Storyteller’s Night at Roasted Cafe.

Before we wrote our thoughts or research on paper, oral history was the most popular way of passing down a legacy of culture, lifestyle and methods. Now that we live in a time where we bind our thoughts as well as document them digitally, storytelling seems like such an ancient way of communicating. Many of us who take time with our elders witness an average of ten stories in an hour’s worth of conversation. Personally, I have heard some stories from my grandmother at least a thousand times from my childhood until now.

There’s a beauty to storytelling. It’s a lot more intimate than texting or talking on the phone. You get a chance to bond with other humans through verbal and nonverbal communication. Body language and eye contact play a huge part in telling a story. Emoticons can never take the place of the live face time we experience with another in person or through video.

For a couple of years, a group of community folks and artists gathered informally to tell stories. They have met up at a few venues around town for storytelling sessions. One of the rules is that you can’t read the story. It must come off the top of your head. Currently, it’s taking place at Roasted Café and Lounge. You can come and sign up from 6:30 p.m., and the storytelling takes place for one hour from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. The host, Angel Collins, comes up with a theme for each session. On Tuesday, March 25, the theme will be “We Like the Cars, The Cars That Go Boom – Tales of Car Loves or Woes.”

Your story can focus on a car or your experience while traveling in a car. Storytellers is sponsored by the Crossroads Writers, a Knight Arts grantee. Once a year they sponsor a literary conference and festival in venues that vary from coffeehouses to university campus classrooms. Swing on through Storytellers night and help to keep the oral tradition alive. The next one takes place March 25 from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Roasted Café, 442 Second Street in downtown Macon.