I'm a good listener...

I'm a good listener, but it has occurred to me that maybe I'm a storyteller, too.

This past weekend was the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough.  My mother and I attended via passes from a co-worker.  This was mom's first experience at the festival, and my 4th.  The last three years I have been the beneficiary of two free passes from a co-worker.  I had nearly forgotten, but my first time at the event was more than 10 years ago!  Maybe 15?  And, guess what?  It was also via a free pass from a co-worker!  Thank you to my generous friends who spend their time volunteering so I can attend for free!  (Note:  I'm not a complete mooch. This year I offered to recompense my friend and she didn't refuse, so I paid her $40.  Still a great deal considering a Saturday only ticket costs $95.)

I love to listen to a good story.  The masters of storytelling at the festival can weave characters and situations that completely transport you from the chair you're sitting in to their world and make you want to stay and look around a bit longer after the story is over!

Mom enjoyed herself; Donald Davis was her favorite.  He is so expressive and humorous!  We listened to Donald first, then John McCutcheon, a folk singer/storyteller likened to one of my all-time favorites Will Rogers, and finally we listened to the queen of storytelling, Kathryn Windham, who is now in her nineties.  They performed in that order at the Courthouse Tent starting at 10:00 am, with Donald being the first speaker of the day in that tent.  Each time a teller was introduced, the host would encourage us to tell our own stories at the Swapping Ground.  One time she even said that people at the Swapping Ground want to hear our stories, which isn't always the case at home.  :)

I knew we had to get there early to make sure we got a seat inside the tent (because I didn't want to bother carrying a chair), so we arrived at 9:00 am and were in our seats by 9:15 am.  The tent was already packed!  Somehow, we were able to get seats just behind the wheelchair section.  Our plan was to get a good seat and hold on to it until we left at 2:00 pm.  Other people had the same desire for a good seat, but somehow thought they could arrive just before the session started and get a Tent Monitor to seat them like they had reserved seating at the Barter.  This, of course, is nearly impossible and it stressed out the Tent Monitors to the point they were about to confiscate the belongings left behind by the dear elderly couple next to me who had stepped out to stretch their legs between speakers!  I fought for them, what can I say, they had been nice to us.

Seriously, it was mad.  I liken it to the crowd I see out shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  These shoppers have a reputation of being discount-hungry rabid moms desperately trying to give their miserable family a good Christmas.  But I see them in a different light today.  They're not poor.  They're not benevolent.  They ARE hungry (and perhaps near rabid) to get something they feel they DESERVE and have to get before someone else undeserving takes it from them.  Just like these people today with their chairs.  They demanded.  They even stole.  They walked right into people.  They did what they wanted with no regard for rules or others.  It's not the day-after-Thanksgiving sales that stir up the crazy in them, it's the sheer drive of greed and selfishness in any setting on any day of the year!  You wouldn't expect to see this kind of behavior at a tame event such as a storytelling festival, but now I know we can turn anything into a quest for the best.

So, anyway, the tellers that day kept encouraging us to tell our own stories.  They say everyone is full of stories that need to be told.  I've told mine for the day.

(Sirius XM radio is playing portions of last weekend's event beginning Friday, October 8th!)