“Once upon a time” is often the best place to begin.  A storyteller since I began stringing phrases together, I watched (and learned) as “telling her story” was my grandmother’s path to healing.  Since then, the healing power of story has been what I have sought after in all engaged venues…the classroom, theater, radio, museums, libraries, workshops, hospices, restorative justice programs, peace circles, conferences – and the living rooms of family and friends.   Having survived deep trauma and much loss in my life, it was storytelling that helped me to navigate the many rooms of grief, anger, hope, insight and forgiveness.

While I enjoy listening to and telling stories of all kinds and that evoke a broad range of emotions, I am particularly drawn to the stories of women and the marginalized.  Stories that are so often lost and/or ignored.  Additionally, nothing gives me more of a tickle than to tell stories to children!

While I concede that technology has its perks, I am not at all convinced that it nurtures the primal need for story embedded in our DNA.  Family stories are getting lost.  Less time is taken and less space given in our lives for storykeeping.  There was a time in history when we depended on stories for survival.  We need them now as we struggle to heal divisions, address the wounds of the marginalized and work to become the compassionate humanity of dreams.