Stories have power. They delight, enchant, touch, teach, recall, inspire, motivate, challenge. They help us understand. They imprint a picture on our minds. Consequently, stories often pack more punch than sermons. Want to make a point or raise an issue? Tell a story. Jesus did it. He called his stories ‘parables’. — Janet Litherland
Storytelling has been around since forever because as soon as someone learns to talk, they learn to tell a story. It is a way to share their experiences and connect with others.
I remember as a child sitting in my parents big kitchen, listening to the adults tell stories. Friends and relatives would come by in the evening and share stories from their past. A lunch would be served and they would laugh and tell some very interesting tall tales, while we, the children sat quietly and listened.
I remember one story that left me very puzzled for a long time. Apparently some man that they knew fell in love with the girl next door who he had known all his life. Now you have to realise that I was a child of maybe nine years old and my imagination was filling up on every world that the adults were saying. According to the story, it was a small wedding because they were very poor and times were hard. I remember them saying where he used to live because we all lived in the same town. Apparently it was a small house with very little furniture. On their wedding night he took her home. I used to read fairy tales so I imagined her to be beautiful and that he loved her. My mind drifting off wondering what their house looked like inside. They did not have electricity, and the house had not been painted, so I imagined it was dark and grey inside. He would have had to light a coal oil lamp.
Well maybe that was for the best because the poor man found out on his wedding night that he had married a man in a woman's body. They went into a few explanations but that was beyond my ability to understand. They were said to live the rest of their lives together. It ruined the love story.
This type of story telling was a way of life before television, computers and other gadgets filled our need to know what is going on in our world. We are still searching for a story and still wanting to connect to the stories of other people and their situations. The problem, is that it is missing the personal touch.
Stories strengthen and maintained relationships. It is what connects us to the present, the past and the future.
Telling stories is a nurturing act for the listener, who is connected to the storyteller through the story, as well as for the storyteller who is connected to the listeners through the story.
Telling your story is a way of healing your life... the listener is only the receiver.
There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.
Maya Angelou
In the end all we have…are stories and methods of finding and using those stories.
Roger C. Shank, from Tell Me A Story
Engagement, encouragement, hope, and education.
The Fisherman and the Salmon A Fabled Love Story about the gift of change in a woman's life.
The Crystal Ball Effect - Finding a new Solution
The Crystal Ball Effect is a new solution orientated way of thinking. Do you want to know what your future holds for you. Sign up for my newsletter and I will send it to you as a gift. It is my way of helping women change the story of their lives. It is a short story and a little more. Have a great day!
The Crystal Ball Effect is a new solution orientated way of thinking. Do you want to know what your future holds for you. Sign up for my newsletter and I will send it to you as a gift. It is my way of helping women change the story of their lives. It is a short story and a little more. Have a great day!