As a teacher of storytelling, I know that there are a lot of people who are interested, but not really invested, in the study of the art that I love so much. When I discover the passion for storytelling inside a student that matches my own, I find that experience exhilarating and thrilling. My students have described the experience as akin to going over a waterfall or turning on a water fountain.

I like to call this discovery riding the tiger. Sometimes in the jungle of life, we feel lost and closed in by all the daily activities of life. We are lost in a sea of sound and shadow. We know that, somewhere in the underbrush, there are tigers ready to pounce on us and eat us. We are grasping for something to support us, to shelter us.  Suddenly, without any warning, our hand grasps hold of the tiger’s tail. (more…)