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Tag: storytelling (page 1 of 1)

Maps & Stories

I see the irony in writing a post about storytelling. 😆

Several years ago there was a series of incidents that I can term “dramatic,” and that’s because I am now telling the story. At the time these events were transpiring, it was anything but. We were simply responding to what was happening as it occurred in the moment, and there was no experience of drama as such.

A crazy car accident (the police officer remarked, you should buy a lottery ticket), an expired drivers license, a house break-in and all jewelry lost… all in a week. Pretty dramatic, I know! 😄

Most of us live largely in the world of stories. We share them endlessly, and we take them as truth. “A map is not the territory,” said Alfred Korzybski. Similarly, a story is a mere retelling, and it isn’t even an accurate one. Plus, we aren’t always storytellers with integrity. We edit and manipulate the storyline (sometimes, unknowingly), and we take it as truth, and we convince others, also.

Truth is accessed only in the present moment. Everything else is a story. When we are fully present, there is no space/time for story creation. The mind exists as a faithful ally, willing and able to serve fully.

Expression/Experience

A few fleeting thoughts. (I see the irony, yes, I do!)

Expression can never hope to capture experience. In fact, it is wholly incapable of conveying experience, or maybe only a fraction of it. Here’s the clincher, though. Experience is fleeting, while expression has some degree of longevity. (Even if it’s only an individual voicing her thoughts to the void. And if she writes it out someplace, it persists longer… in her mind and in the minds of those who read it.) Here’s where expression does the individual disservice. It grants permanence to something ephemeral. It makes an experience into Truth, whereas what it is is creativity. It’s the mind connecting the dots, drawing a picture, casting a passing moment on to stone, paper, canvas, film.

If the individual and her readers (or listeners, etc.) know expression for what it is (i.e. creative energy), they can partake in it, savor it, bless it, or not. However, when they construe it as Truth, they grant it solidity, a lasting relevance. And they are forever imprisoned by it.