Storytelling As Art

Nancy Mellon.

If you could envision when storytelling began, you'd probably have to go back to when human beings first appeared and language developed. It would probably be rather early in our history. But storytelling as an art may come later. You can actually see that skill, that art, in many of our great printed works.

There is, though, another framework, another form to the art - and that is in oral storytelling. That has a longer history, in the way information became passed down the generations through the spoken word before the age of print began. Still, even in this age of electronic information, when all of us can be inundated with information, passed through bits and bites, constantly assailing us, the art of oral storytelling still exists. Unlike in previous eras, we can preserve the spoken story in videos, with those same bits and bites.



NANCY MELLON is what one might term a professional storyteller. She has been at her work for a number of years, having engaged in careers as an author, psychotherapist, and mentor. She utilizes the art of storytelling not just for the story told, but for the art of healing.

Those who seek Ms. Mellon out, are known to gather in listening circles, which provide the cathartic experience for participants of being able to relate a piece of the story of themselves. As Ms. Mellon says, "I am a convener of listening circles, and a tender of plot lines. I help people to find their way through dark woods and briar patches to new freedom and well-being." Within the group setting, adults are learning expressive skills and art, getting to know themselves better, identifying with themes, and being led through the telling of their stories in an artistic way.

By hearing their own and other participants' stories, participants discover more about themselves and realize their commonalities with those around them. Again, Ms. Mellon contributes, "It is astonishing what has been happening to our listening and the spoken word in recent years. The gift of storytelling for us human beings is to make space and time for deep listening, and then to speak - in that order."

Storytelling helps to see a different perspective.

We are all in the midst of our life stories. We can't tell the entire story because we are still living it. Yet, we can still tell the story of what we have already done, of who we believe we are, and we can communicate the pieces with the next generation, even as that story still continues to evolve. As Ms. Mellon says, "When children are asked what they remember from childhood, so often it is those original stories told by their dearest adults....Children have to grow; they must find courage to create themselves, and to be created according to their destiny. They so need the presence of adults who have the courage to demonstrate that it is possible to not quite know the story, and nevertheless to continue with it."

In the end, as Ms. Mellon reports, "Every person's story counts." All of us can learn so much from each other.

Remember, yours counts, too.

Thanks to this article from Daily Good: http://www.dailygood.org/story/1080/nancy-mellon-storytelling-as-a-healing-art-anne-veh/; and information from the above link.

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