Yesterday I was thinking back on this

I was thinking back on this past year and how after 37 years in New York, after 55 years in the U.S., I moved to Bangkok.

And yet, with all of the extraordinary memories that I now have of 2025,

some of the most moving, the most hilarious, the most thought-provoking, the most spiritual experiences

that I had last year happened in my online storytelling workshops, for real. Years ago,

the risk staff wrote down our mission statement that risk is here to help people connect in more meaningful ways, to help people see and hear each other, and to be seen and heard by others in ways that make a difference.

So the true story of how these online workshops started is that last year around this time,

when I decided to move to Thailand, I realized, oh my gosh, I need X amount more money in my savings account to qualify for the digital nomad visa.

So I created these workshops at first just as a fundraising effort to make my move.

But in the very first workshop, I think it was in the second session, I was so touched and so

inspired by things people had been sharing that night that I ended the Zoom meeting and I said

to myself, Kevin, wait a minute, This is the next level.

This is the future of what we have to offer.

These workshops are helping me and everyone else in them to listen more mindfully,

to empathize more deeply,

to let go of shyness and shame, to reconsider some of our past

assumptions about our lives, to value the little things in life more, and just have a place

to come each week where everyone's kind and thoughtful and loves to laugh or cry or be creative and learn together.

Again and again, people say the workshops are restorative.

You know, it's a creative space and it's a very detailed learning experience, but also an uplifting one, where some people make

lasting friendships even. We're even working on creating ongoing online story circle events for

graduates of the workshops so they can keep it all flowing and remain in community.

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