I always get a good laugh at my inability to successfully tell a story. My entire existence has been a cycle of getting really excited to tell someone a story, then backtracking way more than necessary and giving them the entire history of corn crops in the United States since 1450 in preparation for a story about some really good caramel popcorn I had at a festival the weekend before. Or even better, if my story happens to have any element of humor to it, I end up laughing at myself before I can even get the funny part out, and the poor fool listening to me has to stand there smiling out of pity and confusion.
In all honesty, I really do believe that I am capable of being an effective storyteller. I just have to have a pen between my fingers or a camera in my hands. We all have different methods of communication that suite us best, and writing and photography just happen to be mine. I wish that I could say public speaking was in there too, but my superhuman ability to choke on my own tongue is a slight complication. Photography and writing are two media that allow me to speak in ways that actually reach people, cause and cultivate emotion, and are far more inclined to captivate an audience than me standing in front of an auditorium full of people choking on my tongue.
Similar to exploring the idea of what being a "good" storyteller entails, it's interesting to reflect on stories themselves that are labeled "good," "sad," "funny," or "romantic..." We as humans all have preconceived notions of what these words mean and how they make us feel. Our experiences and our mentalities define these notions and there's a sort of wild beauty to the way one story can be heart-wrenching and captivating to a person who connects with it in one way, and at the same time be entirely trite and lacking any sort of emotional connection to another who has a bad taste in their mouth for the specific material being presented. That's the beauty of art in general. It has the power to say countless things all at once, and there's ultimately nothing the creator can do to define how it will be perceived by every single viewer.
Do you think of yourself as a good storyteller? What's the best story you ever told, and what was the medium of said story?
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you got something out of it and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, along with your response to my previous questions if you feel so inclined.
{Today's mind/heart/soul-healthy challenge: think of one thing that made you smile so big it hurt, then smile so big it hurts. It's okay if you're in public and think people will stare. Make the world wonder why you're smiling.}
*MAKE TODAY STORY-WORTHY.*