Break a Leg Storytelling by Joanna Brathwaite

My mother always told me that I belonged on a stage somewhere. I participated in school plays, church plays, home skits. From a young age you could say I could have been a novice actor. I made friends easily, people were drawn to me and even though I wouldn’t consider myself Miss Popularity, I wasn’t in desperate need of human interaction. In high school, everything changed. I became more aware of myself, my skin, my hair, my body. I kept the insecurities silent and tried my best to seem like the bubbly, smiley girl everyone knew and adored. I was on the cheer team and participated in one play my senior year. Something was different, and I started to believe that my purpose in life would most likely be sedentary, cold and lonely – anything negative that my teenage melodramatic mind could imagine.

Years later, I found myself working at The Arizona Republic, participating in Arizona Storytellers, and even telling my own stories and cohosting the shows. I naturally eased myself onto the platform and I comfortably spoke to a room of strangers as if they were friends. I remembered what my mother said, “You belong on a stage somewhere,” and I remembered what an English professor told me “You’re a storyteller.” Each night I walked on that stage, I felt myself coming alive and reliving those moments of feeling heard by my community and rejoicing hearing others.

Not only have I learned that I have stories to tell, I’ve also learned that there is something inside of me that yearns to share thoughts with the world and yearns to hear others’ thoughts as well. My life has opened up in so many ways since being introduced to storytelling. I’ve always believed that the written word is powerful, but now I also understand the power in verbalizing those words.  Will I be on a stage somewhere throughout my life? Who knows. Will I still share stories throughout my life? Yes, I will. And it will be on purpose. 

(The picture at the top is Joanna emceeing an Arizona Storytellers event.)

Comments

[Marian Giannatti]

You DO belong on stage. You light up when you tell - and your enthusiasm is infectious. I can see you as a little old lady telling your stories and making people laugh! It is truly your calling. Keep telling - on purpose!

[Julie Peterson]

Your mention of the power of the written word made a connection with me. My dad introduced me to the written word before I was four years old. Its power is overwhelming, and my parents were not chatty people (they read a lot, too, and have written fiction and poetry at various times). So although I do love to talk and I've been an actor for kind of a long time, I didn't think of the true things I say having an effect on people the way art does until probably just the past few years.

[Kathy Nakagawa]

It's so interesting to hear how you shifted your thinking about your "purpose" in life and how you found it again. One of the things I love most about your stories is that they have an unexpected element to them, just like that unexpected fact about you in the opening paragraph. Your purposeful storytelling also resonates with me in terms of the "attitude" you enact during your stories. You completely commit and bring the audience along.

[Sandra Scott]

Joanna,
I love how you talk about "coming alive" when you tell a story because you really do! It is so fun to watch you and listen to your enthusiasm. You also put into words in this post so many things I've been feeling. You are a both a good storyteller and a good writer. Thank you for sharing!

[Kailawhite]

You are charming and effervescent on stage! In class and at Arizona Storytellers I have been stunned by your ability to "flip the switch" and suddenly be "on," even when I know you do not want to do it! That is a gift worth leaning into. I hope you continue to develop your skill and use it!