EVERYBODY HAS STORIES TO TELL
Our need to tell stories goes back to the dawn of civilization. Telling stories was one of the main ways in which our culture was developed, and continues to develop to this day. Our culture consists of the many different aspects of life that its members share in common, and by which they are connected to each other
The origins, the evolution and the power of stories and myths have been described in detail by what has become known as the Mythopoetic Movement. The Mythopoetic Movement derives much of its knowledge and inspiration from the encyclopedic and ground-breaking studies of Joseph Campbell. His many works include The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth, (which was made into a much-acclaimed TV series). The Mythopoetic Movement has been led by American poet Robert Bly, and often supported by others such as James Hillman, Michael Meade, and Marion Woodman. It is through this movement that I came to receive the guidance, inspiration, and many of the tools that have made it possible to re-initiate myself and to become a complete and authentic human being.
There has been a great number of amazing storytellers throughout history. The list is long and we all have our favorites. My favorites include Walt Disney, who has been one of my heroes since I was a child, and more recently Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Her great works include The Gift of Story, The Creative Fire, How to Be an Elder, How to Love a Woman, and Women Who Run with the Wolves. I can never tire of listening to her stories. She is truly one of the great story-tellers of our times.
THE ROLE OF STORY-TELLING AND OF MYTHS IN OUR LIVES
We all have stories to tell. The amount of stories that we can tell is practically infinite. Well before recorded history men and women have been telling stories to each other. One of the great rituals of humanity is the tradition of sitting around a fire and telling each other stories. This was not only true in ancient times, and in so-called primitive cultures, this is still true today. For example, when we go camping with our families and friends, or when we sit around a warm fire in our homes. Unfortunately, since the advent of cinema, and later of television, most people have become used to being a more or less passive audience rather than actively participating in telling stories.
The reason why myths are so powerful is that each character in a story or a myth may actually represent one of the aspects of our psyche. Very often characters in stories and myths are internalized sub-consciously and they will become active in our lives. These aspects are called Inner Characters. Each one of these Inner Characters represents a different aspect of our psyche. At other times Inner Characters may represent one of our faculties or qualities such as our intuition, our memory, our creativity, and so on. To fully benefit from them, it is not essential that we be aware of how the characters in stories and myths work for us. We will be affected by them anyway, whether we are conscious or not of what is going on. This is a process that takes place in our sub-conscious and it will affect us all, either in the short term or in the longer term. Some of us may be more receptive to this process than others, and therefore some of us will benefit from it more than others.
One of the most important roles of stories and myths is to transmit role models to us that can be useful and beneficial, and that may guide us for the rest of our lives. Good and powerful examples for us to follow. When we listen to stories or myths, most of us ask ourselves how we can become like one of the heroes in these stories or myths. This is also true when we watch a play or a movie. Whether we are fully conscious of this or not, we often ask ourselves: “How could I become like that character?” “What do I need to do to become more like that?”
THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH STORIES TO TELL
Libraries, bookstores, and the Internet are full of books, articles, videos, and other works that tell all kinds of stories, and literally thousands of stories keep getting published every day. We are talking about millions and millions of stories in all languages. No matter how many millions of stories have already been published, and shared in all kinds of ways, as long as human beings live, there will never be a limit to the stories that can be told. We don’t need to be particularly talented in order to tell stories. Most parents tell stories to their children practically since they are born. All families have stories to tell, and these stories are usually shared around the dinner table, and at particular times of the year such as birthdays, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Do you have stories that you have not told yet? Stories about yourself, your family, or others?
We can all benefit greatly by recording or writing down our most interesting and inspiring stories. Not only will this constitute a record of our lives and the lives of our families, but it will help us to become more self-aware and more creative. Diaries are the treasure trove of writers, and this is not only true of published authors; it applies to everyone. Most people place great value on the collection of pictures they have of their children, and of their families, and they love to share them with others and to tell the story of these pictures. We can add value to these pictures by recording and writing down the stories that go with these pictures. Even if these stories will never be published or told outside our immediate circle, they will make our lives far richer and our gathering far more interesting. By diarizing you may discover just how many more stories you have to tell, and how much fun you can have by doing so.
Copyright ? 2013 by André Korenyi