Simple & Slow Fridays: Stories

Stories is such a great chapter in Mitten Strings for God - so much imagination and insight. Stories are a HUGE part of our family thanks to Will... but I'll fill you in on that in a later post! Here's a few excerpts from the author, Katrina Kenison, for us to think about for this week's Simple and Slow Friday.

...I didn't have the nerve to tell stories to my children. I felt I lacked the spontaneity, imagination, and wisdom necessary to make up stores off the cuff, and I was sure I didn't have the time to sit down and work out a full-blown narrative in advance...

Several months later, I joined a storytelling class taught by a therapist and former Waldorf teacher named Nancy Mellon. Each of us, it turned out, was there for the same reason - we yearned to cast magic spells, to spin tales of wonder, to enchant our children with stories - and yet none of us felt quite up to the challenge. (p. 70)

According to Nancy, our first task as storytellers is to become good listeners and good watchers. And so, at her suggestion, I began to look upon the world itself as the raw materials for stories. Suddenly, the moon, the stars, even the raindrops sliding down the windowpanes, all became imbued with life.

Years ago, parents told stories to children both to entertain them and to teach them about the world's complexities. But we lost the art of storytelling when we lost that sort of open-ended time with our children, the reflecting, wondering, watching time that gives rise to stories. (p. 71)

Where do our children hear most of their stories today? More often than not, they receive their stories from the media, from huge international corporations who need to make a profit, and who do so by "entertaining" us. These mass-produced commercial stories may capture our children's attention, but they will not stir their sense or open their hearts.

The stories we mothers can tell are different. They are food for the soul, and they nourish us, the storytellers, as well as the listeners. Telling a story is really a way of breathing deeply with our children. (p. 72)

Someplace deep within me, I carry every story I have ever heard, every story I have ever lived, every story I will ever need.
(p. 77)

How do stories play a part in your lives? I'd love to know! I'll have Mr. Linky up next Friday for your thoughts (and maybe even a story?) (Click here for the posts on Stories)

Click here to be directed to Wants and Needs. (yes, I'm a week behind...)