Last night I had the wonderful experience of attending a Workshop by the Master Storyteller, Ashley Ramsden, founder of the School of Storytelling, Emerson College, England. It was fantastic!!!
Ashley guided us through some wonderful stories and poems of Rumi and Nasradin, while imparted jewels of wisdom about the art and practice of storytelling. It was an inspiration.
Here’s a wonderful poem by Rumi (1207-1273) that he told us:
Story-Water
A story is like the water
you heat for your bath.
It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you!
Very few can sit down
in the middle of the fire itself
like a slamander of Abraham.
We need intermediaries.
A feeling of fullness comes,
but usually it takes some bread
to bring it.
Beauty surrounds us,
But usually we need to be waking
in a garden to know it.
The body itself is a screen
to shield and partially reveal
the light that’s blazing
inside your presence.
Water, stories, the body
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what’s hidden.
Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know,
and then not.
Thankyou Ashley!
