I just wasn’t curious.
My dad passed away last year, and I realized the many things that I just never thought to ask. How do you make that special seasoning that you put on everything? What did you want to be when you were growing up? What were your school days like? What was it like growing up after a World War? Tell me about your parents. Tell me about your mother, the grandmother that I do not remember whose picture has always been in the living room.
Curiosity is the birthplace of compassion. When my father told me about meeting my mother, “It was like we knew each other for a long time,” he said. As he described their meals together, I suddenly opened to a new perspective on what it means to be in love. In that moment, I could see on his face the joy in remembering falling in love and the deep heaviness of her recent loss. Emotions never come in one flavor; vanilla is always mixed with chocolate. We are complicated humans. As I listened to his spontaneous reminiscing that day, I wondered why I had never thought to ask about how he met my mother.
How can I become a better listener, a more curious collector of stories? How can I craft stories that open others to curiosity and compassion? How can I make the world better through the stories that I carry and the stories that I share?
In asking myself these questions, I came up with the next conference topic:
FGCU Storytelling Conference
Theme “Storytelling as Healing: Curiosity and Compassion”
June 5 – 7, 2026
Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Fort Myers, Florida
Academic Building 9, Community Room and Auditorium
FREE – thanks to our generous sponsors
I’ll be your host and emcee: Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Featured Tellers:
Kim Weitkamp performs full time at festivals and theaters around the country, has written an award-winning folk operetta and has been a guest editor and contributor for various publications. She was awarded a grant from Ohio Arts Council for her work as an artist mentor, was nominated for the Blue Ridge Excellence for the Arts award and awarded the prestigious Leadership in Communication Award by Toastmasters in Washington, D.C. Add to that over 9 awards for her spoken word albums. Beyond the stage, Kim founded the VOICES PROJECT, helping individuals who have lived through profound experiences and hardships shape their stories with intention to foster awareness, connection, and meaningful change. kimweitkamp.com
Sue O’Halloran is the author of several books and the producer/director of the first online story festival in 2012, which reached 52 countries and whose website received over half a million visitors each year. The Chicago Reader says O’Halloran “has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.” Sue has been a featured teller at the National Storytelling and Timpanogos Festivals as well as a keynote speaker and community-building facilitator at the National Storytelling Network conferences. She lives in Lady Lake, Florida. susanohalloran.com
