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Share Healing Story Alliance is a not-for-profit, educational, arts organization which provides online resources and concert, workshop, and community programming in support of storytelling as a healing art.
Description
Join the Healing Story Alliance for a special gathering to share and explore stories of kindness in its many faces and forms. Through folk tales and personal stories, we will dive deeply into multiple experiences of kindness. What is it? How does it impact us and our relationships to ourselves, to each other, to the world? Come and listen to “kind stories” shared by both professional tellers and community members and see what memories of kindness emerge for you.
Date: October 6, 2024
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm EDT
(Open Mic Story Share and Reflection: last half hour)
Format: The story session opens with a concert of seasoned tellers and community tellers sharing stories with themes of kindness. During the second half of the gathering, audience members are invited to share a story, moment, or reflection about kindness that emerged for them as listeners.
Purpose: We all need a little more kindness in our lives. Perhaps a story can take us there.
“WHEN YOU ARE KIND TO OTHERS, IT NOT ONLY CHANGES YOU, IT CHANGES THE WORLD.”
Harold Kushner
ABOUT the STORYTELLERS
Bowen Lee is a storyteller, educator and environmentalist who believes stories can be transformative. She merges these passions together to provide a deep, memorable experience for self-reflection. Bowen conducts workshops and performs live and virtually with national, international, and regional programs. She is a Chautauqua scholar who has performed Asian women of history, including Anna May Wong and Bowen’s great grandmother, who was born and raised in the Chinese fishing village of Monterey. "I'm looking forward to telling you a story that you'll find valuable, one that might nourish your self-reflection, enlarge your perspective, maybe change your life.”
Nestor “the Boss” Gomez was born in Guatemala and traveled to Chicago Undocumented in the mid 80’s. He told his first story at a Moth story slam to get over the stuttering that plagued his childhood, since then he has won more than 80 Moth Slams. Nestor has performed and conducted storytelling workshops in multiple locations around the country. He also created his own storytelling show “80 Minutes Around the World” a show that features the stories of Immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world, their descendants, and allies. 80 Minutes Around the World is also available as a Podcast.
Nestor also published a collection of stories detailing his experiences driving for ride sharing title “Your Driver Has Arrived” To listen and subscribe to the podcast, to buy his book and to learn more about Nestor visit his website Nestorgomezstoryteller.com
Eva Abram grew up collecting rainwater for household use; that experience taught her that water is essential for life and she believes the same is true of stories. She named her company RAINWATER STORYTELLING. Stories nourish human beings, as rainwater nourishes the earth’s plants and animals. She believes that the power of storytelling is universal. Stories are carried across the globe, connecting us with one another. They show us that we are alike and how cultures are different and interesting. The similarities and differences act as bridges to bring us together.
Eva is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana who grew up surrounded by both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. As a child she had glimpses and fragments of stories about Brer Rabbit. She listened as relatives told stories about their experiences at work or encounters in their daily lives. These experiences shaped her. She then moved to Seattle as a young adult and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington, Seattle. Eva is also an award-winning actress who has performed in several theaters in the Seattle area. For more information visit: https://www.rainwaterstorytelling.com
EMCEE
Lee-Ellen Marvin has explored storytelling as a performer, audio producer, educator, folklorist, and community advocate. She has told and taught storytelling to thousands in colleges and universities, developed and published Story Shifters, a non-competitive game, and holds a PhD in Folklore and Folklife. Lee-Ellen lives in EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York. 607-229-8429
COMMUNITY TELLERS
Nitin Thilagan grew up in Chennai, southern India. He comes from a family of teachers; all four of his grandparents and his father have been a teacher in their lives. As most teachers are, they were also great storytellers. Nitin spent a large part of his childhood listening to their stories and slowly became a storyteller too. Nitin gained a Teach for India fellowship where he spent two years teaching in a low-income school in Chennai where his love for teaching and storytelling grew immensely. His students told him that they loved his stories and that they impacted them deeply. Over the years he has learned that storytelling isn't just a means to entertain but a way to make a real and lasting difference in people's lives and profoundly connect with them. His desire is to help people tell better stories and thereby improve their lives and the lives of people around them.
Anne Shroeder, a native of Rhode Island, has meandered along many paths during her lifetime. She first studied languages and linguistics, earning a BA from Yale University and an MA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After working for an embassy for a few years in Washington, DC, she returned to school to learn computer programming, and worked first as a software developer and then as a web developer. This IT phase lasted 20 years. The sedentary life did not really suit her, however, and in 2002 she took a sharp left turn, bought a farm, learned how to shear sheep and alpacas, and threw away her suits and pantyhose. In 2004 she turned her farm into a not for profit animal sanctuary, and since that time has been completely occupied with the needs and demands of both very small and enormous four-legged creatures.
About Anne’s Star Gazing Farm
Star Gazing Farm is a sanctuary for animals located in the Agricultural Reserve of Montgomery County, Maryland. Since 2002 it has provided a permanent home for animals in need: animals who have been picked up as strays, who were neglected or abused, whose owners passed away, who are disabled, or who are too old to be “useful” anymore. This is a vibrant, happy, and eclectic community where multiple species and all types of people congregate. Mostly the humans cater to the animals’ needs and there is joy and satisfaction in that for everyone.
In addition to caring for about 60 furred and feathered residents, activities include: a hands-on work-based humane education program for young people; an active network with animal agencies, other sanctuaries and small farms to help place animals in need; and services to the community such as guided tours, house rabbit boarding and sheep & alpaca shearing; More at www.stargazingfarm.org
Date & Time
Sun, Oct 6, 2024 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM