How Stories Got Me Over the Mountain
As the least physically prepared of the seven adults with whom I was traveling, I was close to tears on a vertical mountain climb in Italy when I rediscovered the potency of a story.
Our guide, gifted in strength and the art of selecting just the right watering hole after a long hike, could tell a great yarn. She was an American woman living abroad with a suitcase full of stories. She quickly determined that if I wasn’t able to keep pace with the others along the rugged Cinque Terre landscape, it was going to be a long day. So she dropped to the back and proceeded to spin a series of very extended and hilarious stories that got me up and down that immense mountain. (See photo below.)
Those stories engaged my mind and encouraged my limbs to go on automatic. Stories, quite literally, got me over the mountain that day and brought me back to the simple beauty of storytelling. (Now if I could only get back to Italy!)
I spend most of my time in stories for the page. But listening to - and participating in - live storytelling has added a layer to my writing and how I coach writers. I’ve become more sensitive to the sound and tone of the words. Their flow and authenticity.
A storytelling event is also a fun night out. It’s a big bang for your entertainment dollar. Community-building. Allows an artist to get her work out there and receive feedback in the process. And many shows donate the entry fee to the arts.
In addition to over mountains, stories can be told in a coffeehouse, library, bakery or bar, or in the case of Jill Howe’s Story Sessions Open Mic this Friday, a dispensary (see details below). You can put on your earphones and listen to a podcast. Either way, stories will help get you get over and through whatever challenge you are facing at the moment.
Hoping a story or two will get 2025 off to an inspiring start.
Microphone photo (above) courtesy of Unsplash.
Mountain photo (below) by EBB.
Storytelling Events Around Chicago
Chicagoans: This Friday, January 3: Check out the return of Story Sessions Open Mic at a new venue!
Storytelling by Podcast
Chicago-area venues where I’ve told stories: Story Sessions, Short Story Theatre, This Much is True, Homewood Stories, You’re Being Ridiculous, Do Not Submit, Is This a Thing?, Story Club North, Essay Fiesta