What’s What Wednesday Storytelling
What’s What Wednesday Storytelling
There is something very powerful in the art of telling stories. Throughout our history and our existence, we humans, have always been storytellers. At the very core of our existence, lies the incredible gift of sharing stories and passing them down through generations. We share stories with our loved ones, with those in need, and just about anyone who wants to listen. Stories are not just used for entertainment, but they are used for learning, for guiding, and for helping each other go through life. March 20-26 this year is World Folklore Tales and Fables Week. Here at SSCC, we would like to talk about the importance of stories and storytelling and how powerful stories can be to help us heal from many hard experiences.
As children, we grow up with folktales and fairytales. When children picture what it’s like to be a character in a fairytale or folktale, they are not only entertained and engaged, but they are learning too. According to Parent Child Plus, in an article discussing folktales from around the world, reading folktales to your children is an excellent way to share valuable lessons with them. (Parent Child Plus). Children’s creativity is also engaged when you tell stories. As we age, we may grow out of our desire to hear fairytales, but our desires to hear and tell stories never goes away! And telling stories, as well as listening to them, is something that we should never avoid, because it’s a major part of how we learn from our mistakes and experiences, and how we communicate with others and grow. Stories are even capable of having healing powers. Sharing your experiences with others through telling a story, helps you envision your experience in a different light. According to Donald Davis, a professional storyteller, who tours the country telling his stories, says, “You’re not telling the story to change what happened, you’re telling the story to change you.” In other words, what happened has already happened and that won’t change, but how you view this experience can change for the better. He goes on to say, “When something happens to you, it sits on top of you like a rock. And if you never tell the story, it sits on you forever. But as you begin to tell the story, you climb out from under that rock, and eventually, you sit up on top of it.” (Donald Davis, How the Story Transforms the Teller). For this particular storytelling event, Davis was telling his father’s story of how he seriously injured his leg and how it had made him disabled for the rest of his life. However, in doing so, he was able to have so many wonderful opportunities because of this one bad experience, and because he continuously shared his story, he was able to overcome this bad experience. Many of us have bad experiences, but when we share our story with others, we are able to overcome these events too. Storytelling brings people together, and through our shared experiences, we can learn from each other and help each other.
References
“Folktales and Fables to Read Together with Your Child.” ParentChild+, 19 Mar. 2018, www.parentchildplus.org/childrens-folktakes-fables/.
TEDxTalks. “How the Story Transforms the Teller | Donald Davis | TEDxCharlottesville.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Dec. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgeh4xhSA2Q.