How many times have you heard someone one say regarding an unusual event, "You couldn't make that stuff up." This response is a total denial of the truth. OF COURSE YOU CAN MAKE IT UP, just because it is a story you haven't heard before doesn't mean that it's the truth or even that unusual.
We are all blind men trying to describe an Elephant to a blind population.* The elephant is the story of our lives.
I am not saying that our lives are nothing more than stories. I am saying, the way we interpret our lives is nothing more than a story. Our lives become the story that has become comfortable enough for us to share with others. In reality it is all we know about others. Since we can not experience any body's life from the inside out, all we really know about anyone is the story they tell or that others tell about them.
I once saw a Top hat that looked every bit to be 140 years old. Well taken care of, but fading with age, it was an interesting item. If I had seen it in a thrift shop I might have offered five dollars to buy it. Other than obviously being old there was nothing that made the Top hat very special. However , I did not see it in a thrift shop but in a traveling exhibit at a Los Angeles Museum. It was (according to the story) Abraham Lincoln's top hat warn on the steps of the Capitol during his Inauguration. Priceless.
The value of the item was only in the story. How much more complicated it is to assess value on human beings much more complicated than a hat. A human story is full of plot twists and decisions that change direction. Our story is like the mental mask we wear. We tell the story of a person we want others to believe we are. Like an old Top hat we can only know so much about a person by observing. Our story becomes the most important part of our sense of value.
In one of my English classes, either high school or college, I found a quote by a noted British author. I have forgotten the class, the teacher, the author and everything else associated with it except, I did not forget the quote. Here it is:
"He wears a Mask and his face soon grows to fit it."
I carried these words in my wallet for decades. It made total sense then and now. What we project to the world usually becomes what we are. It is our story, our autobiography, the way we want to be seen.
The truth is: we are the writers of our own story. And the stories are so complex as to fool us into saying, "You couldn't make that stuff up." We are making every thing up as we go, so why not write a comedy.
I would love to make my life a comedy, but there is nothing funny about what happens in my life. Every time I think that I am getting ahead, something slaps me back down. Why would I write a story like that?
So your story is: I have no control over what happens... "something" always goes wrong. Why not write a story with the theme "I have total control over "something" that might happen." You are the hero of your own story, why not give yourself super powers.
As always this blog is intended for the sole purpose of Jay Johnson attempting to understand himself. Not for the use of anyone else. Do not read this if you are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant while reading. Tell your doctor that you have read or plan to read any other posts in this blog. Side effects may include loss of limbs, organs or even consciousness. Stop reading this blog if you have sudden feelings of sadness, nausea, ventrilophobia or have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours. Women should avoid contact with anyone who might have read this blog and if a woman reading this blog accidentally has an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, you are on your own. Call immediately if you have the symptoms of a life threatening condition.
As you were,
Jay
*Three blind men are touching an elephant describing it as they conceive it. One touches the tusk and says the Elephant "is like a tree." One touches the tail and says the Elephant "is like a rope". Another touches the elephant's trunk and says the Elephant "is like a snake."
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