World 🌎 Storytelling Day 2021

Yes, it’s a thing. And I happen to believe it’s a very important thing—telling stories that is!

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Here’s the actual definition/explanation from Wikipedia …

World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. It is celebrated every year on the March equinox, on (or near) March 20. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many languages and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night. Participants tell each other about their events in order to share stories and inspiration, to learn from each other and create international contacts.

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Each year many of the individual oral storytelling events are linked by a common theme. The theme today (this year) is New Beginnings and so, TODAY I want you to tell some stories—about new beginnings in your past OR something else just beginning for you. You can do this orally with family and friend, OR you can do it in any other storytelling format.

I’ll go first.

Last year on March 20, 2020 I was in Utah. I had driven there to bring my son, Taft home from his suddenly interrupted freshman year at BYU. We stayed with family that live in Utah. I took a few pictures at my sister’s house and of cousins together, but I also received this photo (a week later) that was taken on March 20th, by Trey, who was serving a mission in Mexico …

What Trey didn’t know—along with the rest of us—was that we were experiencing the beginning of a LONG year of life-shifting events in the relatively new story of Covid-19. Yes, the shelves at his local Walmart were empty and that was shocking, but even more shocking was that his mission would be cut short and that just eleven days later he would be home. Life as we knew it and had anticipated it would come to a screeching halt.

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And now, one year later. I’ve just returned from my husband’s medical office where he and a group of physicians and nurses are donating their time to give Covid-19 vaccines.

365 days later. I know it feels like it’s been so LONG, but if you think about it, it’s just one year. One year! Now, I definitely want to be sensitive to anyone and everyone who has lost loved ones or a livelihood or who has suffered loneliness and isolation—or perhaps even online learning when they wanted to be somewhere else “in person”—but I also want to pause and acknowledge how far we have come and what smart, prepared and amazing people have accomplished to help us forward in this journey to today—March 20, 2021. The new beginning I want to document for me is the beginning of a new normal. One that I hope is filled with greater appreciation, compassion and cooperation. I know I can’t control the story that other people create from here on out, but my story will be told from a perspective of more gratitude for all that we have because of all that we have lost.

I would LOVE to hear the story you will commit to tell.
Today and moving forward!

🌎❤️