Episode 23: Loneliness and Our Stories with Robyn Kown

Hope for the Lonely with Charlotte Donlon

In this episode of Hope for the Lonely, Charlotte Donlon talks to Robyn Kown about loneliness and our stories. Robyn is the founder and Executive Director for StoryTellers Live Ministry which includes StoryTellers Live Podcast as well as local community gatherings in 8 cities around the Southeast. Robyn says, "In the Fall of 2016, some friends and I got together weekly for a small group. Each week one of us shared our story. These were friends, some of them I had known for several years, and I was hearing things about them I never knew! We began to see each woman for who God created her to be. An idea began to form. What if this could be done in a large setting? I started dreaming with God and asking Him what this looked like. Over time I began to see a ministry unfold – a place where women share their stories in a large setting, where they could be vulnerable and brave and able to share an experience that God has done in their life. Other women in the room would hear that story and not feel so alone. They would think, 'if God did that in their life, He can do something in my life too!' Women would be encouraged to not only see God's story in their life but also share it with others. This was it! StoryTellers Live was born. "Robyn now coaches women on the art of how to tell real and personal stories of encounters with God. These stories can be heard on the StoryTellers Live Podcast. She lives in Vestavia Hills, Alabama with her husband and three children.Links:Storytellerslive.org (https://www.storytellerslive.org/)Instagram: @storytellerslivepodcast (https://www.instagram.com/storytellerslivepodcast/)Facebook: StoryTellers Live (https://www.facebook.com/storytellersliveonline/)Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website (https://www.ourfaithinwriting.com/). Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her onTwitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/).