I got another new class this morning. Advanced, again. I like this group already. Some of them are even former students from my first and second sessions at this school. During the first class I needed to explain a brief history of World War II, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. The second class required reading about professional storytellers, something I'd thought about but didn't even know about. The one they interviewed just said he learned from listening to his grandparents, and then developed his own style. No formal training or anything. Anyway, we had to write about experiences, and some students were confused, so I started by demonstrating a short story about coincidences.
The first time I went to Bonnaroo I encountered a "spiritual healer" (according to the sign he carried), who I would later run into unexpectedly five more times in the next 36 months, in three different states, and concluding at the same music festival where I first had a staring contest with him. Each meeting is a story in itself, but I just wanted to give them the quick version, which was that he was one of the main reasons I decided to begin my first journey in India instead of Thailand (which I traveled to afterward). You see, this breathing healer had studied in India.
After I told the story I listed key words on the board and quick ideas in an attempt to plan a written story. Then the students thought of their own experiences and did the same before writing their stories.
Then I went home and had a brain storming session with a much longer story.
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