Why do we tell stories? Why do we need Stories? Why are stories important to our lives?

Can you remember a story you loved as child? Can you recall an image from that story that has stayed in your imagination? What can you see? How does the image make you feel? And what does remembering the story remind you of?

Close your eyes for a moment. And see what images and feelings emerge.

These are treasures from the deep. If we are lucky, the seeds of stories get planted in us from a young age. Stories sow seeds inside us that never go away. These seeds become food for our imaginations that we can draw upon throughout our lives. These seeds of story might portray courage, offer hope, suggest ingenuity. They also offer a symbolic way of seeing the world, where the impossible can happen, and you can be everything in the story. They might show you how to outwit the monster, trick a witch, escape from the tower that has no doors, ride on a fox’s tail, sip the water of life.

I have dedicated my life to stories and have been telling and writing stories for more than 35 years. My particular love is traditional folktales, fairytales and myths – these stories belong to us all, link us together and connect us with our ancestors. Recently I have been distilling my knowledge and experience of stories and storytelling into distinct forms and shapes that can clearly communicate my understanding.

The Flower of Story is my way of describing the living process of storytelling. How do stories get planted? How can you grow a story? How does a story bloom inside the listener? And what happens when stories are scattered? The Flower of Story – plant, grow, bloom, scatter – is a process that keeps stories alive and relevant to each audience, and is how similar stories appear in different parts of the World.

I am running a short workshop for beginners about The Flower of Story. It is on 22 November, 2-5pm, at the October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, London WC1. We will explore what makes a story. I will help you connect with your own heritage of stories – even if you think you don’t have one! We will look at what makes a story memorable and tellable, and I will help you develop some storytelling skills. It will be creative and playful. Come and find out why we need stories now. And how you can bring stories and storytelling into your life and for those around you. Find out more and get a ticket!