My Blog Debut and KC Fringe Festival, 2021

I'm so excited about this year's KC Virtual Fringe Festival and my new blog. It has been such a difficult time for so many. I am so grateful to be here and to have the love and support of so many who have encouraged me to be my truest self in the world.

In my upcoming fringe show, "Dreams and Memories," I share stories from my life and original fairy tales for grown-ups. My show begins with a story about how books and libraries have guided the course of my life and helped me survive a difficult childhood. My second story is about recovering memories and healing from trauma. My show also includes two fairy tales. One of them is my own original version of a story that is thought to be hundreds and thousands of years old. My final story is my own original fairy tale about a woman named Rose and a fox. My show celebrates the love and power within each of us to create our own destiny.

The KC Virtual Fringe Festival runs July 18 through August 1. Tickets are on sale now.  I hope you catch my show and many more.

Some of the topics this blog will focus on are stories that I've been working on and the stories and storytellers that inspire me. It will also include special savored moments, such as the connection I feel while watching the sunrise and all of the "early  birds," such as the hummingbirds that live in my pine trees and buzz and chirp as they dive in to drink at the feeders. I also consider myself quite fortunate to have six turkey buzzards living in my old barn. I love to watch these ancient, gentle birds soaring in the sky and, then, landing on the roof of my barn. Then, of course, I love being out at night looking up at the stars and watching and listening to the hoot owls and clicking bats. When I was a girl, I would look up at the night sky and wonder if there was a girl on some distant planet who was looking up at the night sky and wondering about me. Also, my blog will have to include savored moments from my love affair with Thai Cuisine, a love affair which began over forty years ago when I studied there as an exchange student. 

I earned my certification in storytelling through Woodneath Library and Maple Woods College several years ago. However, I've had stories inside of me to tell for as long as I can remember. I believe that living in my imagination as a child helped me survive. I would run barefoot all over our farm, just nonchalantly pulling out the prickly sticker burs from my feet. I would find all kinds of magical kingdoms such as the Land of Sunflowers, where I could hide out and live in another world, and of course, there wasn't one mud hole that I didn't plop into. I had a full life filled with make-believe friends and even make-believe parents.

I look forward to sharing my stories with you. Thank you for joining me on this adventure.

(c) Lorraine Darnell




 




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