We all have stories to tell. Sometimes it's hard to listen to others because we're so ready to tell our own. Any performer will tell you that the audience is the most important part of a performance. After all, what's the use in telling a tale if no one cares to listen?I've noticed my own taste in plays, movies and art relies on whether or not I relate to the storyteller. Those playwrights, authors and artists who tell a personal story are so much more impressive than the ones who have a message. It's much more frightening and vulnerable to write about a personal flaw than it is to address how we can better the planet. That explains why I like Ingmar Bergman and not Michael Moore.
One of the things I love most about my job is getting to hear others tell their stories. Although they often have to listen to mine, I truly enjoy that exchange. Seeing my friends grow is one of my deepest joys, and when someone sees me evolve, all the better. I guess that's why it's so important to keep people in our lives whom we know well. We can reflect each others strengths, weaknesses, arcs and resolutions. It's also why when we lose someone close to us, a part of us is lost.
I've been predictably low lately. I seem to have been replaced with a more somber, irritated version of myself. It makes the writing stagnant and stilted. I know intellectually that it's all a normal part of grieving, but it doesn't change things. I'm still in this place, walking through the mud with weights on my ankles. It's not a wasteland, just a bog with an end. On the other side are flowers, solid ground, clear streams.
I recently attended a Broadway musical, a senior citizen variety show and a children's ballet recital all in one weekend. I was struck by our symbolic need to tell our stories. While most of us are stage shy (myself excluded), our stories are important and become more intriguing the more we live our lives to the fullest. While it's not without pain and suffering, it is full of miracles and beauty. The tricky part is identifying the wonders.
