1.3 story of our people.
I have a great story to tell you. “Most people think that time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction.” “What most fail to grasp is that the river is circular.” (Da Vinci’s Demons 1.1) (haha pop culture references–let’s pretend that the videos are in parentheses).
A long time, the world was once as it is now, with similar structures and society. There was one difference. There was only good. Evil did not yet exist. Only scary. It was a common occurrence for college kids to get together and try to come up with the scariest thing they could think of to scare one another because… college kids do stupid stuff like that. One drank so much he passed out. Another jumped off the roof of the frat house and rolled back onto his feet. It was shenanigans. It must have been fun to watch. Finally, there was a small girl standing in the corner of the beer pong room who had done nothing. All she had was a story. This story was bone chilling and terror inducing. The students thought the room dropped a few degrees and the air was harsher as she spoke. For it was a story of… crippling debt from student loans. And when the telling was done, everyone agreed that she had won the prize. “You win” everyone said. “here’s a keg. But that story—that was really scary. It doesn’t sound so good. Take it back. Bring your story back.” “But of course, it was too late. Once a story is told, it can’t be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world.” (King 10). Commentary: I told this story twice–once to a couple of my friends, and once to my boyfriend. And I guess, this blog post is the third time. Because I never wrote it down, the story has definitely changed from when I first conceptualized it to now. It’s hard to remember, but some sections may have had more detail or been longer. I know that the opening about time being like a river did not enter the story until later on, when I remembered those two pop culture references (Prince of Persia and Da Vinci’s Demons). Part of the beauty of story telling is in the way it continually changes. Unlike the written word, everything from the order of events to the very phrasing and nuance will change the feel of the story. My altered version of the story of course has humorous (ish–I try, but sometimes I’m not that funny) elements, but the “punchline” is startlingly true for many of us (at least for me).
Works Cited
Goyer, David S. “Da Vinci’s Demons S01E01- The Hanged Man”. Fox TV. Web. May 29, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9cT6ejWNgU
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough:Anansi Press. 2003. Print.
“Prince of Persia: Sands of Time”. Ubisoft. 21 November, 2003.
“because… college kids do stupid stuff like that”
“crippling debt from student loans”
Hahahaha, I laughed out loud! Great retelling, Fidelia. Loved the humour and familiar college setting.
It’s interesting how you noticed the story not only changes with the story teller, but also with each retelling. Perhaps the more we tell a story, not only do we become more familiar with it, we take greater ownership of it; it becomes more and more our own, not in that it becomes farther and farther from the original, but that it feels more and more like it belongs to us.
Woohoo! My laptop is working again (for now–thank you Apple Store!)
Thanks Lian, I really appreciate it. I’m really not the best with story telling and creative writing, but I tried my best?
That’s a very interesting point you make. To take things further, maybe it’s not that we take greater ownership of it, but it also becomes part of us. It’s like…a hobby. The more you partake in a hobby, the more it becomes part of you and your identity. Maybe that’s why stories work so well in “bridging the gap”–because the more you share that part of you, people take it and make it part of them, and it’s like we’re all one collective identity.
HIVE MENTALITY. Just kidding. That’s weird. …what have I started?
Ooh, I like this idea. A story creating and becoming a collective identity because each person imbibes it with a part of themselves with every retelling. From my understanding, this would mean a collective identity forms around stories.
I have a question then, why do certain stories live longer than others, and why are some more strongly associated with the culture/identity? By that I guess I mean, to what extent do stories affect a collective identity and vice versa?