Jim Blackburn - Finding My Voice in Storytelling

I love telling stories. I love to watch peoples' faces as I tell one, making sure not to go on too long, but to keep their attention to the end.

I went to the small town of Plymouth this week, just off the highway on the way to the Outer Banks and met with a number of Social Workers for the county's Department of Social Services. They see the misfortunes that afflict young people every single day and often despair at their circumstances of life.

So, my visit with them was to talk about stress, depression, even suicide, and a way out. I tried to leave them with hope in telling stories. Nelson Mandela once wrote that "Hope is the greatest weapon in the world, when all else seems lost."

It is in meeting with people I have never seen before and making new friends that I have found my voice. It is storytelling that makes it all possible.

These are just a few of them.