One Thousand Voices: The Power of Storytelling

Post written by Christa Avampato. You can follow Christa on Twitter.

“It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.” ~Native American Proverb

I grew up in the rural Hudson Valley of New York, nestled along the banks of the Hudson River. In Esopus, just north of my family’s home, was the Black Bear Museum and Trading Post, run by an old Native American man we called Chief Black Bear.

I’m not sure if he was a chief or not, but to little me, he certainly was. And that’s where it began – my fascination with all things Native American: their history, culture, lifestyle, traditions, customs, and obviously their tangled and tragic relationship with the Europeans and early white Americans. Most of all, I loved their stories and tradition of storytelling.

For years, my mom bought me books about the lives of Native Americans and some beautiful turquoise jewelry from Black Bear Trading Post. I watched every movie about their history that I could find and I relish every quote, story, or piece of information I come across that relates to their culture.

Through their stories, I became someone who cares deeply about the environment and the community around me. They taught me to recognize life in all its forms, and how human spirits change and continue to grow through this life on Earth and after we cross over. They taught me about religion and how to be grateful and thankful. They showed me that magic and mystery is all around us.

Through their example, I learned to be fearless, or at least learned how to aspire to be fearless.

In reality, their love of stories was likely my first inspiration to be a writer, to give a voice to so many characters, fictional and real. The whole idea of stories being passed down through generations, a thousand voices giving life to a character who so many come to know and love, is a precious tradition.

It’s a tradition that I hope TJCC can cultivate, which is why I’m so honored that Laura asked me to be here as both a regular contributor and listener.

We all have stories. We all have something to share. Storytelling is a process of give and take. Through stories we are teachers and students, we get to relive parts of our lives and look forward what will be. Stories are the greatest gift we ever give to anyone else, and they are the most precious gifts we ever receive.

I’m looking forward to sharing my stories with this community and to hearing your stories in return. Let’s see what we can build.

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Christa Avampato works in the field of innovation and product development and is a graduate of of UPenn (BA) and the Darden School at UVA (MBA). Her writing focuses on curating a creative and original life, drawing inspiration from a variety of topics including the arts, books, travel, new technology, and New York City.

Christa was one of the first guest contributors at Laura Reviews, sharing her review of The Twitter Book.

In addition to being a regular TJCC Contributor, Christa writes abouts creativity and hope at Christa In New York and about entrepreneurship at Examiner.com. You can also find Christa on Twitter.

Tagged as: Christa Avampato, Global Cultures, Writing