What good fortune places me right where I am, in the world of storytelling and a graduate program in mythology? As a student once again and as part of the team presenting Tales By The Sea in Malibu, the storytelling concert series, I am distinctly impressed by the power of myth and story as it not only embellishes but also creates our lives. Every day we unreel our stories. Some of them may be the old narratives that we enjoy or depend upon, even though they may not be good medicine for our souls, and some of them may be new awakenings as others enter our lives with their own suffering or joys. Stories’ power to draw us into relationship with one another and to illuminate patterns of struggle that are primal and ongoing arouses me.
Stories afford us a window into each other’s passions and beliefs. As each teller shares his or her own uniquely skewed perspective, our own understanding is nourished. By studying the myths of the ages, we come to see these struggles as our necessary portion, be it war, love, or home tending. Homer tells of the epic, super-size struggles of Odysseus and a host of other mortals and gods. Aren’t these same struggles happening today, as Toni Morrison, among others, recognizes in her novel “Beloved”? Rituals, also, bear witness to the importance of ceremonies, whether it be as initiation into the human family, love, or battle. Rituals story these pivotal moments into our lives. Together, myths and rituals reveal a pattern of being that suggests struggle is necessary and must be acknowledged, not a disease to be eliminated.
When the heart releases a story, it makes a difference. This I believe. When the young men from Camp Kilpatrick who are Locked Up In Malibu perform improv, they are releasing stories. When one engages life creatively in paint, music, movement, or planting trees, one stitches oneself into the struggle of all humanity, helping us all to comprehend the reach of the human heart.
Ann Buxie