I’m a person who always likes to be doing something… while I’m doing something. Painting my nails can never go unaccompanied for me — I have to have the same episode of “The Office” I’ve seen 20 times before or the constant loop of videos on Instagram’s explore page playing in the background.
But after discovering “The Moth” website, I’ve found a more refreshing way to have something going on in the background as I go about my daily tasks.
The Moth features stand-up storytelling, much like stand-up comedy or Ted Talks, but instead of watching Jim Gaffigan rallying off jokes, the featured storyteller stands in front of an audience and tells a story about a personal experience or life lesson. The Moth takes the human experience and molds them into life lessons.
Through touring and performing in major U.S. cities, storytellers share insight from experiences like Deedee Lundberg talking about the pain of loving someone you don’t feel will love you back and life lessons centered around the importance of family in times of need. But unlike Ted Talks, all of these stories come from a prompt and hold a bigger message. There’s a specific theme in each show that all performers stories are based around, like “disguises” or “leaps.”
The themes are broad to allow for more versatile, unique, and interesting stories. Each speaker spins the theme a different way — creating empowering stories that feel a little less shallow than watching “Pretty Little Liars.” While someone might use the theme “Take Me Out” as a way to tell about a first, Stephanie Peirolo told the story of losing her son to a coma after an accident.
I’m learning big-picture life lessons while I curl my hair, as opposed to watching “Goodbye, Toby” for the 22nd time. I’ve listened to an older man tell a tear-jerking story of forgiving his daughter’s killer to lessen the amount of hate in his heart. He’d met a woman via his support group who, after 39 years, still carried the burden of fury for her son’s killer as if it was only yesterday. Through his story, I am able to see a real-world example of the importance of carving out more room for compassion.
Though I prefer the more personal connection of seeing emotion through the videos – whether it be from the speaker stopping to laugh at themselves mid-story or deep breaths they have to pause and take before they continue — there are also endless podcasts to listen to. I tried to scroll down and find the bottom and gave up counting at around 400, so chances are if you don’t like the podcast you chose, you have at least 399 other options.
They range from 5-15 minutes, not too long that you have to give up an hour of your time but long enough to finish sorting through that pile of clothes that’s been on your chair for a week.
On their website, you can find live tour dates and ways to get involved. Since their closest show to KC is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, clips on their website or on YouTube will be your best bet. These stories are also played on NPR, and can be found under the “Radio Hour” section of the website or on Spotify.
The next time I instinctively pull up Netflix to watch the same ole’ thing, I’ve got a better option — listening to The Moth stories. These have become more than background noise, they mean something.
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