Storytelling As Philosophy;Storytelling Is Teaching, Storytelling Is Healing

Training overview

Today storytelling is a practice too often seen as a simple way of entertaining children and believe it has little relevance to our adult lives. However, literacy is a fairly recent human development and while it is a powerful tool, it comes with a cost. Our social connections are built on stories and without the stories to build bridges with one another, we might miss the essence of those around us.

This presentation focuses on how our innate human gift of telling stories and storytelling are critical to our personal and social development. I share the traditional legends and myths of Native cultures across America to have the listener/audience reflect upon the story, the teachings within the story, and the possible connections those teachings could have in their life and work. We share this reflections with others to understand that in sharing our feelings and perspectives, we learn about others and ourselves.

The presentation will also differentiate between two types of stories; the "Long Time Ago....." story and the "Remember When?" story. The first are the stories our culture has taught us and we carry with us from our childhood. The latter are the stories that share the events in our lives to connect with them and their stories. Both are critical to our sense of identity and connection.