I’m not sure there’s a more creative, far-reaching outlet of expression or means of connection than the art of storytelling. Of course there are endless means of telling stories, but by far my favourite is the one as old as Creation-the spoken word.
Last night I was thinking about the impact of storytelling while falling asleep to a podcast I’ve been listening to for years: Stuart McLean’s radio show The Vinyl Cafe. Stuart’s distinctive voice and candid interaction with a live audience are part of what has made Stuart one of Canada’s most beloved storytellers, and what has been helping me fall asleep at night for the past couple of months. I’ve always had trouble falling asleep on account of the fact that I just can’t seem to shut my brain off at the end of the day. Too many thoughts whirling around up there….to-do lists, ideas, concerns, prayers…if anyone could listen in, I’m sure the noise would just about drive them batty. This is all compounded by my husband’s blessed ability to enter the deepest of slumbers within minutes, a gift which I covet dearly.
I have tried many a tactic to ease my mind into la-la land, but crosswords just get my brain cells whirring, reading sends my heavy eyelids into a drowsy slump, and staring at a computer or iPhone screen makes me go cross-eyed after spending my workday online. But this winter while visiting Will on a business trip to Japan, I stumbled across Audible, an online audio book program. My first pick was ‘Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman’ by Robert K. Massie, narrated by Mark Deakins. It was something like 24 hours in length and gloriously detailed, as Catherine herself was quite a dedicated diarist. Now I’m sure you are thinking, ‘well no wonder you were able to fall asleep listening to THAT’, but for me I need to be intrigued in order to let my mind rest and enjoy a story, and Cate the Great has always fascinated me. As a Mennonite descended from a long line of German-speaking, Russian Mennonites, I have always been grateful to this empress for inviting the Mennonites of Prussia’s Vistula Delta to come farm the newly acquired steppes of south Russia and what is now the Ukraine. Her offer provided the peace-seeking Mennonites with an escape from the oppression they were facing farther (further?!) west, and gave them an opportunity to enjoy religious freedoms they were no longer privy to. And who wouldn’t want that? So they went, and it was there in the fertile south of an emerging empire that many of the traits and preferences I see in myself today were born. But I digress.
The audio book worked like a charm and lulled me to sleep quickly and peacefully. I took in a few more audio books before latching onto my current bedtime stories of sorts, courtesy of Canada’s venerable radio and television institution, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. For the past month or so, the podcasts I’ve listened to for years have become a part of my nightly routine and I look forward to listening to the Canadian musical talent Stuart regularly features on the show, as well as the Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange, a segment in which Stuart reads a story submitted by one of the show’s listeners. But what I most enjoy every evening when I tune in, are the David and Morley stories Stuart so ingeniously concocts. So evidently fictitious and yet so vibrantly real, these characters and their fellow ‘cast members’ bring me to tears on occasion and pillow-muffling laughter almost every time. Light but rich all at once, The Vinyl Cafe enables me to fall asleep with the day’s thoughts trailing off like tail lights in the distance and a good night’s sleep stretching out on the dusky horizon.
I never knew why the habit of telling bedtime stories to children tended to fade with age. It’s a beautiful thing, to listen to a calming voice and hear someone tell a story, especially as the darkness of night descends and we slow down before we sleep. I look forward to the day when Will and I have children of our own to lull to sleep with grandiose tales, some true, some tall. Lucky for me and for our future family, I married a brilliant storyteller whose voice is soothing and drawn out, full of Deep South idioms and perfectly timed pauses. It’s just too bad he’s asleep before I am!
Favourite stories or storytellers to share?
Have a fabulous day!
Jaime
PS I’m off to my birth city (Winnipeg) today and am so excited to see family I’ve not seen for a couple years…should be good!
PPS Really looking forward to doing some Prairie photo shoots….not looking forward to being devoured by the mosquitoes! Wish me luck in warding them off :-)