I lost two comments to cyberspace so I thought I'd try this as a separate topic.
"The same stories can be re-assembled with different elements emphasized for various intentions."
I had thought that a story becomes finished after a little practice and that it evolves slowly after that. I am learning that this isn't true, that stories are much more organic and dynamic than that.
In addition to the natural evolutionary changes in the story and the influence of the audience, there are many other items that are influencing my stories this July -- what stories come before it, what exercises we have been working on, what tone will have the most resonance in the moment of telling, where I am in my life's journey and in my storyteller's journey, etc.
The dynamic nature of story makes sense, of course. In seminar presentations, I used to think that I would borrow a story for one topic and use it for another purposes -- thus, my story on voir dire might get used for other purposes, say fighting bully judges. I now realize that the stories are not for one purpose and subject to being loaned out like a library book. A story can be told for multiple reasons to multiple audiences, each time taking a different personality and emphasizing different points.
I have been feeling this pretty hard, too, Chris. Sometimes I get stuck coming up with ideas for stories, or don't want to tell the same story again, and use a nugget from one story to inspire another, creating a completely different perspective on the subject than before. It's never ending, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteThis year, I've had the experience of watching a story I'd like to put into my "standing repertoire" evolve into almost two different stories. When I encountered "The Girl and the Chenoo" in Joseph Bruchac's book, The Girl Who Married the Moon, the story introduced itself to me as a story about a female hero, a brave woman who has the courage to face evil and transform it. Gradually the story shifted its focus, and I discovered that I was beginning to view it from the monster's point of view, and it was becoming a story of redemption showing that even the most foul transgression can be forgiven. This was validated when Shonaleigh spoke to us about the Firewolf; leaving me curious about the similarity between the Abenaki Chenoo and the Ashkenazi Firewolf, both damned creatures in their respective cultures who may find forgiveness. I wonder if such a figure exists in other traditions ... but I am beginning to see that stories are not "fixed" in position, and that different aspects can be emphasized, depending on your intention.
ReplyDeleteI know the story I told today could have been told with a different "MIT" - it had an undercurrent I could have brought to the fore - but that was NOT the story I wanted to tell, and so I didn't.
Chris it sounds as though you have been discovering the Lattice work of your stories.
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