During a recent conversation with a friend, I gained a new insight about storytelling. She’d been observing a conversation between me and another writer where we’d discussed the childlike joy in creating worlds through words. At the end of the night, my friend told me, “This is why you are a writer, because I have never felt that way about writing.” And she was right, words are my favourite medium but this didn’t negate her as a storyteller. In fact, she has told me some of the BEST stories over the years. Stories that made me laugh, cry, or even motivated me into action. She is an excellent storyteller.

It struck me that storytelling is something everyone does, just in different mediums. The painter paints a story, the musician composes a story, the screenwriter writes a story, and even the not-so-artsy person tells a story through conversation. 

We are all storytellers.

It starts with the stories we tell ourselves. As children we create imagined worlds in which to move our toys through, diving into scenarios that only we can see. Beautiful, exciting, and adventurous plotlines that are fueled by our natural storytelling ability. 

“A child can take leaves and sticks and create a village, conquer a foreign land in her own backyard, climb a tree and touch the clouds, or set sail through a puddle.“

Storytelling does not die out with childhood, it evolves. Where once we saw pictures in our minds and relayed them through imagined worlds, we grew into telling stories of experiences. Some of us share experiences through a good conversation over a glass of wine or the retelling of events that occurred after a long day at work. We regale moments of experienced sadness, seeing a hero in action, or undeniably funny situations we got ourselves into—laughing at our own embarrassment. Storytelling is as natural as breathing, it is how we communicate. We love to tell them, and we love to hear them. 

Writing is my medium, it brings out an inner creative voice that would otherwise get ignored in my daily grind. It allows me to tap back into the childlike me. For me, writing is a freedom that is not always allowed in the adult world. It allows me to balance work with play, a break from spreadsheets and emails.

Whether you tell stories through speaking, dancing, painting, writing, or any other beautiful medium, you too are a storyteller. So, embrace your inner storyteller. Break out your medium and allow your storytelling-self to explore the art in any way it sees fit.