I recently spent the weekend at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem, UT.
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This was my third year at the festival. What a great way to spend a weekend! I look forward to it all summer, and took Friday off so I could attend even more of the event.
You might be asking what a local storytelling festival, practically in my backyard, has to do with travel adventures?
Consider…
Where else can you visit Japan, Africa, the rainforests of Brazil, a hunting lodge in Minnesota, upstate New York, the deep south (from a Cuban refugee's perspective), and a small fishing village in Nova Scotia in one afternoon?
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A lot people, when they think of a storytelling festival, picture old ladies reading books to children.
This is nothing like that.
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These are performances by professional storytellers and liars. While some of the stories are directed towards children (accompanied by music, chanting, and moralistic endings to fairy tale-like stories), most are not. Many of the performers could, however, headline at comedy clubs or dramatic reading societies. Some of the storytellers tap into personal experiences to tell amazing stories of mischief, adventure, and love. Enraptured listeners groan, wince, and laugh as the stories resonate with experiences in their own lives. Others tell folktales from around the world that have been passed down for generations, delivering timeless truths. With a mix of storytellers from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures from around the world, there is something for everyone.
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(Wow! I sound like an ad…)
My insights on life from this weekend are not my own. I gleaned them from an exceptional storyteller and a clear favorite at this year's event, Kevin Kling.
"When you can tell a story about something that happened to you, it stops controlling you, and you begin to exercise control over it."
"There is a HUGE difference between disabilities you are born with, and ones you achieve later in life.
The first are part of who you are. The latter change everything."
Kevin would know. He has both.
Not all of Kevin's stories are about disabilities. Most weren't. (My favorite story that Kevin told was a very funny short story about running a marathon, and the runner's high he hopes someday to feel... 
) As far as I know, Kevin only told one set of stories that dwelt on his disabilities, but I was there to hear them. The stories were not only poignant, they were FUNNY! And when he finished, they earned him a standing ovation.
Extras 
