become a storyteller

Words can hold such power and such magic. But so many people just let them fall out of their mouths. Not giving any thought or responsibility to the words that passed threw their bodies and lips.

I love words and I love stories and I want them to become a part of me and I want to share that beauty and love with others. I don’t want to waste my breath on things that can only hurt or have no significance.

I have been to the Jonesboro (sp?) Storytelling Festival twice. I love stories anyway—reading, writing, and listening to them. And I love to act/perform. I started to do work on this one about five years ago. I even memorized the basics of my first story. But I ended up giving up on it. I’m not sure why.

This is a skill I want to learn and practice more often.

You know, my mother once told me that whenever I take the bus there will always be one weirdo on the bus. Strange, every time I have taken the bus I have never seen a weirdo.

I found an incredible source for storytellers : AugustHouse.com August House is a book publisherwhose work supports the storytelling tradition. I forsee many purchases from their catalog in the coming months.

therefore I am.

There is such a rich storytelling tradition that is dying in America that perhaps this knight can save. American folklore like Paul Bunyon, folktales that originated in the slave quarters of the South, and the mythical stories of indigenous people from the American Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Native Hawaiians all need to be told and retold.

Research is needed, but I am sure that I can find the written stories somewhere. Perhaps I can commit some of these to memory and tell in Toastmasters. And perhaps with a new baby in the family I’ll have a built in audience as well!

With babies, especially newborns, it really doesn’t matter what you say, it’s all in the tone. I seized on the opportunity to practice tone and cadence with my nephew this weekend and was surprised at how babies respond to tone.

I had to do a story-telling of the Stinky Cheese Man and the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Interestly, upon stopping, William would show signs of a little crankiness that immediately subsided once I started speaking again. As much as my sister and b-i-l enjoyed listening to the stories, they were more impressed with how I read the CNN crawl in a story-telling voice much to the amusement of the baby.

I need to find a way to unleash this gift on the world.

This summer I plan to re-do the Storytelling manual for Toastmasters.

In the past I have written speeches for that set of projects as they came along. My goal for this go-around is to have a cohesive theme for all of the stories. I still have not decided what the common element will be – but it will reflect a great deal of research and advanced planning.

One bright day,

In the middle of the night,

Two dead men got up to fight,

Back to back they faced each other,

Drew their swords and shot each other,

If you don’t believe this lie is true,

Ask the blind man,

He saw it too

(I remember this from second grade)