Come to the fire!
Isn't it time to fire up your life, your work and your learning? Choose a live, participatory experience, a self-paced module or a tailored coaching experience. Mix and match to suit your needs.
Live Events
Join at any time
THE STORY DOJO Online Community
THE STORY DOJO was created as a place to explore, ideate and practice the power of story. Join us around the virtual campfire as we inquire into a new topic and build capacity and companionship each month.
This September it will be relaunched focusing on Mary Alice's story practice and her book 365 ALIVE! Each month will have a new focus enabling you to step deeper and deeper into the power of story for your life and work.
Your membership includes:
Fireside Conversation: On the second Monday of the month a speaker or speakers join us to give voice to our theme. Calls last 90 minutes and are recoded.
Office Hours: A place to meet and get input on your stories and answers to your questions. Or adjourn to a "private table" and talk about the topic of your choice. Join us on the fourth Monday of the month any time during the 90 minute window.
Includes a digital library of 50+ hours of content: Eight sessions speaker + Q&A sessions from the 65 ALIVE! livestream series and 75 interviews from the STORY THE FUTURE Online Summit. That's 42 hours of recorded material!
Online meetings second and fourth Monday each month
Both monthly and annual membership options available
Aug 27 - Sept 1
AoH Practitioners Gathering
Last year marked 10 years since our landmark international practitioners gathering at Štatenberg in Slovenia, and 20 years since the beginnings of AoH nearby. When we gathered again in 2022, it felt like both the end of a first cycle and the beginning of something new. That’s why we named our event Homecoming.
Now in 2023, we feel called to light the fire again and invite our global practice field to gather once more.
This year our calling question is: What is hosting now – and how can staying in practice together serve us and the world?
Our focus will be around practice -- what are the edges, the boundaries and the calls to deepen what we know and take it to new places? Our intention is to take inspiration and solace from nature and to allow ourselves to be held, hosted and nourished by the land around us.
This is a gathering for practitioners to focus on their practice together. We welcome practitioners from all types of participatory practice modalities to come and share. And we invite participants from all over the world.
You are warmly invited to join us!
Statenberg, Slovenia
Sept 12, 19, 26 + Oct 3
Beyond Facilitation
Keys for joyful practice in transformative times
It's time to master the essence of extraordinary hosting!
Claim your space as part of this series of four crucial sessions with experienced hosts and stewards Amy Lenzo (World Cafe) & Mary Alice Arthur (Art of Hosting). Join us as we take a deeper look at the map, approaches, and principles that underpin the leading edge of participatory group process.
We are exploring one of the most invaluable gifts from the Art of Hosting Community -- The Fourfold Practice. Along the way, we will discover the deeper power and purpose that a personal and professional practice can bring to your work with groups, and see can how mastering it can become the cornerstone to your life and work.
- September 12 – Mastering the Fourfold Practice (where we’ll be joined by Toke Møller, the co-creator of the FourFold Practice!).
- September 19 – Personal Practice Makes All the Difference
- September 26 – Real Results in the Real World
- October 3 – Taking a Systemic View
Würzburg, Germany Sept 22 & 23
THRIVE!
“I know it’s time to think bigger, to step into my power, to rise to the next level. But I don’t know how!”
Something is calling for change. The old ways of being and working just aren't working anymore.
Maybe it's the job that doesn't fit. Maybe it's an outworn identity that's too small and no longer serving.
THRIVE! is a workshop for people who want to live their power.
Using the powerful building blocks of personal story, potent questions and wisdom council, THRIVE! offers you the gift of considering who you want to be, what that looks like and how you can get there.
You will come away with a deep sense of commitment to your next significant steps into your vibrant future, as well as a network of others to support you.
22 & 23 September in the heart of the wine region -- Würzburg, Germany
WANT A BIG DOSE OF THRIVE? Check out the two other events happening around this one
Würzburg, Germany Sept 23
Flow Game Host Meet-Up
All trained Flow Game Hosts are invited to a Meet-Up in the heart of the wine region of Germany. What better place to enjoy each other's company, be inspired by sharing stories and deepen our ties as a practice community.
As some Flow Hosts are gathering to be part of an event called THRIVE! we thought -- as long as we are together, let's invite the others to join us!
Würzburg is a great place to meet and enjoy the local hospitality. We invite you to a Saturday afternoon of practice and an evening of sharing stories, food and wine.
We will offer some light hosting and co-create our time together.
Afternoon & evening of 23 September in Würzburg, Germany
You pick the date
Play THE FLOW GAME
If you've ever experienced a Flow Game, you know it is a playful way to handle the really serious stuff of life and work. Playing the Flow Game is a great way to get past overwhelmed and stuck and into a new view of the future, either as an individual or group.
Three simple steps can lead to clarity and a sense of fresh direction:
- Have a look at what really matters to you right now
- Shape a question
- Bring it to the Flow Game
Together with a small circle of players we'll go on a journey that will move you from stuck to sure, and from uncertain to confident.
With the serendipity of the Game and the other players at your back as Wisdom Council, you'll find it easier --and more fun -- to uncover your next steps.
Also ideal for teams and families, wherever they find themselves.
Find out more about the Flow Game and reserve your spot at the table!
In person or online
Join me for the next training
Flow Game Host Training
If you've ever experienced a Flow Game, you know it is a playful way to handle the really serious stuff of life and work. Playing the Flow Game is a great way to get past overwhelmed and stuck and into a new view of the future.
A Flow Game is ideal for:
- Colleagues who want to innovate together
- Life partners wanting to explore an aspect of relationship in a new way
- A team needing wise council on a current or planned initiative
- Anyone seeking personal inspiration and a lift into their desired future
The game has individual cards, team cards and family cards and comes in multiple languages.
I regularly offer training to aspiring Flow Game Hosts. If you feel called to learn how to use this powerful tool, find out when the next training is taking place.
Contact me to find out how you can take part...
You choose the time & focus
One-on-one Coaching
One of the best ways to feel more solid in the world is to discover and claim your personal core stories and how you work with them.
Maybe you want to focus your leadership. You want to prepare a presentation or an important group meeting. You want to shine at an event or brainstorm your future.
There's no one better to work with this on than Mary Alice. Her years of experience, her keen ear and her mastery of provocative questions will be at your service. You will gain an expanded awareness of your both your issues and your strengths. You'll come away realizing your story is your ally and you have wisdom on tap.
During your one-on-one sessions with Mary Alice, you'll receive all the support you need to find and shape the story you want to work with. You'll get clear and confident about the next steps forward.
Let's create the perfect focus for you to thrive!
Self Paced
A weekly shot of story inspiration
365 ALIVE! comes to your inbox
Sign up for a weekly shot of story inspiration directly to your inbox
Feeling like you could use an energetic shot in the arm when you face the coming week? Running low on inspiration?
My book 365 ALIVE! find your voice. Claim your story. Live your brilliant life. was created to help you discover the power of story and uncover your own best future through the stories you tell. It is full of beautiful images and quotes that form the heart of a 52 week journey.
But I made far more than 52 of these offerings and now they are ready to come to you to light up your imagination and inspire your steps forward.
Every Sunday, receive an inspiring quote to move your heart, plus a powerful question to tickle your mind.
Let story raise you up!
Free
A simple way to kickstart your storytelling
Love Stories
The past two years have been tough. It’s easy to focus on the drama of it all, but I’ve decided that I’d rather live in a love story.
There are so many ways to express love. One of the best is by sharing stories; reminding people how they’ve sparked love and learning in us and for others.
Stories are a great reminder that we already know how to love.
And the more we practice, the more love there is. So I’m making this invitation for others to join me in sending out small stories to change the world. One love story at a time…
Every day for 28 days, you'll receive a postcard with a prompt.
Use it to think about a story and send it to someone you care about. Maybe someone you haven't seen for awhile. Or someone you haven't spoken to for a long time. Say something that's in your mind and on your heart. There's no better time then now.
Choose your contribution
Self-paced
IMAGINE (8 modules)
WHAT IF... this were your best year yet – a time when everything comes together, when your passion and purpose ignites, when you have the courage to shine and manifest all you can imagine for yourself?
IMAGINE is an eight session online adventure you can join from anywhere in the world, designed to create the focus and intention to carry you into the stratosphere to live your dreams.!
You'll have on-going access to the material to support your unfolding journey and a circle of virtual companions through our closed Facebook group. Self-paced sessions hosted by Mary Alice Arthur & Holger Scholz.
If you join us for IMAGINE, you'll also be offered FREEDOM, a step-by-step guide to creating your best year yet.
Self-paced
US$67
If you join IMAGINE, you also receive a discount for FREEDOM
Self-paced
FREEDOM (8 modules)
FREEDOM is not something outside of you, it is something that you can create for yourself. What better time is there than in this season of challenge and change? Join our vibrant international community online right now to explore and claim your biggest horizon.
Are you ready to take flight? Start today by finding and living your FREEDOM. Self-paced sessions hosted by Mary Alice Arthur & Holger Scholz.
Eight days of practical and inspirational material plus the support of people around the globe will challenge you to take the leap.
If you join us for FREEDOM, you'll also be offered IMAGINE, a step-by-step guide to creating your best year yet for a special bundle price.
Self-paced
US$67
If you join FREEDOM, you also receive a discount for IMAGINE
Storymaking & story shaping
65 ALIVE! 2022 (Five 90 minute sessions)
Add some fuel to your fire with five session on the power & practice of story. A new theme and new story practitioners, thought leaders and artists each session.
The recording includes the 65 minute livestream Q&A with the daily guests.
Our themes are:
- Women & men & power: What do our stories tell us about how women and men see power? Where do we go from here?
- What is work now? What do we dream possible in the world of work and how do we tell this new story?
-
Letting the wolf in: Thinking about and working with difficult stories
-
The spirit of story -- how the past fuels. the future: How are the stories of the past & present influencing our future? What stories are we making & breaking?
-
Story as activism: When we change our stories, we can change the world. What does that look like in practice?
US $65
Hear story thought leaders
65 ALIVE! 2021 (Eight 90 minute sessions)
Eight special days with a different theme and different speakers each day. In this package you get access to both the original panel conversations and to the Q &A sessions that happened afterwards. You will also be able to download the graphic harvests of each session.
Speakers include Peter Block, Christina Baldwin, Juanita Brown, Toke Paludan Møller and many others.
Topics include:
- Crafting your compelling story
- Finding your voice
- Claiming our stories around what matters
- What if we're all leaders?
- Story is our connection
- Story as activism
- Story & the community of belonging
- Story as a practice of peace
US $65
Learn from top practitioners & storytellers
STORY THE FUTURE Online Summit (75 speakers)
Enjoy more than 40 hours of interviews with story practitioners and storytellers around the world, a treasure trove of expertise on all facets of storytelling and storywork.
There's never a better time to learn more about story than now! The more you know about the power and practice of story, the stronger a foundation you have for creating your own future.
Story wisdom is timeless wisdom.
Each of the 75 interviews included here spotlights a different aspect of story work. You'll learn about how to tell a compelling story, how to work with stories in communities and at work, why story is a modality that supports the move toward equality, healing from trauma and awakening potential. You'll learn how focusing on the power of story is shifting journalism, activism, international law and much, much more.
42 hours of recorded material
Originally priced at US$197, now $125
