Episode 127: In Praise of Storytelling II

“Allow me to explain about the theatre business.

The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

So what do we do?

Nothing.

Strangely enough, it all turns out well. How?

How does it turn out well?

I don’t know. It’s a mystery.”

Stories within stories … like in a drama by Shakespeare, our personal life stories are trying to help us solve the mysteries of life and death, good and evil, character strengths and tragic character flaws, courage and resilience.

We love a good redemption story and we love to hate a villain, and our very worst moments become our best-loved tales, when it’s finally time to tell them, and even be able to laugh.

If we keep growing and healing, we become the hero in our own story, an example of resilience and endurance, to ourselves and others.

Yet we cannot force anyone else to transform their victim experience into a hero tale.

It’s their story, and they’re writing it.

Enjoy a ridiculous little story-within-a-story of Mary’s most embarrassing moment,

and a thoughtful one about transcending the pain and limitations of childhood difficulties with learning in school,

yet becoming a creator, anyway.

It turns out well.