What's In a Story

I enjoy a good story. I love the character development, the contrast in tone and setting, the self immersion, and the ending which seems to resolve my conflicts on top of the protagonist's. A good story is an experience.

The stories I'm talking about are not required to be bound by a cover, and people who defend that books are all you need in life are really missing out. When thinking "big picture," books are really not that old: the Gutenberg press which revolutionized printing is still in its infancy when compared to oral traditions and live performances which are as old as time immemorial. But as people have populated the planet in the last couple centuries or so, advances in technology have led to newspapers, radio, film, television, and Internet. As long as there are people living on this rock that we call earth, the list will keep expanding. While this is a heavily diversified list, all of these forms media are tied together by a common link: they can all be used to tell stories. No matter how people experience their media, even if an apocalypse should come and take all of these modern options away, the story shall live on.

So what is it about the story that makes it such an integral part of what makes us us?  Humans are a very progressive species, we take a particular interest in what can be, on top of what already is. That drive is present in all of us, which is why we all enjoy stories. Stories serve as a great equalizer- common social barriers such as race, gender, and wealth are virtually struck down; all are able to experience the power a story can bring. So many of the big religions today preach teachings through interpretations of various stories. Stories dictate so many parts of our daily life. Fiction or nonfiction, realistic or fantasy, on a screen or on a page, stories cover all bounds. Enjoy a new story today: with so many options, there's bound to be a good one for you.