It was autumn 2006, a sunny day but bad weather, like we sometimes have in Finland. The back seat of the 3T tram in Helsinki city. I had worked for television and film productions for all the major television channels in Finland, working in independent production companies in various job roles, including producer of a famous interior design series.
Suddenly I had a strong feeling that I should do something else. But what?
I later understood why I was sitting in a 3T carriage. Number 3 refers the three basic elements of a story: begin, middle and end. Also, ‘T’ refers to Finnish words tunne (emotion), tarina (story), and toiminta (action). And could that 3 also be related to the fact that I had the thirty years’ crisis at that point in my life? Maybe so.
Then, surprisingly, I found a small red wool yarn on the bench next to me, and in my thoughts, I began to wrap it around my fingers. Then I woke up from my thoughts to see a little red sheep walking into the tram and started staring at me.
It was a Story Sheep, as it later told me. This funny and slightly angry red sheep would become my very soft and very fictional boss. I noticed you were there on the tram too. This wasn’t just for me, this was for both of us, in fact, for all of us in the business.
The story sheep began to talk about the changing world and the problems we face in corporate life. It told me how the story and feelings had been sidelined in business. Like sheep, these things were undervalued, discriminated against.
“We need softness as the world digitalizes”, it said firmly. “That’s what stories do, they consider the world human”, it stated.
I was thinking that I have lost my mind: a sheep is telling me how to stay human.
But in the end, I was ready for this new adventure, fun and positive craziness!
I embarked on an adventure to make the world softer with the help of storification, with warm story wools.