“Where does it come from?” is at the heart of all childhood curiosity. This question leads to truths children are both prepared (where does the mail come from?) and perhaps unprepared (where do babies come from?) to know. Similarly, as adults the question “where does it come from?” can yield answers we are both ready (where does our food come from?) and unready (where do mass shootings come from?) to answer.
“Where do you come from?” is the beginning of how we get to know people; a request to mentally build a setting around a person. European naming traditions rely heavily on origins and place: Van Gogh is Dutch for “From Gogh,” d’Urberville is French for “from the village of Urber,” Acker is English for one who lived near a field (or acre).
So it was with a nod toward the importance of the start that we at Huss themed our first storytelling night of the summer “origin stories.” Fed by a delicious community potluck and settled into the old Kindergarten Room at Huss — where mismatched chandeliers cast cozy light and mismatched couches provide cozy seating — we listened to storytellers of all ages and levels of experience spill their tales.
Some stories were spoken, some stories were sung. There were origins of superheroes, homes, families, names, nomads, and eagle-spotting helicopters. Some stories were more plausable than others, some were humorous, some were reminiscent — all were important. Each story, though perhaps about a topic unrelated to the storyteller’s life (I’m looking at you eagle-spotting helicopter) necessarily revealed something about the teller, simply by being told. It was with origins that we began our summer storytelling season: we started at the start.
Please join us three more storytelling nights this summer:
- July 11 – Books
- August 8 – Local Haunts
- September 12 – Food