Chapter 6: Stories
There has been far too much audience given to the things, the people, and the situations that imprison us, and not enough to that which sets us free.
It is impossible to know for sure if the early precursors of our species knew the effect they would have centuries later when they first sat around the fire with one another, armed with only their hand gestures and words to deliver the world’s first stories. Could they have known that they’d change the world again when they found a way to immortalize a story in cave markings, or then again when the first written languages were created? Did they know, at that time, that they were giving life to one of the biggest, most influential art forms the world will ever know?
Whether they knew the scope of their actions at the time or not, we've the earliest humans to thank for their everlasting, ever-adapting gift of storytelling - this amazing pastime activity that takes the innovations we’ve made as creators and propels its purpose in exciting ways.
In many ways, the gift of storytelling stays unchanged. But in so many more ways, the art form has grown to play important roles in many aspects of life has become a primary component of all art, appearing in books we read, visual media that we watch, music we listen to, and games we play. The magic of storytelling truly soars when it is used to create people, places, and things that we have never known otherwise, Writers armed with the right words and the skill to craft an impactful line of narration or a clever piece of dialogue can pluck an avid book reader from Earth and transport them somewhere far away. Filmmakers can invite moviegoers to see new worlds and beasts while making us believe in something as widely dismissed and coveted as magic …if only for a little while. Storytelling has the power to stretch what we've come to define as possible far beyond their tangible real-world boundaries, which is why we are so enraptured by it: it challenges what we’ve come to know as possible and satisfies the incessant need to determine “what if?”
And that’s just fiction! Just as well as storytelling entertains us with the fantastical, it can teach us and relay to us that which is real. Everything and everyone in life has a story, including us. Our own stories are integral to our development, made of pieces of knowledge and nuggets of wisdom formed by our life experiences. The story of the day we stumbled becomes a lesson that ensures that we can walk further, longer and faster. Even better, our stories help others grow too: learning from the experiences of others through their stories is the reason why we have advanced so far as a species.
People in the past struggled, solved problems, and thus, told us how they succeeded. The story of the man that walked a long time ago helped us pave the way through innovation to eventually bless us with the automobile, the airplane, the train, etc. The tale of the plague would become a pharmaceutical breakthrough that keeps us healthy decades later. Cautionary anecdotes breed stronger children, true tales of triumph give us the inspiration to pushforward. There’s no exaggerating the power in the lessons we’ve learned and the stories we have to tell because of those lessons.
Just like in the past, stories can take us anywhere and do anything, but in the modern age, how a story is told is limitless. Its power and multiple purposes are enhanced by the many art forms we have created since the age of oral tales delivered to eager listeners crowded around a fire. A book can relay the past to bless us with knowledge, and a film can reach eagerly into the unknown and give us a piece of something we can only dream of. To teach, to warn, to entertain, to enlighten, to excite, to enrapture, and to set free: stories are tethers that touch all of us and make our lives all the greater. And there is a new story every single day.
The Protagonists
Played by Elizabeth (justasinging_geek) and Elaya (elayathemodel)
