Stories Lived. stories told. With Abbie VanMeter
Stories Lived. Stories Told. is a podcast celebrating humanity and all our stories—the beautiful ones, the messy ones, and the ones that are a little bit of both. Through this podcast we will learn to tell our own stories and listen to the stories of others, treating both with care and respect. To do this, we will be exploring the communication theory Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). CMM states that “persons-in-conversation co-construct their own social realities.” Join Abbie as she and her guests use the lens of CMM to better understand their social realities and work to create better ones.
Hi. I’m Abbie and I have some questions…
How do we “show up” to each other and why does it matter?
What does it mean to create safe spaces for vulnerability in our relationships?
How can we ask thoughtful questions and listen deeply?
What does inviting others into conversation do for us?
How do we understand the patterns in our lives and our role in them?
What stories exist between the ones we live and tell and how do they shape us?
How can we use mindfulness and curiosity to create a better social world?
Join me in conversation with guests as we collaborate to create better social worlds.
Hi. My name is Abbie, this is Stories Lived. Stories Told. and here’s what I know… Everything in our social world is created through communication—communication being the stories we live, the stories we tell, and all the other stories in between; it’s the patterns we find ourselves in, the contexts that affect us, the meaning we make, the questions we ask, and how we listen; it’s the choices we make about how we show up to each other, and the spaces we create in ourselves, our relationships, and our communities.
It makes sense then, that the better we are communicating, the better social worlds we can create—social worlds that have more justice, more human dignity, more inclusion and understanding, more creativity, more imagination, and more authenticity and mindfulness.
I have a degree in Interpersonal Communication. And I loved studying it in school. And I don’t think you should have to be a communication scholar to get to know everything I got to learn. After all, all of us are in relationship with each other, communicating in one way or another every moment of every day, building the social worlds we live in through our stories and choices. So, I believe all of us deserve to have access to the tools, skills, and language that comes from taking a communication perspective in your life.
Each week I invite you to join me in conversation with a guest who is working toward a better social world in their own way. My hope is that through these conversations, we can be educated, empowered, and energized as we find our own paths to a better social world.
That you for showing up. Thank you for being curious. Thank you for being a part of this story. And thank you for helping me to welcome in Season 2.
I can’t wait to see what emerges!
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Stories Lived. Stories Told. is created, produced & hosted by Abbie VanMeter.
Stories Lived. Stories Told. is an initiative of the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution.
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Email me! storieslived.storiestold@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram! @storieslivedstoriestoldpod
Subscribe on YouTube! Stories Lived. Stories Told.
Check out the Complete Collection of Season 1 Episodes here!
Learn more about the CMM Institute.
Learn more about CMM.
Learn more about Cosmopolis 2045.
Learn more about CosmoKidz.
Follow the CosmoTeenz Fellows’ work on Instagram.
Follow on:
Website: https://www.storieslivedstoriestold.com/podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storieslivedstoriestoldpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@storieslivedstoriestold
Background notes
Hi everyone! My name is Abbie VanMeter.
I have just graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where I studied Interpersonal Communication for the last four years. I first learned of CMM in my Communication Theory class in the Spring of March 2020; the theory had always stuck out to me, but I didn’t return to it until I began working on this podcast. I enjoy listening to podcasts and always thought it was something that I could do, too. I think they are an incredible medium for sharing conversations and making ideas accessible. I began developing this podcast as a creative project for my Senior Thesis, which I was required to complete to graduate. However, after reaching out to Kim Pearce and talking further, we decided that this podcast could go beyond the scope of my project. I am so excited to officially be collaborating with the CMM Institute to produce more episodes throughout the rest of 2022! I have such a genuine passion for this project that has been shared by everyone I have worked with so far. My hope is that, through this podcast, I will be able to make all the amazing tools and language that CMM has to offer more accessible to people inside and outside of this existing community. In all the conversations that I have had so far with Kim and the Stewards, I have already felt so welcome. I believe that this community is really powerful and I am excited to be a part of it!
The podcast is titled Stories Lived. Stories Told. and can be found above, as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Anchor. (https://cmminstitute.org/stories-lived-stories-told/ ). Over the course of 2022, I will continue to have meaningful conversations with guests like our very own Dr. Barbara McKay and Rik Spann. In fact, many of our guests you will recognize from this community. Our conversations will always take place through the lens of CMM, but some of my guests may never have heard of CMM themselves. In these conversations, we will use CMM to listen to their stories and to create a space that empowers us to tell our stories, too. At the core of all of this is the question: what are we hoping to create in our social worlds? It is through meaningful, intentional conversation that we truly begin to build better social worlds. You (the listeners) are just as much a part of the conversations that we have on the podcast as me and my guests are. These conversations are meant to be models, to encourage us to take CMM with us into our everyday interactions. I will also be producing many shorter episodes that go in-depth into the theory of CMM, breaking it down and finding ways to apply it to our lives. Not all of us have been given the space to share our stories, engage in thoughtful interactions, or think critically about meaning in our lives. This podcast is that space. Everyone and every story is welcome here. I hope you will join in the conversation! Thank you for inviting me so warmly into this community and for sharing my passion for CMM!
Contact Abbie with questions or ideas at abbievanmeter@gmail.com