Come to the fire!

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.

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

May 17 - 19  

Stories Without Borders Online Conference

Storytellers want to help you build bridges instead of walls

There are many walls around us. Some block teams from arriving to a common point of view on what to do next. Other walls stop us from hearing our loved ones. Still other walls block us away from the courage to try to change something for the better in our life.

Often these walls are built of stories.

Some of the walls were built by us, some were built for us.
All of them limit our opportunities and connections with others and with ourselves.

But story is not the whole wall, but only one stone.
This means that we can build new bridges by taking new stones or by dismantling at least part of the existing wall.

That's why we have gathered a team of the most experienced story practitioners from all over the world – to show how to overcome boundaries and differences with the help of stories, to create new connections and build bridges!

Join my interactive session on Thursday, May 18!

Free & online

Denmark, June 12 - 16

Gathering of the Tribes

Ever wondered what happened at the turn of the century that created so many waves of participatory practice?

Join us for a Harvest Festival and Reunion of the many
wonderful impulses and people that set off on generative adventures at the turn of the century: Pioneers of Change; the Art of Hosting;
The Warriors of the Heart, Kufunda Village, and many
more -- as Kufunda celebrates 21 years on this Earth.

We will gather in celebration of everything that we have learned, are learning now and are creating into the future.

We will share stories, and engage in creative process
together. We will sing, dance and make merry. Out of the stories of the past, we will weave more consciously the emerging tapestry of the Future that is arising through us.

We look forward to erecting a pop-up Learning Village together -- in celebration of Village and Life and Learning.

All are Welcome. 

Earlybird price until 18 May 

July 1

Flow Game Host Gathering

How do we together host space(s) for the Flow Game to do its work for the world? 

An opportunity for trained Flow Game hosts to come together online as practitioners to meet, connect & deepen their practice together.

The same 3 hour program will be offered twice – once to suit Europe/North America and once to suit Asia/Pacific based hosts -- so that everyone in the world can attend.

You be inspired, you'll learn tools and tips for expanding your practice and you'll hear from seasoned practitioners in the field.

Meet other Hosts around the world

Come and meet your community of practice and be strengthened.

Be inspired by stories of practice

Learn how others use the Flow Game in new and innovative ways.

Get your questions answered

Bring your burning questions about playing and hosting the Flow Game. 

The event is FREE, but you must be registered to receive the reminder emails and Zoom links.

Slovenia, August 27 - September 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 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!

Earlybird price until 18 May 

September 12, 19, 26 + October 3

Beyond Facilitation

Go Beyond Technique
to Extraordinary Hosting 

Move into the heart of hosting to deepen your skills, awareness, & practice... 

Claim your space a 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 methodologies, maps, approaches, and principles that underpin the leading edge of participatory group process. 

We will be exploring invaluable gifts from the Art of Hosting Community and integrating insights from Mary Alice's deep understanding of narrative. Along the way, we will discover the deeper power and purpose that a knowledge of story brings to your work with groups, and see can how it can become one of your trusted and elegant process partners.

SESSION  1: Mastering the Fourfold Practice

SESSION 2: Navigating the Eight Breaths of Process Architecture

SESSION 3: Story -- the "secret sauce" of great hosting

SESSION 4: Finding the gold in lived experience -- applying the Collective Story Harvest method

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! 

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