I worked with a police Captain for many years who was the best story teller. Sure, there were exaggerations and half-truths, but the joy was in hearing the story telling. The cadence of the Captain’s voice, the inflections. And his stories were often about ideas. Ideas of truth, or sacrifice, or love. As Eleanor Roosevelt said: “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” If she were alive today, she might have added, “Minds addicted to online information regurgitate data but the stories in them are dead.”
That third paragraph made me suspend my breath and then sigh, Charles. I love it when I read something really SMART that absolutely reflects my own feelings! Well, I guess we all do, but thank you. I don't have anyone smart in my real life, so I especially like having you as a "friend". And, any time you give me permission to break a rule ( eg show, don't tell) is like receiving a gift. As long as the language is artistic and thoughtful, tell away, I say! Another thought-provoking piece.
Great post. The more real life contact, the more stories.
I suspect the dearth of stories is a function of the decline of being together simply for the sake of being together.
Also, I wonder how prevalent it is today to make up stories to tell your kids. That too may be influencing the dearth. I know the silliest and wildest stories I've ever told have been to my kids when they were little. There was for example, Mr.Loo Poo, who could not tolerate anything that was not colored green.
An excellent essay! It's peculiar, as you say, that in telling stories we would seek to mimic the internet and become only more repositories of information. We imitate the behaviour even machines are capable of while ignoring the one quality they can never possess, which is humanity. The joy of sitting across from someone else and listening to them tell the story about that one wild bus ride is far more present in the teller than it is in the story itself, and no news item or article or photo could ever compete.
This reminds me of Silence of the Lambs, that scene in which she tells Hannibal what happened to her when she was little. The original idea was to show it in a flashback, but how much more powerful it is to have that mesmerizing close-up of Jodie Foster telling the story, describing the bleating of the lambs, that you can almost hear, reverberating through the barn.
As always, what a pleasure to read your beautiful words. I feel like you always reach a bit further than anyone else with your thoughts.
I worked with a police Captain for many years who was the best story teller. Sure, there were exaggerations and half-truths, but the joy was in hearing the story telling. The cadence of the Captain’s voice, the inflections. And his stories were often about ideas. Ideas of truth, or sacrifice, or love. As Eleanor Roosevelt said: “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” If she were alive today, she might have added, “Minds addicted to online information regurgitate data but the stories in them are dead.”
Thank you for the comment and adding your thoughts, John. That's such a great quote too.
That third paragraph made me suspend my breath and then sigh, Charles. I love it when I read something really SMART that absolutely reflects my own feelings! Well, I guess we all do, but thank you. I don't have anyone smart in my real life, so I especially like having you as a "friend". And, any time you give me permission to break a rule ( eg show, don't tell) is like receiving a gift. As long as the language is artistic and thoughtful, tell away, I say! Another thought-provoking piece.
Thank you for the very thoughtful words and comment, Sharron. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Great post. The more real life contact, the more stories.
I suspect the dearth of stories is a function of the decline of being together simply for the sake of being together.
Also, I wonder how prevalent it is today to make up stories to tell your kids. That too may be influencing the dearth. I know the silliest and wildest stories I've ever told have been to my kids when they were little. There was for example, Mr.Loo Poo, who could not tolerate anything that was not colored green.
It is certainly true that "being together simply for the sake of being together" is important. Thank you for the comment, David.
An excellent essay! It's peculiar, as you say, that in telling stories we would seek to mimic the internet and become only more repositories of information. We imitate the behaviour even machines are capable of while ignoring the one quality they can never possess, which is humanity. The joy of sitting across from someone else and listening to them tell the story about that one wild bus ride is far more present in the teller than it is in the story itself, and no news item or article or photo could ever compete.
Thank you for the comment and the kind words, Iris.
This reminds me of Silence of the Lambs, that scene in which she tells Hannibal what happened to her when she was little. The original idea was to show it in a flashback, but how much more powerful it is to have that mesmerizing close-up of Jodie Foster telling the story, describing the bleating of the lambs, that you can almost hear, reverberating through the barn.
As always, what a pleasure to read your beautiful words. I feel like you always reach a bit further than anyone else with your thoughts.
That's a great reference. I hadn't heard the story of that short before. Thank you very much for the kind words, Clara.