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\u2019ve been pursuing a very different kind of storytelling project \u2013 one that\u2019s been quietly developing for nearly two decades. This October, that project becomes a book.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s called ARROW: The Power and Poison of Story.<\/em><\/p>\n The seed for ARROW<\/em> was planted the very first time I sat on a cushion to meditate. Like many people, I expected stillness \u2013 maybe even peace. What I found instead was distraction. A flood of stories \u2013 errands to run, conversations replayed, plans for the future \u2013 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?<\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 for making research clear and engaging. ARROW<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n Because story, I came to see, is double-edged. On one hand, it\u2019s how we make sense of the world. It\u2019s how we remember our past, imagine our future, and connect with others. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n ARROW<\/em> tries to map both sides of this reality \u2013 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\u2019s useful, and how to loosen its grip when it binds us.This is not a \u201cthought leadership\u201d book. Its intent isn\u2019t 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: \u201cHow do I know what I think until I see what I say?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Of course, once the book was written, I faced the familiar question of how to find an audience for it. (It\u2019s impossible to escape the necessity of marketing.) My best answer was YouTube. At first, I approached video-making somewhat reluctantly \u2013 but I soon discovered that creating the channel was rewarding in its own right. Here is one example:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/idearocketanimation.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Arrow-Cover-3d.png\"\/){kind=icon}
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