Over the past few years, many of you have worked with me and my team at IdeaRocket to bring your stories to life on screen. What you might not know is that, outside of client work, I’ve been pursuing a very different kind of storytelling project – one that’s been quietly developing for nearly two decades. This October, that project becomes a book.
It’s called ARROW: The Power and Poison of Story.
The seed for ARROW was planted the very first time I sat on a cushion to meditate. Like many people, I expected stillness – maybe even peace. What I found instead was distraction. A flood of stories – errands to run, conversations replayed, plans for the future – kept rushing in. I became fascinated by this: why does the mind wander so insistently? Why do stories intrude when all I wanted was to follow my breath?
That curiosity grew into a long investigation into the role story plays in our lives. I read neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, philosophy. I spoke with scientists and spiritual teachers. And I kept circling back to the same question: what does story do for us, and what does it do to us?
I discovered something important in that process. At IdeaRocket, explaining complex ideas for clients had already sharpened my writing. In fact, it was here that I realized I had an affinity for scientific writing – for making research clear and engaging. ARROW is as much a scientific book as a spiritual one: it explores what happens in the brain, how our storytelling faculty evolved, and why it is both indispensable and perilous.
Because story, I came to see, is double-edged. On one hand, it’s how we make sense of the world. It’s how we remember our past, imagine our future, and connect with others. It’s also the tool that allows a company like yours to explain what you do in a way that resonates. Story is what IdeaRocket is built on.
But story can also mislead us. Narratives about who we are can feel more real than our actual experience. Entire societies can become ensnared in stories that divide or distort. The same faculty that helps us thrive can also leave us isolated or dissatisfied.
ARROW tries to map both sides of this reality – the power and the poison. It looks at how story shapes us, and also how we might live more wisely with it: how to use story when it’s useful, and how to loosen its grip when it binds us.This is not a “thought leadership” book. Its intent isn’t commercial and it has little to do with IdeaRocket or my work as a marketing professional. I wrote it because I wanted to understand something fundamental about being human. To borrow from E.M. Forster: “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”
Of course, once the book was written, I faced the familiar question of how to find an audience for it. (It’s impossible to escape the necessity of marketing.) My best answer was YouTube. At first, I approached video-making somewhat reluctantly – but I soon discovered that creating the channel was rewarding in its own right. Here is one example:
You can find other videos on the channel here – and if you’d like, please subscribe. You can also find out more about the book at my personal website… and after October 28, you can purchase the book here.
Writing ARROW has been one of the most challenging and rewarding projects of my life. It required me to reconcile my professional identity as a storyteller with my personal practice as a Zen practitioner. And it became unexpectedly personal. My father’s life and my own family history found their way into its pages, reminding me that we can’t escape story even when we try.
I hope ARROW offers a fresh perspective on why story matters so much – not only in business, but in our lives. And I’d be honored if you considered reading it when it comes out October 28.
In the meantime, thank you – not only for trusting IdeaRocket with your stories, but also for giving me the space and inspiration to pursue this one.
