Thursday, February 28, 2008

Story Telling

Last weekend the library paid for me to attend a Storytelling Conference at Brigham Young University. Truthfully, the conference didn't have a whole lot to do with my library position, but I have always had a love for oral storytelling so I bravely asked for my employer to foot the bill.

Anyhow, for two days I was able to listen to world class storytellers and take workshops on topics like bedtime story rituals, storytelling 101, the power of the oral tradition, and creating a family heritage of storytelling. It was a really great weekend and I left with some ideas that I will use in my weekly children's story time at the library as well as ideas to use when I become a mother. Also, it's hard to explain, but attending the conference made me feel a sense of wonder that had recently been absent from my life. Thank goodness I am starting to dream again!

2 comments:

Michael Carr - Veritas Literary said...

This is a bit of a tangent, but I think one of the reasons we love good stories is because things sometimes make more sense in a story than in the real world. In the real world sometimes the nasty person gets ahead in life, while the good person suffers. Bad things sometimes happen for random reasons.

In a good story there is a coherency between action and reaction, reward of the good and punishment of evil. It's why most people demand a happy ending.

Anyway, interesting post.

WendyandGabe said...

Thanks for the comment. It's nice to know that people are reading the blog. I hope you have some good stories to share when you visit us next month. I remember you telling some really scary stories when we took that trip to Yellowstone.