Why A Storytelling Festival?

When I tell people that I'm heading off to Cherish Bound's National Convention and I'm going to a Storytelling Festival...I always get the deer-in-the-headlights look and then a Huh? Storytelling Festival???

This year we'll be spending our convention nestled in the beautiful Utah mountains at the Mount Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. So why here? Because we're the experts in Family Storytelling. As consultants we're out in the middle of families and communities teaching them about the power of story and the simplicity and basic truth of the well-told story. My goal is to make sure everyone I know has at least one story to pass on to their families. I've learned through Cherish Bound as well as immersing myself in story that storytelling is not only an art, but it's a glue that will bind a family together. Story is magic for families.

I've attend 2 major storytelling festivals; Jonesborough, TN and Four Corners in New Mexico, as well as a handful of smaller ones. There is a unique energy that permeates from these festivals. I was one who had stereotyped storytelling and never gave it a chance, until I found Cherish Bound. We are encouraged to learn about the roots of storytelling, where it comes from, and get a better understanding of it so we can sincerely help families and those we come in contact with. I had no idea the impact it would have one me. I realized we're all storytellers at heart...some share on the stage, others through written pages, and a majority of storytellers are people like you and me....curled up on our couches with our children.

I have fallen in love with "storytelling". I get goosebumps when I think about sitting under the beautiful white tents waiting for the next storyteller to take over the stage...my thoughts and my heart! I literally lose myself in their stories and forget where I'm at. I could go on and on and on about this....so I will. But in tomorrow's post. I'll tell you about my incredible experience at the Jonesborough, Tennessee, storytelling festival that I attended in October 2006!

Learn about storytelling and the Timpanogos Story Telling Festival by visiting Cherish Bound and The Festival's home page!