Stories have been around since the dawn of time. My grandfather could tell a great story. I remember sitting in his living room as he would tell us a story about his childhood. Some of it was so far-fetching, it felt like he wasn't telling the true story, but it didn't matter. It was so entertaining that the truth wasn't important. You could see his eyes light up. I could see him in his glory as he laughed and told the story with with passion. My dad would tease him by saying, "The only way you could tell when Grampie wasn't lying is when his lips stopped moving".
We love stories. We love to tell stories.
Humans are the only creatures on this earth that will take a food and trade it for entertainment. We spend our money, which we could use for basic necessities like food and shelter, and trade it for entertainment. Entertainment is a thirst. We desire it. In my childhood, when money was scarce, we would entertain ourselves with stories. Today it's movie theatres, cable tv, etc.
Have traditional storytelling taken a back seat to our entertainment needs?
Go to a party and the most interesting person there will be the one with an ability to tell a good story. You'll listen to every word. Hang on every pause. You'll wait for the punchline. Some of those stories will be in form of jokes. And some will be in form of personal stories. You'll wonder how some people have such interesting lives. In fact, these people have the ability to use words, and pauses to paint a picture that is so real it's like you were right there living it with them.
I had a friend in university that was like that. I always wanted to be with him because his nightly adventures were explained the next day with zest. He detailed simple, boring events with grandeur. His life was so interesting the way he told it. I wanted a piece of that so we would go adventure hunting together. Funny thing was his stories were far better than the real deal. It was fun being around him because the stories never stopped. Everything an adventure, but it was more of the mind than anything else.
Every good story has to have some drama. The video below explains the Karpman Drama Triangle. Every great story we were told as children had three roles: hero, victim and villian. For a good story to emerge, we need three characters: Prince Charming, Step Mother and Cinderella.
The stories of our lives are played out daily in the exact same way. We never play the villain in our own story. That role is left for someone evil. We play the role of victim or hero. When we play the role of victim, drama is created when we summon a hero to save the day. Funny enough, the villain in your story looks at you as the villain in their story. Once all three roles are fulfilled, we have developed a dramatic triangle that can create poison within a family or workplace.
The only way to escape the drama triangle is to not join in. Although every good storyteller has the ability to draw you in, you have to be careful. Getting involved emotionally or physically could easily mean that you've become one of the three characters in the play.
And all we thirst for is a really good story, right?
Be careful!
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