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Archive Number 30 | ||
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 23:32:28 EDT
Greetings! It's exciting to be part of this new listserv but also a bit unnerving because I am not exactly sure who is out there reading this message! It is always so curious to me what people mean when they speak of "story" and "storytelling." And, while I am fascinated by the varied personal narratives that people carry with them, my great love is for folktale and myth--"traditional stories." I would agree with Joseph Campbell who said in the Power of Myth, "These bits of information from ancient times have to do with deep inner problems, inner mysteries, inner thresholds of passage.... When a subject catches you, there is a feeling from one or another of these traditions, of information of a deep, rich, life-vivifying sort that you don't want to give it up." I look to the old stories to carry me beyond the literalness my own story and into the transforming world of metaphor, symbol, imagination. I also think that these tales can be powerful doorways to change when used with skill and sensitivity. Re. this there is now an interesting story, "The Cracked Pot," posted at the "Forum" section of HASIG's website ( www.healingstory.org) In the essay that accompanies this story, Mary Dessein tells how she uses the tale in her work with substance abuse prevention. For those of you who don't know it already, the "Forum" is an interactive feature and here socialworker-turned-storyteller, Rocci Hildum, asks Mary, innocently enough < Well, I'd say that the preparation is the point! Indeed, in a therapeutic context, a story "performance" takes a lot of careful planning and, I think, involves a lot more not just the telling of the story but more importantly, shaping of the session--i.e., setting up a "facilitating environment," setting goals, anticipating outcomes and at the same time leaving room for the unexpected breakthough. The field of interactive biblio/poetry therapy have evolved a model for talking about this. I believe most poetry therapists don't really understand what storytelling is all about but I hope that at least a few will be on this list to kick the topic around! I personally am, by training, an art therapist with additional training in other creative arts therapies (like poetry therapy). I am also a storyteller who has worked as an artist-in-residence in a variety of "therapeutic settings" such as special schools and hospitals. I hope there are others of you on this list who will want to get into what to me is an endlessly fascinating subject, mainly, the power of traditional material and the processes involved in relating this to the here- and-now. And three cheers to Andre Heuer who is the person who got this listserv going! Cristy West Washington, D.C. | ||