09/07/2024
What is valuable
I’ve been thinking about this question this week. We moved my parents from their home of nearly 60 years into an assisted living center. Which left my family with the job of sorting through all the stuff that accumulated over the years.
Some things family members wanted to take, others we happily donated to our local thrift store. It’s made me think about the value that something has.
Something I noticed was that the things people wanted to keep had to do with the stories attached to them.
For example: there were the size 12 brand new roller skates still in their box. These were passed up time and time again.
Then, I told the story about my dad, when he was a teen in the late 40’s and early 50’s. He worked in a roller skating rink. He would often “Roller-dance” with the woman who co-owned the rink.
She taught my dad how to skate, while her husband taught him how to fly an airplane. The man had lost his legs in world war two, but could still fly the plane. He didn’t skate as much anymore. It was difficult for the couple to Roller-dance like they had once, so she recruited my dad to learn how to skate. He would leave school early to help out in their numerous businesses. Including a movie theater, skating rink and chicken business
These skates belong to my dad. Who, bought on a whim and kept them in the box- a reminder of his younger days. He bought them, thinking maybe he would pick it up again sometime. There they sat, nearly brand new.
Suddenly, the skates had a story… They were immediately snatched up.
Stories change perception, which changes value. One study found that when a story is attached to an item, the value of that item increases.
That is just one of the reasons I recommend using stories in your videos.They make the video more interesting, and they stick in people’s minds. If you haven’t already done my free storytelling video series- check it out at mattkjar.com