The Festival is only two weeks away and the hundreds of volunteers behind the scenes are rushing to make all the puzzle pieces fall into place. It’s a big project which requires a lot of coordination, but every year for the last 25 years those puzzle pieces have seamlessly interconnected. The storytellers arrive, the audience gets settled in and the magic begins; imaginations are fired up, the energy of the crowd becomes palpable, and memories are brought to life.
The magic of a storytelling festival is about discovery. We discover new tales, new adventures, new heroes and villains, but more importantly, we discover ourselves. A great story brought to life by a great storyteller can help us discover what makes us tick as human beings and, if we are lucky, we may even discover meaning in our own lives. We begin to see our shared humanity which allows us to attach meaning to our shared experiences.
There is beauty in the shared experience of storytelling, beauty in the energy that is felt. A storyteller takes us on a shared journey where we can laugh together, dream together, cry together, be amazed together. We need shared experiences and those connections that are made now more than ever. So often, because of technology and the business of everyday life, we become disconnected from the world around us and disconnected from ourselves. The Festival gives us a chance to step back, get connected, and do some exploring.
Encourage your friends and family to attend this year’s Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. It’ll be a celebration you won’t want to miss.
Tickets are available online or at the Orem Public Library. Click on the link for information about hours and location.