My Story

Samantha Chagollan


 

rac • on • teur (n.) a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
synonyms: storyteller, teller of tales, spinner of yarns, narrator


 

I’ve always loved a good story. Love to hear one, see one…but most of all, I love to tell one.

Growing up, I remember concocting stories about everything around me: my stuffed animals, my imaginary friend, my playhouse…all of it was fodder for my imaginary tales.

And for a while, I even found gainful employment as a storyteller, when I worked as an editor and writer for a book publisher; you can see some of that work at www.storybysam.com.

But as the publishing industry took a dramatic turn, I was laid off and I ended up taking a communications job for a financial services company. It was a stable, decent place to work, and I made a lot of good friends there. But as two years turned into four, which turned into eight, my storytelling skills were waning.

I no longer had time or energy to do the creative storytelling I had always enjoyed, through writing, acting, painting, dancing…instead I had poured all my energy into working and managing and surviving.

And that made me incredibly restless. To the point where I couldn’t sleep at night, couldn’t focus on my work, and couldn’t see where all of it was leading. And I really missed telling stories—and I felt like my story, the story of my life, was taking a very strange turn. It was a plot twist with no satisfying conclusion, and no resolution in sight.

Leaping Without Looking

So after a lot of careful thought, and soul searching, and eventually, I suppose, desperation, I did it. I quit my corporate job. Without another job lined up. Without any kind of safety net, other than my life savings and a deepening curiosity to do some exploration and find my lost creativity again.

It took about three days for me to become completely overwhelmed by the possibilities of what lie ahead.

I could finally write a novel, no excuses. I could take a ton of classes, maybe go back to school? I could definitely get in really good shape—what’s stopping me from exercising all day, every day?  I could visit every nearby beach and museum I never had time to see. I could actually just lie on the couch every single day, binge watching Netflix and eating organic grapes.

The possibilities were completely blowing my mind. And it scared me to my core.

So instead, I decided to take it one day at a time; to make every single day count, as much as I possibly could. To try things I’d never experienced before; to push the limits of my creativity, and to spend each precious minute learning as much as I possibly could.

This is a chronicle of my adventures in creativity, and finding my way back to storytelling. I’ll share the adventures I’m having, the places I’m exploring, and the teachers who are opening my eyes.

I’m still trying to learn something new every day—and hey, it’s completely possible that this might be the greatest adventure in failing. But let’s see what happens!

The next great story awaits.

Save