Storyteller’s All

From the moment we can walk and speak

We are all influenced by stories.

The most dangerous are those which are said to be true;

Dressed in the garb of explaining a current reality.

For example, consider which stories you have heard

About your religion, your city or town

And how these stories have influenced your behavior and choices.

For the spiritual traveler, much of the world we see everyday

And how we interpret what we see

Is a story, something,

Someone made-up to explain what is going on.

It is a fiction of sorts

To influence and describe to us the larger world.

A fiction you say:

Something which is not real!

Surely you are a madman.

It is real for I can touch it.

Yes, on one level you can touch and feel;

On another, in the world of thought,

What we see is framed

By these stories

And by another’s interpretation.

That is how we pass on the culture

And how we operate daily in the world.

We agree on mutually shared experience.

Remember, each storyteller is a unique filter

Through which ideas are given individual expression;

Hence no 2 people relate and interpret an event in exactly the same way.

Consider which stories and explanations

Influence you the most on how you see your world.

Also, consider how you would change the narrative

If you were sole interpreter of these events/stories.

And once you have mastered the storyline

And added a few lines of your own,

You are no longer its prisoner.

-SB