yyjStoryteller

What others have said: “Listening is an act of love.                                                                                                                                                                  Dave Isay “To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.”                                                                                  ...

Interesting Thoughts “The shortest distance between two people is a story.” — Patti Digh “Stories live in your blood and bones, follow the seasons, and light candles on the darkest night.”                                                                                                                                  — Patti Davis Some thoughts A memory untold slowly fades; a memory shared becomes a story. We carry our ancestors not in our blood alone, but in their words. Storytelling is not about recall — it is about meaning. Question What’s a memory you’ve shared so often it has become more story than fact? Please share that memory with us in the comments.. ...

  Somethings to think about: A story is not only what is told — it is what is remembered. The listener shapes it as much as the teller. Every family has “that one story” that gets told again and again. Pay attention to it — it is carrying a truth your people want to keep alive. Folktales endure because they give us permission to imagine beyond the ordinary. Sometimes a fairy tale is the most honest way to speak about life. Quotes from others “Stories are a communal currency of humanity.” — Tahir Shah “Those who tell the stories rule the world.” — Hopi Proverb A Question for YOU What is the one story from your childhood that still echoes in your life today?

The Japanese Baku was a mythological beast comprised of the parts of a bear, an elephant, a tiger, an ox and a rhinoceros Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do really bad nightmares wake you up? A Japanese grandmother would say that you need a BAKU talisman by your bed. When you wake, repeat this phrase three times: “Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream.” The BAKU will then enter your room and eat the bad dream. Then you will be able to drift off and awake the next morning after a peaceful sleep. Just make sure that it was really a bad dream. Should the BAKU still be hungry after eating your nightmare, it might keep munching and eat some of your good dreams and hopes too! In that case, you might end up living an empty and unfulfilled life.

  National Magazine Awards rounded up this list of grants, with opportunities from coast to coast to coast. The roundup includes grants for emerging artists and students pursuing a career in the arts, to professional artists practicing in various disciplines. Well worth a look.

Did you know that spaghetti grows on trees? It’s April Fool’s Day! Widely recognized as the best April fool’s dayjoke ever, on 1 April 1957, the BBC produced a television documentary on theSwiss spaghetti harvest. Inspired by the Egyptian legend of Osiris and Seth, Romans celebrated Hilaria at the end of March. People dressed up and joyfully mocked important people. In 1582, France switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. A lot of people were slow to get the news that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March, leading to a lot of laughs on and about April 1. Paper fish were fastened to the backs to symbolize how these gullible people were easily “hooked.” In the United Kingdom, during the 1700s, people were sent on phony errands searching for gowks (a word for cuckoo bird, which became the symbol of a fool. The following day became known as Tailie Day, when pranks were played on people’s derrieres, such as ...