Sunday, December 26, 2010

Taking Flight 'Beyond Words'

This past week Jayátu gathered people from 16 countries under his story wings as they viewed “The Big Jump” special holiday video which went live December 21st.  Taking flight is always such a thrill and tonight a broadcast was sent to all the folks who signed up for the online event reminding them that the video would be 'live' until January 6th.  

Jayátu's mission is to help young folks of all ages awaken and grow the joy of life in themselves through storytelling.  Masterful storytelling gives flight to both the stories and the listeners.  Jayátu hopes to inspire the storyteller in each of us through not just the telling of stories but through encouraging and educating folks about the art of storytelling.  

The following is an excerpt from an upcoming soon to be published article by Jayátu called 'Beyond Words':  

"We think of the storyteller’s craft as a speaking art. But of course words are only a reflection, an indication, the proverbial tip of the iceberg visible above the surface. The body and weight of the storyteller’s art is that which lies beneath the words, the floating, luminous sensations, meanings, and presences from which words are born. This is a somewhat nebulous world, the land of perceptions and feelings. Memories dwell here and the subtler senses of wonder, humor, beauty, soul and spirit, as well as the intangible qualities of character and place. Storytellers are explorers of this realm. They navigate between it and the sharper dimension of expression and language. They coalesce the soft glow of impressions and perceptions into the clearer rays of word and phrase, they crystallize the hurly-burly of life happenings into spoken shapes of valuable meaning. We might call this process listening and reporting. The storyteller’s work is deep listening and feeling, followed by clear and artful expression."

We are encouraging folks to sign up for the 'Friends of Jayátu' newsletter who are interested in learning more about the art of storytelling from Jayátu.


Friday, December 10, 2010

Launching a Golden Eagle

Getting things off the ground can require a great deal of aerodynamic planning but when that something happens to be a creature with wings then it is more a matter of hanging on for the ride.  Jayátu has taken flight this week and has set a course to inspire and encourage the spreading of your own wings to soar into magic realms where the child and the child within can experience the knowledge of life's wonders.

Storytelling was the way we learned about ourselves and the world we live in prior to the written word.  What gets conveyed and shared is more than just the story...it is the heart and soul of the storyteller. Jayátu is a human storyteller who is living what is now the myth of the storytellers in a world where the typed word has almost completely replaced spoken word.

Jayátu's mission is to help young folks of all ages awaken and grow the joy of life in themselves.  Connecting to nature's wonders and power, celebrating the beauty of friendship, building the gift of community, growing courage to face life with love, finding and living one's true calling - all these are grown and nourished by powerful stories. Then, masterful storytelling gives flight to both stories and listeners.