ZigZag

And so we come to the end of the alphabet for our April A-to-Z blogging theme of “Story Slams & Traditional Storytelling – Bridging the Distance.”

I love the picture that I found for the top of this post (of the zigzag bridge heading off into the fog), because as I’ve been sharing my so-far explorations and observations, with the stated desire to bridge the distance between the genres, the audiences, the enthusiasts…

…boy have I zigged and zagged all over the place – and others along with me!

Through this past month of blogging near-daily I have tried to share observations, opinions, and questions; and I’ve sought to invite and encourage those of others, whether here on this blog itself or on Facebook (where I always post links to my blog postings, and especially on the Facebook Storytellers page [I apologize to some readers – that is a closed Facebook group, and yet as you can imagine it’s a good place to post and have some conversation around my chosen theme]).

Between my own words and the comments of others in various places, boyoboy has there been…

…zigzagging all over!  Including, but not limited to:

• “We hate competition!” “Competition is fun!”
• “Personal narratives are wonderful!” “Personal narratives are inferior to traditional tales!”
• “I hate swearing in story slams!” “Swearing is fine and necessary for some stories!”
• “Personal storytelling is narcissistic!” “Personal storytelling is authentically engaging!”
• “American storytelling is all those autobiographical tales!” “I’m an American storyteller and all I tell is folk tales!”
• “Being judged is horrible!” “Having your storytelling judged gives valuable feedback!”
• “Younger audiences hate traditional stories!” “If we package and deliver ‘em right, younger audiences enjoy traditional stories!”
• “Story slams will be the death of storytelling!” “Story slams are bringing new audiences to storytelling!”

I invite you to click on the April 2015 archives in the right-hand sidebar and read the variety of zigs and zags, if you’ve not already!

What I know is this:

• storytelling is intrinsic to, and important for, being human;
• we need to tell and hear stories;
• and I love storytelling, whether done for fun or profit or learning or community-building, or all of the above.

Storytelling crosses boundaries (sometimes zigzagging…) and can create connections in fruitful, important, and creative ways.

Having almost completed this 2015 April A-to-Z Daily Blogging Challenge (I still need to catch up and write the missing “V” post – stay tuned!), I will not be blogging daily any more (whew!), but will return to probably twice-a-month blogging (not able, at least yet, to commit to weekly).

I hope you’ll read, and maybe comment; would love it if you chose to sign up to “follow” my blog (upper right sidebar there’s a subscription spot – you’d get a notice in your email inbox every time I do publish a new one).

I’m grateful you’ve journeyed with me a bit as I’ve dipped my toes in the waters of story slams “vs.” more-traditional storytelling, seeking to bridge what distance is there.  In the future I’ll be publishing more Story Crossings blog posts on other aspects of the art, practice, and gift of storytelling…

Thanks for reading – Pam