storytelling

If I go missing, you know I've joined the World Race. 

Everyone has a story to tell. I have one. You have one. But how do we get people talking?

1. Shut up.

A few weeks ago I was at the bank, setting up a new account. I wasn't saying much because I had my eye on the keurig in the corner. Plus I didn't want Tonya to accidentally put the wrong name, address, or social security number on my account.

"You're very quiet," she said. "Can I tell you a story?"

I'm a writer. A good story is worth the risk of a little identity theft, so I chanced that she could type and talk at the same time.

2. Be understanding.

While at the bookstore recently I slid a copy of No More Perfect Moms across the counter to the cashier.

"I think I need to read this," she said. "I'm not a pinterest mom," she continued. "I'm a 'lucky to have showered today' mom."

"I think people are starting to be more honest," I offered. "Most days we all just want to hide in the pantry."

That was all it took.

"I think my son is trying to get stitches..." began her 20-minute story.

3. Use your kids.

Kids are a great icebreaker.

My brother with his girls. March 2013.

My brother and I took his quadruplet girls to McDonalds last weekend. They were dressed identically, otherwise people often times mistake them for two sets of twins (because of height difference and hair styles). This soon led to conversations with other moms and grandmas about premies, the NICU, and general child rearing. "Our story" seemed to pale compared to some of theirs... a little boy born at 22 weeks with zero chance of survival who is now 6 years old; a little girl born perfect except that her heart never had a beat.

4. Go to funerals. 

Storytelling is part of our remembrance. Quaker memorial services are built on storytelling, but there is an element of this to any funeral, regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof. We celebrate, we learn about, we remember, we honor, we mourn, we understand, and we cherish our loved ones through their stories.

5. Ask.

"What's the craziest thing that has ever happened to you on the job?" the guy in the barber's chair next to mine asked his stylist. She went on to describe the Christian family who, wanting to do something nice, brought a lice-infested homeless man in for a haircut. And the cop who accidentally maced her when his belt got stuck on her chair.

EMBRACE STORYTELLING.

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.


Just finished reading Jodi Picoult's latest novel The Storyteller. A page turner!