That's My Story

A  L  O  H  A ! 

"  If history were taught 

in the form of stories,

 it would never be forgotten.  "

Rudyard Kipling

 

 “The life of every man
is a diary
 in which he means to write
 one story,
and writes
another.”

 James Matthew Barrie

“Live your life
 from your heart.
Share from your heart.
And your story
will touch
 and heal
 people's souls.”

 Melody Beattie

“A drink
 precedes
 a story.”

 Irish Proverb

" Be amusing: 

never tell unkind stories; 

above all, 

never tell long ones. "

Benjamin Disraeli

" Some stories are true

 that never happened.  "

Elie Wiesel

“Everybody here 

thinks the whole story 

is about them..
Definitely 

that goes for everybody 

in the world.”

 Chuck Palahniuk

" One of the ways

to reincarnate

is to tell

your story. "

Spalding Gray

  ><}}(°>

< ° ) } } > <     

All over the world, throughout history, 

storytelling

 has been one of the chief characteristics 

of our shared humanity. 

 The telling can involve  song, 

chant, musical instruments, 

epic poems recited from memory.  

Recitation & performance

of epics,

 the founding myths

 of a people, 

a culture

can last for days! 

From a single bard,

 to a Greek Chorus,

 to a theater troupe;

 From a prehistoric campfire,

 to Beijing Opera,

 the Broadway Stage, Hollywood,

 and yes, Blogger-

 We are the tellers of stories,

and telling them

is how we make sense

of our lives.

What young person today

has NOT lived Harry Potter,

and shared it's secret inclusion

with their generational cohort?

When I lost my job

[ and turned 50

the same week ]

I adjusted while watching

 NYPD Blue

every day on a cable network.

The redemption of Dennis Franz`

Detective Andy Sipowicz 

consumed me.  

All the themes,

all the flavor, 

all of the 'person' 

and 'place'

helped me process 

my own story

somehow.

The stories of Shakespeare

 live forever

because our hopes, fears,

 and character 

have not changed

since he revealed them to us.

Americans waited at the dock

in New York Winter

for the next installment

of Dickens 

by sail from London.

The Sopranos also captured my imagination

the way a beloved series of books does.

[ Like the Talera cycle 

 by Charles Gramlich ]

LINK

One amazing development has been

the technology to bring theater

into our home.

And now, we no longer need to watch

episodic TV every week;

No, through HULU, or HBOGO,

we can watch every chapter,

every season of our consuming Story

all at once!

Have you spent a weekend

watching every episode

of such a series as the Sopranos

or The Wire?

Would you admit it if you had?

LOL

Just asking. . .

Thanks for sharing,
leave a comment!

                   Warmly, cloudia

You can read about 
storytelling traditions here:

LINK