I just stepped my big toe into the sea of storytelling after I went to a lefe-changing weekend workshop with “Thee Storylady” Jackie Torrence in Jonesborough, TN. I got onto the bus to take me back to St. Louis, MO, when I met my Obi.

You may not know this, but Obi is a shape-shifter, and, that day, she took the form of an old lady wearing a blue baseball cap as she sat behind the bus driver. There were no other passengers except her. Normally, I would have taken a solitary seat, but after that weekend, steeped in storytelling, my senses were heightened. I knew this lady had a story and I wanted to hear it. So, I sat next to her.

Before I said a word, she asked me what I was doing in Jonesborough…well, that opened the flood gates and I talked non-stop for the next 2 hours – telling her stories I heard and told that weekend.

When I finished she said to me. “Marilyn, I want you to think of your storytelling as an artist palatte. Right now you have discovered one color on your palatte – your storytelling. But soon you will discover more colors. And when you take one those colors and mix them…that is when your true creativity will come through.”

Whoa! Did she just say that? There is so more to this story, but to let you know. I came home to a new teaching assignment, but now I had storytelling to add to the classroom. Soon I was writing drama choirs and puppet shows and producing them; writing poetry, original stories and personal stories; trying out for plays and directing them; even some artistic talent that lay dormant for years came gushing forth…and it all went back to the storytelling.

Yes, be open to your Obi. You never know when he/she will appear to guide you along your path…wearing a blue baseball cap!
Marilyn Kinsella