A few weeks back I was privileged to hear Dave Isay speak at Books and Books. He is the founder of StoryCorps, a marvelous oral history project featured regularly on NPR. The gist of StoryCorps is simple. Mobile recording studios are sent around the country, and ordinary people are given the chance to interview someone in their life about pretty much anything. A trained facilitator is there to do the recording, and to help you out if you need a little nudge to get going. Once your time is up, you are given a CD containing your interview, and if you agree to it, a second copy is given to the Library of Congress as part of their oral history collection.

It is a brilliant idea. We all have stories to tell, but so often we are too wrapped up in our own lives to listen to the tales told by others. StoryCorps gives us an opportunity to listen — to really listen — to someone else, and to hear their story.

The short excerpts broadcast on NPR are wonderful, as are the book and CD collecting interviews from the first ten thousand interviews of the project, Listening is an Act of Love [book]|[cd]. It is a remarkable achievement, and one which continues to this day largely through supporters' donations.

This year they have added something new: the National Day of Listening on Friday, November 28. Here's the concept, in their own words:

This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year.

If you've never done something like this before, they have a really nicely done Do-It-Yourself Guide to get you started, including interview tips, sample questions, recording ideas, and so on. And when you are done, if you like you can share your story with others.

I am planning to do this, although I haven't decided yet who I will be interviewing. When I am done, if I have their permission I will run the edited story here. I hope some of you will consider participating, as well. Here is our world of blogging and personal sites we tend to get wrapped up in our own worlds and words; perhaps this would be a good time to listen to someone else for a change.