Carol's Corner

My calendar felt overfull. This clip art shows how I felt. I had Toastmasters ( an international educational organization where people can learn, grown and practice communication skills) including multiple meetings during the week, mentoring, leadership and special events. I had penciled in a few workshops to teach on communication skills, speaking engagements, everyday items that needed attending to and wondered how to fit in some writing. I looked at each role I had as separate entities. I was a wife, mother, grandmother. I was a Toastmaster, speaker, teacher for workshops and sometimes had time to add writing to the mix. My head whirled with ideas that never seemed to go beyond the idea stage. How did all these pieces fit together?

My husband said, “Quit looking at the pieces but look at the whole. You are a storyteller! You tell stories to your family. You tell stories at your workshops and other speaking engagements and you tell stories at Toastmasters, whether as a speech or in leadership. Writing is simply one more way to tell those stories. See they all fit – you are a storyteller – one thing not many.”

I pondered his words and realized the truth in it. Telling stories helped me learn and disseminate information to others in various venues. Storytelling energized me, encouraged me and excited me. It also allowed others to feel comfortable to share their stories and I could learn from them.

Therese Fowler’s quote, “The history of storytelling isn’t one of simply entertaining the masses but of also advising, instructing, challenging the status quo.” ties in with my husband’s words beautifully. The heading of storytelling incorporated all the facets of what I did from mentoring to teaching, from speaking to telling stories to my grandchildren and even to the written words I used to preserve the stories for others.

Now I am brave enough to say, “I am a storyteller.”

How does storytelling fit into your life?