Jamuary

 

"The human imagination may be the most elastic thing in the universe, stretching to encompass the millions of dreams that in centuries of relentless struggle built modern civilization, to entertain the endless doubts that hamper every human enterprise, and to conceive the vast menagerie of boogeymen that trouble every human heart." -Dean Koontz

Been an interesting month. My hope was that things would be more chill in the world in 2023 than over the past few years. By evidence of the past month that seems unlikely. Trying to get 8 billion people to chill the fuck out was never likely to happen. So we keep spinning, flinging self-serving nonsense for no particular reason.

My own reason is as a servant to the story machine in my head. I'll keep putting it on a page until the well runs dry or I go kaput. Surely there has to be a reason why we have access to these fictional worlds and feel compelled to share them. Sanity is probably the main reason. The fact that we are all so in love with stories is also compelling. 

The amount of stories that we have weaved around the globe is fascinating to me. From the Odyssey to The Last of Us. We are hard-wired to seek out stories to guide us through this life. To learn, yes. But life is different than it was 10 years ago, let alone 10,000 years ago.

Scientific and Technological advancements have given us the ability to live longer and to communicate with every last soul on this planet in an instant. And while the stories of survival are still hardwired into us, it is the mundane nuance of normal life that so many can relate to. 

Having come from a family of teachers, it is my belief that stories are meant to help others in one way or another. I'm not sure it is always top of mind during the process for me, but there are lessons to be learned from the stories that I write. My main motivation is to write something that I would want to read in a book or watch on a screen. Example: A time travel story I have been working on is motivated by the loss of a loved one and trying to fix the past to save them. At the heart of the chaos is a complicated love story. The moral of the story is about dealing with loss.

The work is the point of it all. To share what I have learned along the way through this winding river called life is the reward. To add my stories to the ever-growing tapestry we drape over the planet to try and help us all be better versions of ourselves and hopefully be good servants of our shared home.