FIVE REASONS WHY I LIKE STORYTELLING

REASON 3: IT AWAKENS MY CREATIVE SIDE

The stories that I like to tell are not usually from myths, legends or folk tales. I prefer real stories about the human condition that are drawn from my personal and work experiences. As a social worker for many years, I have been privy to situations that often show people at their very worst, in periods of great emotional stress, living with the consequences of decisions that may not have worked out well for them. At the other end of the scale, I been privileged to witness instances of great joy, triumph and love which provide reassuring evidence of the strength of the human spirit and intellect.  All of these experiences provide what master teller and author Jay O’Callahan calls ‘nuggets of pure gold’ that through my stories, I try and hold up for examination and admiration by my listeners.

I’ve always enjoyed telling stories. My stories have made people laugh, cry, gasp in surprise, nod their heads in recognition, pause and reflect or oftentimes say, ‘You know that reminds me of a story…’. While I also like to write about things that go on around me, most of the time I would be more comfortable telling than writing about it. But I never thought of myself as a true ‘teller of tales’.

Until I discovered Peterborough Storytellers. Ever since my very first, unrehearsed, spontaneously told anecdote, awkwardly holding the talking stick, my relationship to stories told and listened to has changed forever.

More than ever before I find myself listening much more carefully in conversations with family, friends and co-workers. I catch myself trying to listen in on the chatter going on around me in restaurants, the movie theatre, the gym, the barber shop, service centre rest room or on the street. I am always hunting for an interesting anecdote or fragment of whispered gossip, a unique phrase or word, a voice tone or body gesture that I can turn into a story. Some days I fear that I am becoming a tidbit junkie, deliberately hanging out in places where I just might get my ultimate fix for a potentially great told or written story.

Since I retired several years ago, I have more time now to examine my ‘story collection’ and decide what either goes on display to the public through my telling or writing or what stays hidden away on either my computer’s hard drive or in my memory, perhaps to be re-discovered later, polished up and brought out front for everyone to experience in their own way.

Telling ‘real life’ stories publicly has forced me to start writing them down before I tell them. I write short stories several times a week about life events that I think others would enjoy reading about. So far, thirty-seven of them have made it onto a personal story blog that I recently created. And I enjoyed blogging so much I volunteered to curate the Tales and Tips blog of Peterborough Storytellers where you are now reading this story. The more I write, re-write and then tweak a story just one more time, I am learning how to be a better craftsman of structure, situation, character and storylines. I know this would never have happened if I had not discovered storytelling.

Taking a written story and re-shaping it into a version suitable for telling has given me more focus and discipline as a teller. Watching and learning from a live audience reacting to my stories has led to unexpected insights into elements of the plot that listeners are connecting with which in turn sends me back to the written version to tweak it some more. Once done, I bring it back again to another audience and the process starts again.

Another benefit of storytelling for me is feeding the hidden actor in my nature. Many years ago, on a whim, I auditioned for a part in a community theatre production. To my surprise, I got a good part in the play but significantly under estimated how hard it would be for me to learn the lines as the author wrote them. I was terrible. It was three months of maximum stress and I am sure my struggling gave the Director and his crew many sleepless nights! It all worked out well in the end but I took a solemn vow after our last show that I would never go on the stage again.

But now with storytelling, I find myself back on a stage of sorts. Skilled tellers are also performers, assuming the roles and personalities, voice and gestures of their story’s characters. Watching and listening to them, gives me an aspirational goal to work toward. My creative side is getting a work out and once again I am back on the stage. That’s a cool thing for me.

Most everyone has their special, creative moments that sustain them from week to week, month to month, year to year. Right now, it’s the art of storytelling and listening that does it for me. What about you? What about giving storytelling a try to set free your creative Self?

To be continued…

Written by Don Herald (A member of Peterborough Storytellers)