My Reflections on Storytelling

And it was OK. They wanted to know me.
 
I actually look forward to Mondays! Well, maybe not all Mondays… and definitely not waking up Monday mornings, but I do look forward to Monday evenings when the storytelling group meets! I know. Another church group meeting- as if I don’t spend enough time doing church things. When I was first asked to consider joining this storytelling group, I was excited about the idea, but was not yet convinced that I wanted to add another group meeting to my schedule. So let me explain why I decided to join this group.

1. This group is not a regular church meeting or small group Bible study. As the name would suggest, this group is about telling stories and sharing how your life experiences have impacted who you are today, and of course, listening to others share their stories. I decided to join this group because I love hearing other people tell their stories.
2. I wanted to know people in the church on a deeper level. Telling stories and sharing the honest truth about our lives results in knowing people better- and knowing yourself better, and I wanted to know more about the others in this group.
3. Laughter. I love to smile and laugh and I love being able to laugh with others. Although fun and laughter may not be the main purpose of the storytelling group, it is a happy and welcomed aspect of our group.
4. I knew it would be challenging. Yes, I joined because I knew it would be challenging, and challenging ourselves is good. Some people can talk about themselves easily, but I think most of us struggle to open up, be vulnerable, and share the truth about our life experiences that have shaped us into who we are today. Our lives are made up of experiences, and those experiences become stories. Stories are meant to be shared with others, not bottled up and kept as a secret.

What is so nice about the structure of our group is that at each meeting, we are provided with a prompt, such as, “when I was about eight years old…” and then we share a story in response to the prompt. The short, two-minute stories that we tell about ourselves are usually fun and lively and are a great way to “break the ice” into sharing.
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The real challenging part is when it becomes your turn to share about your life story. Each person, as they are willing, is given two meetings to share about themselves. Each sharing time lasts for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. That means at the end of your two weeks, you will have talked about yourself for two and a half hours!! That is a really long time. And yes, it is uncomfortable. But yes, it is also really cool. How many opportunities do you get to sit down with a handful of people who care about you, love you, and are gathered there just because they want to listen to you? There is no judgement. There is only happy, smiling faces giving you their full attention as you talk about your life. It is uncomfortable and comfortable all at the same time. And yes, you will experience a moment where you think “there is nothing else I can share.” I had that moment both weeks of sharing, but then another story would come to mind- maybe one I didn’t plan on sharing, or one I didn’t think I would want to talk about, and I would keep on talking. And it was OK. Nothing bad happened because I shared who I am. And when I was done sharing, everyone thanked me for sharing with them! People were happy to know more about me! They wanted to know me! And I am glad that I shared, and look forward to our next Monday evening meeting. 

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