Terence Gill

Are you the storyteller?

“Never had I imagined, a storyteller I would be?” I asked myself.

I couldn’t agree more this is an ideal introduction that depicts the beginning of my unorthodox career path, which unexpectedly moulded itself into ‘The Best of Me’ today. The start of my life chapter derived itself from an understanding of a quote that I read, “If you can’t change the world, change yourself”.

Like a broken record playing repeatedly, I was constantly reminded how life can be as real as it gets especially when you persistently try to change it. But Einstein’s answer to this formula was not to change it; instead it was to let it change me. And unknowingly today, I continuously inspire myself to share my talent as a storyteller to many children from various parts of Malaysia. I had finally learned to understand that it is not about being the best storyteller here; instead it is about being at my best because they have inspired me to be.

The beginning of my inspirational story throughout the years working as a storyteller started off with a lesson left behind for me to learn and understand. It took its form with a crowd of 89 children that morning including the ultimate question, “Who would love to be a storyteller when they grow up?” I asked humbly. Sadly, a pre-school teacher started giggling with disbelief as though I had asked a very silly question. Undoubtedly, she knew very little about children; because they surprised her with almost everyone raising their hands apart from the toddlers. The absolute question would be, “Who did we inspire?” and “Who inspired us?” Unbelievably, the answer is ‘everyone’.

Rewinding myself back to the past, I am now grudgeless and more matured about things in life. It was the time when life unfolds itself unexpectedly at my age of 16 when I was left alone on the path of growing up. At that time, my family had just abandoned me because my loving parents were not fond of each other anymore and my father had a certain dislike about me. It shattered my heart into pieces that were mathematically impossible to count. For a child of a father, it is believed that I have lost my lifetime superhero. Funnily, those choices concluded a different end for me.

No matter what, I was always hopeful that I would able to meet my father again in the near future to tell him how much I have grown up to be a man. Here is a recital that I have practised so hard like it was my very first story. “Dear Father, I know we haven’t been there for each other for the longest time but you are my hero from the get-go. I haven’t had a lot of time with you and I know that I have become more than I ever thought without realising the lessons you taught me were more than what a father gives to a son. Today, I’m a storyteller who inspires many. More importantly, you were the first reason that brought out ‘The Best of Me’ into this world.”
Terence Gill