Storytelling Has Left Me Speechless!!!

It is very rare that I find myself to be speechless, and I have lived a rather colourful life so that's saying a lot, but the wee storytelling group I started some weeks ago has become something I hadn't quite expected …

Normally, I would do my write up of the night and publish it on the Tuesday, but I just haven't been able to find the words to describe our last meeting on Monday night just gone.

We had a new venue in Downey's Bar Dungarvan. Downey's is a traditional old world style bar. The bar has a warm, cozy feel, is beautifully decorated and gives a visual snippet of an Ireland that is all but gone.

We were small in numbers, as some who had hoped to attend could no longer commit, but our little group most certainly was not lacking in grand spirit.

To start, with we discussed some thought provoking topics such as

• Is fiction more influential than reality?
• Why do we reject nice stories and favour bad news or tragedies instead?

I had some interesting prompts that I never got to use, as the group was bursting to get stuck into their stories, perhaps I'll get to use them another time (but I sense we'll never be lacking in stories to need them).

So what happened that made me speechless?

I can't put my finger on it exactly, but the closest I have been able to come up with is the feeling of deep connection, and respect. We sat there together, all effectively strangers on the grand scheme of things, and we shared stories that we may never have told another.

The time, and space we offered each other through what were at times, difficult stories, was something very heart-warming indeed. During the night we discussed the effects social media has had on society, and I'll not lie, I have been a little worried that common decency towards each other has been slowly decaying, but there was no sign of this decay on Monday night.

No, instead we listened, we encouraged and we shared. As I mentioned, some of what we shared were beautiful stories, but they were also, at times, deeply personal and I'll not be sharing them here.

During the evening we also discussed taking ourselves to a local session to share our stories, but after some deduction we came to the conclusion that most, if not all local sessions were predominantly for music and stories may not suit the tone.

So, on that note we have decided to attend an Open Mic Session in Waterford City instead! This will be very exciting, even for my fine self, as I've not taken to the stage for a number of years!

It seems to me, that not only is this group an absolute pleasure to be part of, but it is also a group that is shaking the metaphorical cobwebs off its members!