What I Do

"Stories, tales, bardic chronicles," Widget says. "Whatever you care to call them. The things we were discussing earlier that are more complicated than they used to be. I take pieces of the past that I see and I combine them into narratives. It's not that important, and this isn't why I'm here -"

"It is important," the man in the grey suit interrupts. "Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forgot that." He takes another sip of his wine. "There are many kinds of magic, after all."

-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I told someone recently that I like to call myself a story teller.

I don't care what form it is in, but I tell stories. Written, told, read, sung, danced, acted, performed, painted, sculpted, played, listened to... stories come in all forms. It's why I love the arts so much. 

Stories change us.

Look at the Bible. A majority of scripture is telling stories. 

Why do people stare at paintings and sculptures for hours? Because it tells a story. 

Books will never leave (whether they are in paper format or electronic) because people will never tire of hearing stories.

Source

I have heard of people growing more attached to fictional characters than to real people, because they tell a story.

Stories need to be told. Imaginative, fiction, non-fiction, fantastic, and realistic. They all have their place and need to be shared. They tell us about life and the world around us. They attempt to answer questions we never could begin to ponder in only a few words. They express the very core of humanity in a way that couldn't be done otherwise.

With simply a lyric, verse, stroke of a paintbrush, or the moment the lights fade on the stage, we can be transported to another world beyond our own. 

Yet so much like our own. 

Storytellers tell everyone's tale - or at least their side. 

The summer after I graduated high school I was in the musical Children of Eden. It was a musical loosely based on the beginning of Genesis. Starting with Adam and Eve, and ending with Noah and his family. The chorus were called "storytellers."

I loved that. They weren't just background people supporting the main characters. They were the ones who told the story and moved it forward. 

Source

I am a storyteller. That is what I do. Whether I'm writing a blog post, a novel, performing in a play, teaching teenagers, singing a song, or learning a piece of music on an instrument, I am telling a story.

Today's writing prompt: If you cannot say your job, what do you do? Link up here for Blog Every Day In May!