Words are shot at us like bullets all day long.
“Good morning.”
“Glad to see you.”
“Where’s that spreadsheet?”
“Would you like coffee?”
Some things that we are told are nothing but a crock. Lies, is another word.
“The check is in the mail.”
“I love your hair.”
“I think you’ve you lost weight.”
But the greatest lie you will ever be told is that things -great, small, or otherwise- can’t change.
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
By Change, I don’t mean pitiful small puny changes in the world, like the transition of flip phones to touchscreens. Yes, it is true, the world has changed very much, and now we have talking gadgets in our pocket that light up.
Oh yes, how the world marches on. 
But the core facts, the faces of truth to our being, we are told every day, that these things, these deepest parts of ourselves, do not -and cannot- change.
We have been lied to.
I don’t usually include little bits of my personal life in this blog, but every so often, I have to share when something cool happens to me.
This weekend I watched Saving Mr. Banks and was moved to tears. Maybe you haven’t seen or heard of the movie. In that case, it’s the backstory of the creation of the older film, Mary Poppins. That movie’s good too. If you haven’t seen Saving Mr. Banks, then I won’t bore you with unnecessary details that you could receive more easily if you just watched the movie. Suffice it to say that the movie is a tale beautifully told heralding the power of a storyteller.
I know the movie was not a faithful representation of real events. I know that life isn’t clean cut and end happily by the end of two hours. But how can I stand stoicly in the shadow of so great a wish and desire as the mountainous motion of the storytelling that played before my eyes?
I’m a great enough fool, a poor enough sap, a dumb enough cluck to actually believe that the world can be changed by a good story. I’m a storyteller, what did you expect?
Change is the heart of story.
I started this post by talking about change. In my mind, this naturally leads me to talking about stories and storytelling because to me, they’re very similar things. A change in your life always becomes a story, and the best stories are about change. The crucial thing here is that I believe in change again. A good story played in front of the screen in front of me, and because of that, because the story warmed my heart, it has changed my mind. I believe in change again. As human animals, we are not bound by what we are, or what we are told. We can change. No other creature in God’s creation can change and mold itself into what it wants to become.
When was the last time you saw a dandelion have a mid life crisis?
This is what my heart has been panting for. This is all I have ever asked for. What more could I possibly want out of life? This is what I have been lacking. Please, for the sake of all that is pure and holy, tell me a good story. Make my heart bleed in tune to the dancing beat of great heroism. Force me to stand and swing my saber in support of that which I believe in. Make me cry. Tell me of great deeds so that I may live them too.
The soul is fed only by stories.
themadhairman 