…and not an image in sight
Those who read this blog regularly will know that I am a big fan of the power of story. I write books about it, I teach about it, and I get excited when I see other people using it. However, once in a while it is good to be reminded of its power first hand.
Last night I went to visit some friends to discuss an upcoming meeting. However, in my case I had a brand new children’s story which I wrote last week. Since the two small children in the house had not yet gone to bed – I asked the family if they would be kind enough to act as guinea pigs. The children nodded with excitement – especially when their mom told them that they were the first children ever to hear it. So, we sat around the kitchen table with its chequered tablecloth – three adults and two children. Around us was all the clutter of family life and three steaming mugs of tea and coffee.
Within the first two sentences something magical happened. The room went quiet, the children went still, and the surroundings fell into a kind of soft focus as the story worked its magic on all of us – including the person reading it out. There is a qualitative difference to the silence when we are captured by story. It is so much more than an absence of noise. It is as if the noise within is calmed too, and we allow ourselves to be willing participants in the story’s adventure.
On reading the last sentence the first thing the children wanted to know was when they could buy the story book. Sadly, that is a question I cannot answer, but I’m working on it.
The journey begins…
