Is there a point to traditional storytelling in the modern age?

I’ve always believed that the point of storytelling is to help us make sense of the world around us. And don’t we need that more now than ever?

Across the centuries, as our world changes beyond recognition, people remain people. When we listen to stories we can see and hear ourselves and each other.  We no longer feel alone- it connects our experience to that of others. It determines our place in the world- who we are, where we have come from.

My roots in traditional storytelling

I began to tell stories beyond my family when I was teaching. On school trips sometimes the children would ask for a story in the evening- yes even surly teenagers, apparently disaffected, would ‘accidentally’ be in the room to hear a story.

I drew the stories from history and told them as narratives, allowing the characters to think and feel. What must Mary Queen of Scots have felt when a group of nobles broke into her private sitting room and murdered her Italian secretary in front of her? What chaos in the room- the screaming, the blood, the terror of who next! What would you feel were this to happen in your house? 

Battles were always a good source of a human story. There you are minding your own business, and armies turn up to fight. What do you do? In one case a farmer went on ploughing his field- nothing to do with him what the fight was about!

What storytelling means to me

Sometimes I invented stories. What is that tree saying to the river about us visiting? I invented tree sprites and river sprites, mischievous and kindly, always with human characteristics. And as for the wind and the leaves - that conversation was constant. 

So what does storytelling mean to me? Even in my golden years, I still love a story. With people I am close to I will say, ‘Tell me about such and such,’ and what I am looking for is the detail of the feelings, the atmosphere, not the bald non-fiction facts. I wrap their words around me like a warm blanket. 

The power of storytelling

When I research people from history, I want to know what motivated them. That is what makes them human, and are points of contact across centuries. I am part of the universe as were they. The facts are the facts, the story is in the telling. I find the words to build character and atmosphere, drawing the listener in, and watching that sense of anticipation, and the comfort or discomfort with the resolution. 

Storytelling is the most powerful expression of our feelings, our ideas and of what in the end makes the shared experience of being human.

Whether I am in costume in a museum telling a story about cooking over an open fire in a highland cottage, or explaining events in history or the details of a family tree, telling a story is a wonderful gift to give and to receive.

Make your event come alive with a traditional storyteller 

Looking for event ideas that your guest will never forget? Book a storyteller! I work in collaboration with event organisers, and the venues to create spellbinding stories that will fill the room with wonder and delight. In costume, or not - whatever suits the mood of your event.

Get in touch to book me, before my diary fills up!