Storytelling and me

[alexxkay]

The upcoming Baronial Performance "tourney", and some ongoing discussions in the Storyteller's Guild, have lately had me in a musing mood.

I like storytelling a great deal. Performance in general, really, but I long ago decided I'd rather focus on storytelling, on account of being a perfectionist.

Being married has changed that in ways I had not predicted. I read aloud to kestrell roughly every other night. I love doing this, and even get grumpy if we miss too many nights in a row. But it seems to be largely fulfilling the "performance" part of my psychic diet.

So now I don't spend very much time at all on SCA storytelling. Which used to be a central part of my self-definition. I was a Storyteller first, and everything else second. Now I am kestrell's husband first, a game developer second, and everything SCAdian is having to fit in as a distant third.

I made these choices, and if given them again, I'd make them the same way again. But a part of me misses the way things used to be.

Well, I suppose I could live with giving up the game developer part of my self-definition. It would free up a lot of time. Anyone out there wealthy enough to be a Patron to a storyteller?

Comments

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I take your point. And indeed, I didn't really self-identify as a "database manager", back when I was doing that. But I have always self-identified as a gamer, so it wasn't much of a leap to identifying as a game-designer. It is important to me to have a self-identity that includes some professional contribution to the world at large, and "game designer" serves well. I would be just as happy to spend that much time and effort in storytelling practice and performance, though.