Storytelling for the Revolution

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

Let's assume for the moment that you are intrigued by the notion of telling your stories. Fantastic. Great. Wonderful. So...you... begin... thinking about the memorable moments of truth in your life and start writing them down -- at least the titles, that is. The more titles you write, the more stories come to mind -- stories from your childhood, first love, travels, relationships, work, quest for meaning, accidents, victories, near death experiences, strange lights in the sky, and so on and so forth.

Let's say you top out at 359. But let's take it one step further. Let's say you actually WRITE your stories down. But not only write them -- you TELL them, also, until every story of yours has been told.

You could, of course, choose to tell your stories, AGAIN, to other people in other ways. You could, of course, choose to turn your stories into screenplays, novels, songs, sitcoms, i-phone apps, or webinars. But you don't. You feel complete, every story in you having been told.

So there you are with no more need tell a story (not even the story of why you are no longer telling stories). Like a small puddle evaporating after a thunderstorm, your need to tell your stories has completely disappeared.

Your friends, accustomed to your story telling, express their disappointment, but you say nothing. You say nothing because you have nothing to say. You have no point to make, no wisdom to impart, nothing to elucidate.

The words you would normally use to populate your tales seem to have gone south for the winter, vacationing, as they are, somewhere on a remote island, cocktail party chit chat for the night.

Though you are fully awake and can see many things happening around you, you have no need to connect the dots, no need for a plot, characters, conflict, or a resolution.

Everything is what it is. You are what you are, breathing, wanting nothing, needing nothing, enjoying the time before the first story has been told. You think of telling THAT story, but don't. You let it go. Like the milkweed floating by.

Excerpted from this book
Not excerpted from this book
This guy wrote both of them

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)