narrating our story

life is in the details


Recently I read an article on kellehampton.com called Collecting Evidence for Narratives.

Upon reading her insight I believed that the idea that we create and support our narratives plays right into the idea of owning our story. The idea of telling our own story.

There are two ways to look upon any situation. There is the gap side (oh man...look at all that I don't have...). And there is the gain side (I am so thankful for all that I have even in all it's imperfection.)

See. We CAN write our own story.

This prompts two things in me:

I can look upon my life, my character, as an artist looks at a canvas. I am the crafter of the story. What I project represents what I am thinking. For me this requires me to always be working on what I am actually thinking. What I am saying. How I am acting. And unlike a modern artist who leaves the interpretation up to the observer, I actually strive to be a master artist who tells the story I want you to know. This can be a bit complicated. So just let that thought linger for a bit.

Second, I can just be the victim of what happens to me. Or I can orchestrate the circumstances of my life to the very best of my ability. I cannot control things. But I can respond. How I respond represents who I am.

And this may be another reason I love to craft a story by way of embellishment, photo, and journaling. The embellishment is the creative in me acting out abstract ideas in my head. The photography is capturing life as I see in the hope I can help others see and remember it too. The journaling is the story. My telling. The collected evidence of the narrative in my head.

It's up to me just what that story will actually be.

Tell your story.