Me: One thing I don’t understand.
Story: Just one? I doubt that. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. Shoot.
Me: Why is it sometimes you seem to write yourself, and other times it’s like pulling teeth from a wolverine to get you finished?
Story: Oh, boy. I was afraid you were going to ask me that some day.
Me: Well?
Story: Are you sure you’re ready for this?
Me: I think so.
Story: I hope so. Okay, here goes. It’s not me, it’s you.
Me: Well, that figures.
Story: No, it goes deeper than that. It’s what you bring to the table in the first place. Look, none of this process happens in a vacuum, bunky. I’m not created out of nothing. At the very first blush I am pure mental energy. Energy. The fabric of the entire universe, of which you are a part. When you first conceive of me I exist solely within your thoughts, and the limited framework of your imagination. And, boy, if you don’t mind my saying, it’s very limited up there indeed….
Me: Can’t we have a private discussion without you dinging me all the time?
Story: Who’s dinging? I’m telling you the truth. It’s limited up there in your mind. But when you let me out and start working with me, molding me, letting me grow and develop….oh, boy, that’s when the fun starts.
Me: Fun?
Story: Fun. Because then it’s not only you, or only me, it’s us. We’re working together as a synergistic whole. I am part of you and you are part of me, and together we make something outside ourselves that exists beyond ourselves. We start playing off one another and using elements from all around and throughout your entire experience. That’s story. That’s the history of human expression and artistic creation. That synergy of the creative process goes back to the first human beings who sat around a flickering campfire under the stars. Humans have carried that fire of process forward for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. Pretty awesome when you think about my lineage. Understand?
Me: I think I’m beginning to. A little bit.
Story: Well, the longest journey always begins with a single step.
Me: You’re very patient with me. Thanks.
Story: Now you’re getting mushy and sentimental. Next thing you know, you will want to hug me or something. Shut up and write.
Me: Okay. Like this?
Story: Yes. See? It’s easy when you know how.
Hoover's Corner 