Stories from the Street

Wanting a better story (6)-the story hero

In literature the world over, the hero acts for the greater good. Always willing to give his life for something bigger, that motif has captured the imagination of generation after generation. Sadly, in today’s culture the hero has been replaced by the self seeking self serving celebrity figure. The jury is currently out as to whether such noble figures can be rescued from extinction.

For our stories to rise above the level of yet another episode of a never ending  soap opera, we need to go looking for the hero in each of us. It lurks in us all have no doubt about that. However he or she remains buried beneath the incessant demand to stay in line, not break ranks, and keep to the self serving mantra.

The hero has sight of other matters, for he always goes looking for something that is larger and more noble than even his own life.(Thanks Richard Rohr for this) Believing in his own uniqueness and significance, he refuses the story lie that says he has nothing to contribute and steps out to face the dragons and demons of life. Without even leaving his own street great exploits can unfold as the greater good is once more reached for, and the self serving mantra of western culture left to look on in disbelief.

So looking for a better story? Give space for the hero to once more rise. Sounds too much like a cliché?   Then be careful, for cynicism waits to kill your journey dead.

This then the sixth and final short conversation. I trust they have stimulated your own journey. If its been helpful then use the material as you wish.

Right now I am going to take a break from the online world. Over the last year I have posted most days of the 365. Some without doubt have been of indifferent quality, I trust other pieces have touched and provoked.

Will be back on line in a few weeks time.

Wanting a better story (5) The story guide

In every good film of book there comes a point when the story is recycled. Having completed one cycle of risk and reward the tone is set for a deepening of the plot. New characters emerge and fresh possibilities open up but not before the story itself has had to go deep into the ground. It is as these points of death and sightless waiting that the story guide comes to the fore.

For you he may be  Buddha, Jesus, the wild goose of the Holy Spirit, a father figure or patron saint. Whoever he or she is the role of the story guide is to take our hand and lead the inner person through the unknown pathways before us. Dragons need to be slain and he is there to carry our sword. Without him our journey can founder at these critical points of death and renewal.  Stagnation results and our story falters, failing to rise the next level on offer.

Yet lifted high on the shoulders of a guide or a mentor so courage can be found for the next stage ahead.  The rites of passage are completed and a new vista of opportunity opens up as we crossover the threshold.

This the role of the story guide.

In the last of this set of six I want to take a look at a long forgotten figure- the story hero.

Wanting a better story (4)-the story script

Often the pressures of simply keeping it all together in life can rob us of the opportunity to write our own script. Cornered by the trappings of mortgage and career we settle for the unwritten contract of life,  dutiful compliance.

No longer running with the dreams of yesterday we can find ourselves  living and dancing to someone else’s tune, often waking up to the reality far too late in life. Richard Roar, in his excellent book ‘Wild Men to wise Men’, says this. ’Our culture presents men with the illusion of making decisions but it effectively castrates them from charting actual new directions beyond and outside the rat race.’

So how do we take hold of the pen of our lives and what script might emerge if we did? Let me suggest a few tools that might be helpful.

Foundational desires

After a more than indifferent few years at University I salvaged my time through the crowning glory of my degree-a piece of work shaped on the windswept islands of Scotland.  Conducted in my final year of study I took to the Outer Hebrides exploring the life of the crofter, hanging precariously as they do on the extreme edge of the land. Little did I realise that something deep was being expressed in my journey, for the world of the croft sits aside the two loves of my life-a love for people and a  love for the land.  Nearly everything I have done since finds an echo back to those days, under canvas in the wild beauty of the north. All of us can track such  moments that shape what I call foundational desires, a key part of recognising the DNA of our life script.

Getting to know the characters

With the foundational DNA in place no film is shot or book written without space and time being given to the development of the main characters. Getting to know them is crucial and seeing how the story shapes and changes them vital to keeping the interest of the reader. Yet often we want to skip straight to the action, ignoring the fact that our characters are shaped not in the heights of human experience but in the troughs that run in-between. Embracing these seasons, call them desert times if you like, is pivotal in the development of our story.

Risk and reward

No story captures our attention without the element of risk. Indeed if the possibility of failure is not there to be touched then we are quickly dismissed as someone without the  credentials of life. Risk, reward, the possibility of failure are vital ingredients to the script of our lives, for even stories of failure can make for wonderful stories-sometimes the best!

The breadcrumb trail

A pivotal part of our story as I posted on the other day, is the story event. Yet such events can be preceded by a bread crumb trail-tantalising morsels that hint of adventures yet to come, acting to draw us further into the mystery unfolding. The breadcrumb trail of love and the breadcrumb trail of life provides the pathway of discovery through the mists of doubt and fear.

Story recycled

Often at this point the story recycles, passing once more through the valleys of death. Yet fresh plots begin to rise as new stories merge with old and a matrix of tales begin to weave their way across the parchment paper of our lives. This the fourth conversation that could feature to warm the hearth of our hearts. Tomorrow we look at the place of the story guide.

Wanting a better story (3)-the language of story

In life there are two parallel tracks that feed our story. One is the outer journey and the other is the inner. A story full of exterior events lacks substance and shape. No opportunity is given to encounter the real person. Alternatively, a story that is all internalised fails to make any sense when faced with the thorns and thistles of life. The connecting point between the two, the point of understanding, is what I call the language of story.

In 2005 a friend of mine  kicked me out of the door of the home we shared, realising that my inner journey needed to find some literal legs. What unfolded was an incredible season of adventure as together with friends we tumbled down the highways and byways of Europe and the Middle East. Forty months on from that kick up the butt the tables had turned. Wandering up through the border lands of Scotland I knew the walking was coming to an end. A hollow ring reverberated with every step, the realisation dawning that my outer journey was  out of sync and too far ahead of my inner.

Learning the language of our stories is crucial if we are to maximise the opportunities of life. Like learning any language it is not rocket science, rather a wonderful discipline cultivated in the company of friends and the  quiet of our own hearts.  The language of dreams and yes even the language of the land all weave together as incredible time lines unfold and our story line is shaped. Foundational events in life suddenly make sense and the threads of who we are are pulled through, yes even from the cradle to the grave.

There is not one person reading this that does not want our outer journey to reflect who we really are. This therefore is the third conversation that would be part of a package that you might want to draw upon should I come your way over the months to come. Tomorrow I want to unpack the story script.