After eight weeks of telling stories to the teen girls at Oasis (though for some this was a second year of story listening), we were interested in their thoughts about storytelling.
As a group, we read the poem, "Why We Tell Stories" by Liesel Mueller https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/lisel-mueller/why-we-tell-stories/.
Then we asked the girls to respond to the poem and to their own experiences with storytelling to answer the question, why do we tell stories?
Here are their responses:
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| Guadalupe's prose poem |
Yadary: I think storytelling helps me escape reality. Reality can be so stressing and tiring. But when I hear stories, it makes me forget about it all. Hearing stories of women with powers or who are smarter gives me inspiration. It makes me think: if they can fool someone and escape before they get killed, then I can escape a test before it starts. I was just joking (my mom would kill me), but their intelligence inspires me and makes me believe that I could be like them. The men’s courage to climb up a glass castle while knowing their fate, it’s like riding your bike for the first time. You want to ride it – like wanting to reach the top of the glass mountain – to feel that feeling of accomplishment, but you know you’re going to scrape your knee once, twice, maybe even three times. But it’s all about taking a risk to get what you want.
Claudia: Why do people tell stories? They listen to stories to imagine a world unlike their own. To escape a reality they will eventually have to return to. So that they can experience their dreams even if it’s only for a little while. Or maybe to go through drama that will make them feel a part of something bigger than themselves. People of all ages have all kinds of reasons to listen to stories, whether they know it or not.
Yokary: I like to listen to stories or poems because when I listen to it, instead of reading it, it kind of makes me feel like relaxed or calmed, even though sometimes I get sleepy. When someone tells a story, they put like tone and show actions. I think it is more interesting because you actually put more attention to it, or even memorize it and like keep telling it. Also, so you can develop your imagination.
Erica: Why do people tell stories? Most people tell stories to get kids to sleep or to entertain children, but in my opinion, I think some people tell stories so that children, when they get older, will have a big imagination and that would possibly allow them to be more positive and they won’t grow up being negative a lot.
Ajeyne: I think people like listening to stories because, while they’re listening, they feel like they’re in the story and enjoy the feeling.
Guadalupe: Whey we listen to stories. We listen to stories to wish upon a star. To dream of the happy endings and to believe in the never-ending love. We listen to stories to get lost in our imaginations. To fantasize the unexpected. We listen to stories to make our own stories. When our lives are boring and black and white, we listen to stories. The best thing about listening to stories is that nobody can stop our minds from wandering abroad.
Ava: We tell stories to pass down previous experiences we had, whether they were chaotic or mind-blowing. Also, stories are entertaining, and they are shared so our peers can share the same experience with us and live in the moment. I listen to stories because I want to hear what people go though in their daily lives, how they lived and ate. I listen to stories so I can be aware of what happened in that time frame and how they overcame it, whether it was funny or serous. Stories teach us life lessons and encourage us to be great and try new things / invent new things like they did.
Laney (director of the Oasis teen girls group):
Why I feel good listening to stories
Because when I’m feeling blue, you act like a color wheel and allow me to feel shade on a hot summer’s day.
Because you remind me of a simpler time, when I “never” felt sick and didn’t feel alone.
Because sometimes I need an escape, whether I’m leaving work to fight a fire-breathing dragon, or dress pretty for the ball.
Because when I hear your voice, I feel soothed. Because you are told by my mother.
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