Following a “Storytelling for Communication and Engagement” session I did last year, I received some really interesting feedback around story writing and story telling in general. But also around how simply talking (sharing our day to day stories) can be so beneficial to our mental health. Another theme was how inspirational green spaces can be for both creating stories but also as places to share stories.
This week (31st Jan 2022 to 5th February 2022) we will be sharing some of the Earth Stories we received last year. These stories have actually help shape our City of Nature Plan by providing an insight into people’s relationship with nature and green spaces.
Stories are very powerful and are often used to share important messages, but they can also just be for our entertainment, capturing our imaginations and creating a whole host of thoughts and mini stories fluttering off through our minds like butterflies we may disturb running through a wildflower meadow on a summer day……
Some are bright and cheery and keep nothing hidden – happy to share everything with all those willing to read them and others well, might have more of a twist of the unexpected.
I really like very short stories that stay with you for a thousand times as long as it takes to read them.
Here is a short story from Jeannette, she entered it into a competition – it didn’t win but it got a special mention, so I thought it deserved a special mention here as well.
The Kept Promise
Jack heaved a sigh of relief; the deed was done. He could go back to his normal life and not look back. Did she really think he would not keep his promise, or forget what he had pledged? Forget the pain – the hours waiting, hoping. But now it was over – a new life beckoned and he wondered what lay ahead. Tomorrow he would walk the dog and pass by. And Sally would know that her grave was marked properly and that her Jack had kept his promise. Be it that only he and the dog actually knew where it was.
Thank you to Jeannette for sharing her short story competition entry and I hope she is still writing and sharing her stories.
Debbie – FPA Community Facilitator
Naturally Birmingham Future Parks Project 