Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, it's the beginning of stories throughout humanity and similar versions exist in stories across all cultures. 'Once, in a time long ago,' 'In the time when...' and others are variants on the same theme, but ultimately those four little words that begin any fairy or folk tale sets the listener in a place or time that is not the present but simultaneously could be. It is an insight into the timelessness of the human experience that the storyteller is trying to draw the listener into.

When I was a little girl, whenever people asked me what I wanted to BE when I grew up, I always wanted to be IN stories - in the fairy tales, the fantastical worlds of Enid Blyton, the magical world of Roald Dahl and of countless other authors who showed me other ways of living that was so very different from my own, sheltered life. But even then, I knew that people couldn't live in stories and so I shelved my dreams.

Over the years I became a teacher and continued rationalising my life choices and living how society, my family and culture dictated. It wasn't until I stripped back all of who I thought I was in the midst of a mid-life crisis where I discovered who I really am. I am a traditional oral storyteller. It is my childhood dream job, a job where I can be IN stories.

Who would have thought that you could have a job where you exist and cohabit with characters, live in their worlds and journey with them, but I've found it! And it lights me up in a way where I feel alive; I feel every cell pulsing with the story, I love seeing how the audience responds to my interpretation of story and I feel my heart expanding with the possibilities for their experiences of being human.

Stories capture the human experience - the joys, the sorrows, the challenges the victories - and storytelling is as old as human communication. It is how we express ourselves, how we empathise with others, tell our histories and connect with others. Stories bind us with the things which make us the same and the things which differentiate us.

My dream, my vision for the world, is a world where traditional stories can work as a bridge between the past and the present, where we can use the lessons of the past to inform our futures. Where we can tell our own stories and have them heard, have our voices validated and be accepted, just for being who we are.

This dream has many layers - firstly, me as a professional traditional oral storyteller, performing in schools, aged care homes, hospitals and other places, bringing joy, connection and hope to others. Another layer is that of writer. I am working on a number of projects, one which is with a publisher, and my dream is for those stories to fly into the world and to touch people like the proverbial butterfly's wing. And finally, I want to teach other people to tell their own stories and to trust in their voices.

It took me the longest time to trust in my own voice and to find the story deep within me. And I feel so joyful now to have found that. If I could give that same experience to one other person, I would have succeeded.

Stories are what make us human. What's your story? Let me help you tell it.

©2021 Alyssa Curtayne