Conquering Unreasonable Fear

 

This was an exciting day for me, both as a Kuumba member and personally.  The telling flowed, each story building and adding another dimension.  Listening was truly a feast for my ears.  I didn't plan to tell.  I asked to be placed last, hoping that we would run out of time and I wouldn't have to.

 

After about the sixth teller, I realized I'd better think of a story.  I'd thought about telling "The Trunk of Possibilities, a story I wrote for Southwest Atlanta Magazine.  I've never told a story that had begun as a written story.  The personal stories I've told up till this point were developed as oral stories.

 

I've never been able to translate a story that began as a written story into an oral story.  I'd almost changed my mind, until I talked with a friend of Gwen Napier's.  Gwen's friend said she'd read the story and really liked it.  (I wondered if anyone ever read those stories.)  She went one to tell me that it was her favorite of all the stories I'd written.  As if that wasn't enough encouragement, she shared a story. 

 

While Christmas shopping, she began a conversation with the sales clerk wrapping the purchase she'd just made.  The clerk mentioned that she didn't have a  present to give her grandchildren.  Gwen's friend told her the story "The Trunk of Possibilities."  She said that "you have something valuable that would be appreciated.  You may not know what it is now, somewhere, you to have a "trunk of possibilities."  The woman began crying as she finished wrapping the present.

 

Of course I chose to tell the story, and it turned out better than I ever expected.  Leaving the library, the adrenalin was pumping, not ready to go home, I ended up listening to a Latin band.  I've always wanted to dance in the street.  Tonight I did.  It was incredible.

 

Each time I conquer an unreasonable fear, my storytelling is transformed.  I am freed to be more expressive and to try the untried.  Watch out, I've just tackled two unreasonable fears, at our next event I may be dancing on the tables.

 

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me.  

Jeanette W. Vaughn, Professional Storyteller
404-765-9751; kuumbastorytellers.org
jeanettevaughn.blogspot.com (listen to a story)
"Weaving a web of words that educate, encourage, entertain."