A Dose of Sanity: My Friends are Elephants

In the social media age, outrage has become a daily thing. Often we get outraged at misinformation and omission of facts. I'm going to share my experiences and observations. I ask you. Do your own homework!

Earlier this year, Ringling gave into the constant barrage of criticism and protesting of PETA. Don't cheer. They gave in to bullying. Bullying that came from opinions and not facts. Their decision misleads and confuses the public. Are circuses and festivals abusive if they have elephants and other exotic animals working at them?

No. They are not. PETA, pick your battles with more wisdom and less heartstring manipulation. Ten years ago I started storytelling and working sales at renaissance festivals across the country. My friend Rod Baird introduced me to three wonderful, amazing friends. Paige, Jean, and Chrissy. They are three of the elephants who work at renaissance festivals. You may have ridden them. You may have given them fruit, with permission and monitoring of their handlers. You may have laughed watching them play with their hoses and handlers. I have. I have fed them grasses and watched them play ball with a small jack russell terrier during the week, while their handlers smiled and attended to chores. The elephants on renaissance circuit are loved and constantly attended and supported by their owners. Bill Swain has posted education on how many weekends his elephants work, as well as where they spend their time off. The handlers are educated and ethical. Every handler I know, and I know most of them, loves the elephants they work with. Even years later, ask them about the elephants, their eyes light up. They tell story after story, each priceless and beautiful. The elephants diets are monitored, their health is paramount, their happiness even more so. The elephants love working faire. They love you, the patrons. They love the attention.

I worked the Colorado show right next to the elephants. In the morning Rod Baird and I would go and greet the three girls as they came in. We always told Chrissy she was beautiful. One day we got distracted on our way there, we were looking at pictures of Rod's adorable granddaughter. It started raining pebbles on us. We turned around. Chrissy was waiting! She was trying to give us a gently hint that she missed our morning routine and that we were late.

I have driven past the elephants as they go on walks during the week with their handlers. No leash. What an honor it is to see them enjoying their day, eating and walking around, exploring the area. I hope that you get that chance someday. They do this here, in America, where there are no poachers poised in the bushes to kill them for ivory. But if you feel this is 'torture and inhuman' send them back to Africa where there isn't enough money to hire enough people to keep them safe. Did you miss the news of other countries deciding to keep African animals in zoo programs, where they could live well and safely rather than sending them back to Africa to die at the hands of poachers? Did you forget that poachers are probably sitting back and laughing, counting on impulsive bleeding hearts to fill their greedy coffers and hand them fresh elephants to kill. Way to go 'Merica, perhaps instead of being rash and jumping the gun, do some research. Learn, listen, observe- what you do not understand- ask about, do not assume or drink up on opinions. Facts people.

The day that greed is no longer a word, that apathy is outdated, and that revenge is a thing of the past is the day the human race moves forward. It is too far off yet.

Now, if you really want something to be angry about, go watch "Earthling" it is a documentary. It was highly rated. It was terrible and excellent. You want to change the world? To protect animals, start by pressuring for changes in the meat packing industry, leather industry, and fur trade. You want something at renaissance faires to be indignant about?

You go to renaissance faires and wear a fox tail because it looks 'cool'?

Here's some information for you: those foxes are raised in pens, never knowing the world. They are killed for their furs, they put a rod in the foxes ass. They electrocute the fox. There is your pretty, pretty tail and fox face you just have to have for your "Game of thrones" look.

And if that didn't get you, did you know that originally, those tails were given to the girls the jousters were having sex with, as a polite but visible way for jousters and their friends to know which "hotties" were taken? This was from ancient renaissance faire history, the jousters no longer do this. Many prefer boardgames and raising families over the old rockstar style that some earlier jousters lived back in the 1980s. Next time you go to faire, look at those tails. Think of those thousands of foxes that WERE not well treated, think about those Joust Bunnies and stop buying tails.

Storytelling and the social media age

Searching for gigs is like panning for gold on the putting green of a golf course. The internet is an ocean with possibilities, so vast that it makes the search harder.

You want an easier search, you pay a provider to include you. Does it mean your work is quality? Hemming and hawing could be done, but it comes down to money rather than skill. Money for professional photos and editted video, money to add listings by area of the country and even more if you want or need a national listing. You want to be included with enough detail to interest prospective clients, pull out those dollars as it has nothing to do with talent, appeal or skill. Professionalism already shook its proverbial head and quietly left.

Being found or being considered when you send out lines is even harder; so many fish in the sea and so many vivid, amazing, incredible pr fliers, cards, emails, and ads for so many folks that may or may not be what their flashy ads suggest.

I marvel at the momentous effort required, the frustration of finding knock off princess pseudo-cosplay characters getting gigs as if they were entertainers rather than cheap imitations that people are content to trick themselves into paying for. Hire real entertainment, people who have worked for years considering their performance as important. Performance versus appearance, performance versus an ad campaign.

I cringe at calling myself a storyteller, as everyone tells stories. The word brings to mind someone tedious and long winded rehashing tired stories someone else wrote. Wrong. Entirely wrong. I know amazing storytellers who deserve recognition for their skill. Brother Donald, Joshua Safford and Terry Foy, all gifted, practiced and incredible.
Have we reached a point in civilization where instead of veneration, storytelling is seen as a lesser valued trade? Storytellers used to be the pinnacle of entertainment, I see quotes from famous actors calling out that the world needs us. Needs us? As we race into our metaphorical phone booths to switch into our superhuman storytelling costumes, will we really be perceived and valued for our trade or will it be seen as lesser than other forms of entertainment? It would be like Superman waking up to a world where a thousand someones eating fire bumped him out of respected recognition.

Why should storytelling be valued?
We learn from stories. We gain perspective. We are distracted, we laugh and cry. We release what we've carried and we are reminded of the human connection. A good storyteller sets themselves aside and offers the audience the stories they want and need. It is about the audience. Every politician, lawyer and successful con artist has to be an excellent storyteller although none of those folks want it on their resume.

Allow amazing storytellers to inspire you. Inspire them, appreciate the profound chance and take each beautiful opportunity you are given to savor the way their words inspire you. Appreciate how hard, in a sea of social media, it was for chance to bring you to a place where you could have the opportunity to listen.

How often do we listen anymore? Is that timer running in your head even now, telling you to rush back to a candy colored game or gossip or shopping? Slow down! If you are so discontent that you have to constantly shift your attention, why? Stop avoiding what needs changing or addressing. Settle down for a story, take what you need, make changes to reduce that weird agitation that seems to be affecting everyone lately.

Let a storyteller help you change the world.

Stop buying things you do not need. Stop justifying them. Focus on your health and the health of your relationships. Stop blaming. Take responsibility. Set goals. Relearn self control and impulse control. Be the Captain of your ship rather than a hapless stow away jostled by the waves of social mores and norms, legislation, and advertisements. Turn off your data. Turn off your phone. Go outside. Talk with real people. Live your real life, and if you do not like it- set goals and change it. Possessions and pretending do not make the world a better place. A starving child is not saved with a doll and a princess dress, but with nourishment.

I was asked what my ideal community would be like and to give it serious thought

Start caring for each other, instead of attacking each regardless of the size of the difference. Compromise. If you choose not to get along because of severe conflict you have the right to choose not to interact or have dealings but must accept that mutual connections may still interact. Resposibile living, growing animals and crops, self sustainability: learning and teaching the basics. Choosing to stop and not include disposable, wasteful options like bottled water and plastic toys. Solar, wind power, and human power.

We as a people lost our voice after the sixties. We choose to believe we are stuck. We are not. I hear and read people saying change starts within. Be free in your head and you will be free. It's misleading. It starts there. It shifts to responsible, informed decision making regarding your immediate environment and choices. It expands into changing and reforming the laws and government. Do not accept corruption. Choose to take the power from those who misuse it. Learn to be adults again and without an immature rant, accept that other people are different and have different views and beliefs. Respect them as you want your own respected, and do not assume they are flawed or wrong any more than you would want your questioned.

Storytelling. Learn why it has been held in high esteem throughout history. Read or listen to a storyteller. It could easily be the most dangerous thing you do. Remember, Charles Manson and Leonard Peltier are both still in jail not because of what they did but because of the stories and the influence the would have on others if freed. The power of words in a master's hands goes beyond that of a gun.

Have an excellent birthday Tawasi. May the world change, May people make the individual choices to shift the sands out from under the unstable, unhealthy structt we have now. May each person be strong enough to listen to their spirit and step back out into impacting the world for positive change.

As a storyteller, I encourage you to remember that you are the protagonist in your story. You, not a cartoon character, but you. You are incredible, you hide behind apps and you bear the burden of feeling trapped and attacked by judgemental peers in a social climate engineered to divide you and rewarding you for judging, rewarding you for impotence and acceptance. Find your personal strengths and start changing your worlds. Become immune to advertisers and labels. Accept that life is hard, dangerous and fleeting. Appreciate it.