We all create narratives defining who we are, yet so many of us forget that we all have the power to craft and hone these narratives to define ourselves, our worlds, and the legacy we leave behind.

Jarod Cerf lives by his adage that everyone is a storyteller. A consummate storyteller himself, Cerf has long recognized the power of storytelling and crafting narratives not only in the artistic sphere but for major marketing firms, within college classrooms, in major media outlets, for himself, and his clients. “I have had so many titles: teacher, journalist, PR, marketing, etc. And what I finally realized is that I am a storyteller: someone who teaches, entertains, and guides the folks in my tribe … to inspire a course of action, a thought, or remember something by. That’s all storytellers have done, culturally, historically, throughout time.”

Sharing from his wealth of experience, this episode is quite the deep-dive into the existential, the esoteric, and the “Weird.” (“New Weird exists to overturn cliches and twist the traditional.” – BookRiot) Jarod says, “I follow story from characters… they are what define what happens… It's not my goal, personally, to write horror fiction or sci-fi or fantasy, I enjoy those, but that's not what I set out to write.” Jarod’s goal in coaching and writing is to illuminate the darkest places for people, whether they are struggling to develop their stories or their life-path.

Steve and Jarod discuss issues that often plague creatives like chronic pain. Jarod challenges the notion that suffering is necessary for creation. They also discuss creative blocks, marketing, what you should do with characters that seem to develop a mind of their own, and why storytellers are going to thrive in the new economy.

Whether our medium is a novel, podcast, song, or even the way we remember and construct our lives: “how we make other people characters in our lives” defines how we experience life itself.

Guest Jarod Serf

Website: https://herebetygers.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarodcerf/

Instagram: @hbtygers

Twitter: @jcertherealist

Here be Tygers Podcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herebetygers

Medium: https://medium.com/@jarodcerf

Work with Jarod: https://www.20minutestobrilliance.com/tygers and be entered to win our drawing!

Host Steven Leavitt

Site: https://www.icreatesound.com/

Portfolio: http://stevenleavitt.com/

Episode References

Here Be Tygers podcast - “Friends of all Stripes”: Animals in Folklore, Myth and our Lives, with Julie Saillan‪t‬

This is Water by David Foster Wallace

OMD

Dan Pink: A Whole New Mind

N.K. Jemisin: The Broken Earth trilogy

John Hodgman

Ray Bradbury’s “Here There Be Tygers”

Jung and subjectivity

George Saunders reflects on writing

Göbekli Tepe Turkey

History of Santa Claus

Joseph Campbell and storytelling

Labeling theory

Here Be Tygers podcast - “The Different Worlds that We Live In & Imagine,” with Andre Rodrigue‪z‬

Aristotle and Truth in Art

The Truth in Art and the Art in Truth

Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains

Ernest Hemmingway’s Snows of Kilimanjaro

Ray Brabury’s The Happiness Machine

Heart Shaped Pod

James Joyce

Mark Twain as celebrity

Watership Down

Robot Chicken’s Fraggle Watership Down

H.P. Lovecraft

Hermeneutics

Five Languages of Love

Highlander

The Tyger by William Blake

10,000 Hours to Mastery-Malcolm Gladwell

Tags: migraines, storytelling, purpose, creating, advertising, soul work, genre, New Weird, disruptive habits, trust, eureka moment, journey, planting a seed, joy in creation, guides, guidance, tribe, right-brained, marketing, automation, branding, emotional connection, attachment, patterns, memories, remembering, art, Fabio, Michelangelo, fundamental essence, story loops, seeking meaning, glyphs, aborigines, puzzling meaning, knowledge, wisdom, Santa Claus, heroes, clarity, purpose, drive, ideology, characters, mortality, jargon, fantasy, cognates, symbolic representation, lifelong learning, Joseph Campbell, anthropology, communication, method, non-linear thinking, typewriters, process, creative tools, auditory/visual, worldview, hermeneutics, narrator, timeline, amblyopia, flawed humans, cult of personality, public engagement, Discord, Twitter, presence, doodling, zaizen, archetypes, magic, illumination, journey

Language of Creativity’s host Steven Leavitt enjoys discussing the ins and outs of all aspects of creating, creativity, and life with his fellow creators: artists, inventors, designers, producers and more. Along the way he hopes to gain perspective and multiply our understanding of what we share in common while creating, living, and learning.

Site: https://www.icreatesound.com/

Portfolio: http://stevenleavitt.com/

Theme Music: “Nothing Wrong” by Lobate Scarp

Please review this podcast on Google Play, iTunes and Stitcher and help other creatives find their tribe! The idea and concept of tribe has never been so inclusive as now in our interconnected reality. We’d love for you all to join us!