the divine.
All are welcome on our walks, around our table, and into our conversations as we explore as spiritual wildlings what it means to live justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Creator again.
Permaculture Design & Community Greenspaces
This chapter is still being written.
Coming Spring of 2027.