Storyteller, announcer, supporter of family based agriculture and youth. I write from my inspirations and fill my blogs with my other love - photography.
Be one of a kind, that is what will make you stand out among all those others. The hard part is finding our unique voice or talent and then it's all practice, practice, practice.
Here is an example that blew me away with his one of a kind routine in dance.
The very foggy Easter morning gave way to sunshine then to rain. We thought all the chores were done . Horses out, stalls clean, later in day horses in again, fed and tucked in for the night. In the meantime the cows and calves were done and I was at church to sing- sing- sing. Hallelujah!! But then......
On the last trip to the barn to check the animals before going to Easter dinner I discovered something outrageous.
A sign of spring for sure.....
We better get stalls ready because looks like the herd at the dairy will be expanding by 8.
Those are bonafide cow eggs ready to hatch, in two years they will mature and we will have Eggnog!
I sat at the table waved a book in front of the young man and said, "I found a story I thought you would like." His eyes met mine for a brief second and he went back to folding the paper football. I suggested it might be one he could go home and share with his little brother. The eyes were back on me and the expression was inquisitive. I talked a bit about the story, how the voices could be added, how body movement could demonstrate some of the action. I went through just the bones of the story. He tried on a couple voices one of coyote and one of the old tough rabbit. He had the idea.
The hands continued folding paper but I could see the mind was in the woods right near a rabbit hole. When I was leaving school I saw the young man and his little brother out playing. "Don't forget to tell him the story tonight", I called out as I drove off. The next day he ran over to report he had told his brother the coyote story and how much the little fellow liked it. The report was given as he stood tall and proud and a huge grin on his face. I think we hit upon the magic moment when a storyteller is born.
Many storytellers do work in classrooms. It is the work of preparing the torch for passing on. I found this video and love how it demonstrates classroom storytelling as a tool in education, but mostly I love seeing the smiles on their faces! Tomorrow at work, I think I'll tell that boy a new story for his brother.
Can Something as everyday as dirty laundry and washing it make a great story?
Does everyone in the world view the task the same way.?
Maybe we take our laundry story for granted. Watch this TED talk and see the construction of a story arc that carries the common theme and powerfully demonstrates a message in simple to understand story.
If you want something bad enough, what are you willing to give up? If you want something bad enough are you flexible? If you want something bad enough are you ready to give it everything you've got?
Well it might take all of that and then some!
With creativity and inspiration we can go anywhere, we can accomplish what was assumed to be the impossible.
I love it when the teens teach us these humbling lessons. Wish I had the power to grant this young lady her dream! I hope someone out there will!
This is circulating the web and I'm helping it on another leg of it's journey. I believe in dreams, they are the thing good stories are made of!
Humbled by the majesty of our National Bird the Eagle and by the tenderness of motherhood
over 100,000 at once have been logged onto the u-stream live cam from Decorah Iowa watching these Eagles hatch. Now that is viral video! We still need connections with nature and beauty and the magic of birth and for the Eagle the triumph over near extinction. Click here to see a taped segment where you can view the hatchlings.
I am a fan of Birds of Prey. I have a friendly Red Tail Hawk I talk with, crazy as that sounds. I held him in my arms once when he was hit by a car and had a concussion. He survived and has raised a family. Here a Hawk, eats a breakfast. He was not about to leave this fat rabbit just because I was there with a dozen students and we were taking pictures.
My friends Buck Creacy and Dr. Michael Lockett are part of the team that organizes this conference. They point out this is not performance storytelling but a conference on story as a communication tool. I suggest you have a look at the list of who is telling and check out their web page. I was recently in a workshop Dr.Mike Lockett was leading, it was fun, educational and inspirational, I left with tools for telling and learning bible stories in a quick easy manner and a warm memory of a wonderful workshop. Check it out!
Below some moments of inspiration I captured that I wanted to share with you.
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