A Tail Within a Tale, Within a Tale: An Autoethnographic Account for Dog Lovers, Cat Lovers, and Story Lovers

Abstract

It was March-April 2020. The first few weeks of the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown had just begun. Anxiety levels were high, and being locked up at home was an unfamiliar and eerie situation. A music therapist sent her clients (elementary school children on the autism spectrum) daily videos of her dog, Robben, during his daily routines. She dubbed the dog as if he told the children a story about a tail-less cat. This endeavor resulted in a series of 27 storytelling episodes titled “Robben’s Pandemic Adventures”, which the clients awaited day by day. The current autoethnographic report unveils this music therapist’s storytelling experience. Every day she had to produce new creative content for the next episodes of her dog’s “adventures”, connecting his daily routines, character, and hobbies to the pandemic reality. In this process, she gave her dog a voice, and he “told” daily chapters in an allegoric story about one very unusual cat. The reflections focus on personal and professional lessons learned in the process for the therapist herself and her clients. In addition, the value of children’s stories during times of crisis and turmoil - to both the adult storyteller and the children listening - is discussed and connected to the global COVID-19 crisis.