The Art of Storytelling

The art of storytelling is truly the mastery in learning how to hold the attention of your audience.  To be able to communicate a story in such a way that your audience stays engaged throughout the whole story.

A skill and mastery for sure and one I am currently getting lots of practice in.

My audience? A 3 ½ year old.

Almost everything day my niece Eva, in her sweet little voice asks, “KK, can we tell stories?”

So everyday I met with the storytelling challenge of holding the attention of a 3 ½ year old! I figure if I master this, then I can add storytelling to my resume, and if you are wondering I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Our storytelling time starts with me asking her what characters she would like in the story.  She always says Teagan, Bella, Ethan, KK, Nana, Papa, Matt, Jana, Mommy, Daddy, and Alison, which translate as her family and her current best friend. 

Every now and then I ask her if she wants Jesus to be in the story.  She replies, no and restates again the people mentioned above to be included in the story.  I then make a mental note that I am failing as a spiritual Aunt!

Although, being the sneaky storytelling Aunt KK, I always find a way to make Jesus the main character in the story.  Usually it involves clumsy Aunt KK falling and breaking her arm or leg and Eva having to pray and ask Jesus to me! Cheeky, cheeky I know!

As I thought about Eva’s choosing of characters, it makes complete sense.  Her family and best friend are the people who she has the closest relationship with, so of course she wants them to be the main characters, and I pray as she more and more gets to know her dad in Heaven, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit they will begin to take their role as well. 

Yet as I reflected even deeper on this art of storytelling, I realize the storytelling world is no different from our “real world”. 

Everyday we are writing the story of our lives and choosing the main characters and their significance.    

Everyday your story is being told.  My story is being told. 

People watch it.  People hear it.  On display for all to see.

Everyday the story continues to unravel and the main characters evolve and grow. 

As I think about my story, desiring to have my Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as my main characters, I see how compelling my story has become. 

When you look at Jesus’s life in the Bible, people were drawn to His story, to His very life. He held the attention of everyone He engaged with. 

His life was mastery in itself, and if I am doing this Christianity thing right, then I believe my story, my life should follow suit.  It should hold the attention of everyone watching and listening in. 

So if the art of storytelling is truly mastery in learning how to hold the attention of your audience, maybe then the art of living your story is truly mastery in choosing the right main characters.

And if you ask me, I think I am onto something there! J

Then again who knew the a simple of act of telling a story to a 3 ½ year old could take me so much deeper and remind me that the characters in my story are the most compelling of all.  For I have truly chosen wisely. 

We all have a choice.  Who are characters? What will be their significance?  

So…

What’s your story? Who are your characters? Are they evolving?

For no one likes a dying plot.

And seriously who can resist telling stories to this face?!