There, it’s settled. It’s all about the story.
Sure, there are numbers, theories, philosophies, and science. All important in their own way. But it’s only story that’s going to touch you deeply enough to get you to take action.
I think we need to be constantly reminded that “When you hear about how a person changed her life, it changes your life.“
I might be terribly wrong in that I believe that people want to improve their lives, they want to learn and change and, wait for it: learn how to change.
Change might be a thing that people just don’t know quite how to do. Do they read a book? Do they just jump out of a (metaphorical) airplane and take the “see what happens” approach?
Or might story affect them in a way that they can relate to. To the point where they say, “Wait, that’s me. Or, well, that could be me.” Maybe they’ve read ten books and attended four seminars, but nothing put them over the edge to the point where they knew that they needed a change.
Why am I so fascinated with change? It’s building, creating, growing. It’s learning and becoming a better person. I also just like it. I don’t like stagnation, I don’t like the status quo. I want to live deeply and see that once I’m on the edge of the next mountain, that there are more mountains beyond. I’ll never be done with the journey for it is the end goal. The journey is the destination. I know, I know, so cliche. But cliches are usually pretty accurate.
I’m toying with how to tell stories. There’s the non-fiction route along the likes of Every Single Day. Recording people’s stories (please, someone other than me!) and bringing their personalities into the mind of others. People who never would have otherwise met. I’m all about that off chance that someone is going to connect with you in a way that no one up until that point has ever done. But if the story is not out there, then the chance goes down to somewhere around zero.
Lately, stories have been pouring through me. They’re not even necessarily mine. They’re just coming to me. Or through me, rather. Here’s an excerpt from something that accidentally titled itself, “Unknowing Majestic Mystic.” I adore the acronym: UMM. Somewhere close to the purity of an “ohm” chant, but a little closer to a much more clueless, naive, and “Um.”
Here’s an excerpt from chapter two of The Unknowing Majestic Mystic.