Who (or what) inspires you to tell stories?
For me, it's an ambition to find our common humanity through seeing, listening to, and experiencing others' stories. I'm also inspired by anyone who uses their storytelling voice to bring attention to the voices of others -- especially if they are seemingly voiceless... shining a spotlight on and holding a microphone to those who are typically overlooked and unheard.
Richard
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Inspiration
I am a writer and teller of personal and historical narratives, as well as folk tales and myths, that reflect the texture and complexity of family and community life, the blessings and betrayals to be found therein. I am inspired by the need to bring meaning and community out of experience that is chaotic or isolating. The tension between intimacy and autonomy is a key theme in my work. I use humor to create a safe space for allowing this tension to play out. I hope my best stories give my audience, reading or listening, an awareness of beauty in the moment, a vision of justice, and inspiration to act effectively and compassionately in the world.
Thank you!
Paula, thank you for sharing the inspiration for your storytelling. It really resonates with me -- especially these two lines:
"I am inspired by the need to bring meaning and community out of experience that is chaotic or isolating."
"I use humor to create a safe space for allowing this tension to play out."
Beautiful. Humor is a wonderfully underrated tool for so many things.
Richard
Family storytelling
I've been inspired by the storytelling that goes on in my family. At all the big gatherings that I've been too, the memories that stick with me most are all the stories that we told, both personal family histories and Yiddish folk tales. And of course, the loud laughter, interrupting and good-natured correcting about what ACTUALLY happened. My grandfather passed away recently and he was a master storyteller. It was comforting and healing to sit with people at his shiva who knew him and re-tell the stories that he told and tell new stories remembering his life.
So in this very personal relationship with story, I see the importance of telling our own stories and the collective stories of our own communities. There is something so human about telling stories, and in that the potential for great healing and great power.
I was with my grandmother
I was with my grandmother over Memorial Day weekend, and I got to be around her stories. I love them. They are simple, straightforward, and to the point. I've heard many of them so many times I can re-tell them with parts of her inflection and manner. I used to wish she would tell different stories, but as she and rest of the family are aging, I'm glad I have a number of the stories memorized. They connect me to my dad, my uncles, and my aunt in ways that would never be available otherwise, and in so doing, connect me more to myself.
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