“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.” 
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

 AUG 2013

Storytelling. Has it been lost, or is it in one of its many transformations? I have found the internet and social media overwhelming at times, and posting on instagram often feels odd. But I've convinced myself it's an extension of telling the story, and an opportunity to learn.

I've started reading a book titled 'Women Who Run With the Wolves' Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Isn't it great when you come across things in life that further enforce your values, beliefs, and way of being? I only hope that we can all pick up on these moments when they come our way. Anyway, my point is that this book highlights the importance of storytelling, how it empowers, disempowers, and has a way of sharing information throughout generations. Of shaping us. And on the other hand, stories have been warped and edited to remove the good and even incite fear, telling a ‘half tale’, more suited to the teller of the time.

My upbringing in New Zealand as it is for many Kiwi kids was heavily influenced by Maori culture and customs. While not my iwi, I grew up next to Puatahi Marae and had friends from neighboring Maraes. These formative years often directing back to a wharenui (meeting house). The welcome, the discussions, the opportunity to speak passed from individual to individual. The respect you pay by listening. I saw not only the importance of stories being told but the equal importance of listening and people’s need to be heard. At first out of fear of being scolded, then eventually out of awe of the magic that can come from one human speaking from the heart, supported by song. I revel in how this traditionally structured way of introducing parties helps to welcome and connect us. These are very basic human needs. And in those moments, we were all exposed to something that had to have engraved its beautiful practice into our bones. This comfortably pointed me in the direction of speeches, school plays, and eventually, a radio course which resulted in signing up to an agent and finding work in radio and presenting shows on the tele… and now much time to take stock and reflect on WHY I have wound up here, years deep into a career that I never clearly set sight on. It just became what it is, and without a shadow of doubt, influenced by this precious country I call home.

To me, it's important to listen with a critical mind and patience. This helps me a lot and isn't something I consciously noted until recently. Throughout my work so far I have been lucky to journey from NZ to the Galapagos Is, Fiji, Malawi, Australia, and the USA. Searching for the story that connects us all. Futile? Perhaps. But the bits and bobs we all collect throughout our experiences are pieces to a personal (and global!) puzzle, and in the meantime, I am very much into seeking more of that! Shannon, August 2013.