Living Stories

Literary Narrative for class: I got a 95! 

Stories are my life. I breathe in stories as if they were my oxygen, and exhale words of my own to express the feelings and emotions I get from taking them in. Stories help me relate to the world in a way that’s not totally inside the world, but as a wallflower, observing the intricacies of human life, without hardly touching them. I am of the kind who prefers the living of life vicariously through stories, because in a way, stories are life, told in the perspective of a narrator, a person looking inside the snow globe and perceiving all the complex features of what humans consider, every day life. I enjoy observing common day life and contemplating on what I’ve seen and what it could possibly mean. As I begin to possibly understand what I see, I try to write down my thoughts in a way that makes sense. I do not write words because I know the answers, I write words as a way to try to get to the answers. The stories in my life, the ones I hold dear, are the ones that inspire and encourage me to be a better writer, a writer that seeks truth instead of declaring that I already know everything, which I am far from ever claiming.

Stories take many forms, that of text, speech, movies and television, art, music, dance and many more. Whatever it takes to get a message across, in whatever form, is considered a story, and they are all equally enthralling. As to the forms of stories I read, I am frequently reading texts that open one’s mind to all the possibilities that nature has to offer. I enjoy texts that inspire and prove that truth prevails. I enjoy texts that express that sometimes, life isn’t all black and white and that there is a medium ground where people must learn to acknowledge that there is goodness and badness in everyone. The stories I often read tend to have meanings behind the surface that the one reading it must try to uncover for themselves, which is a lot like art, discovering what the artist meant and what it may mean to you. I specifically enjoy science fiction stories, ones that open your mind to multifarious life styles and predicaments. These stories help people understand that there is more to life and more answers to our difficulties than just fighting and destroying everything in our path. I love the works of Plato and Socrates and I love the story of Frankenstein. I particularly enjoy crime and mystery novels, especially the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories has especially opened my eyes to the possibility of writing as my future.

Reading opens a whole new world, a gateway into new realities that are often more pleasant than our own circumstances, whether the lives of the inhabitants of the stories believe so themselves or not. Reading is a way to enter into a new life and explore new possibilities and broaden one’s horizon. These are the circumstances as to why I read. When I read my own stories, ones I’m not made to for class, I often find that I have to wait to be in the right atmosphere and mood before I begin. If I am in a busy area or time in my life, then I discover that I don’t read as much. I never read my favorite stories when I am bored. That is a big no no in my philosophy of reading. My sister wonders why, because she would say that reading will solve my boredom, which is probably often times true, however, I do not desire to open my favorite book because I am so bored that it will have to do. There are times that I do not touch a book because I know I won’t pay it the attention that its due and that is just not acceptable. The only time I read my favorite stories, is when I want to go on an adventure, one that does not spur from the feeling of boredom but the feeling of readiness to get up and explore.

Many aspects of reading appeal to my sense of adventure when reading a book. I find that if there is an intriguing character, whether fictional or factual, they will always be of interest to me. I enjoy critical thinking and trying to figure out how a story I’m reading relates to the world I’m living in. I often enjoy works of Plato because the situations he described in the past, are still relevant to this day. Socrates was an incredible man who influenced many with his words of wisdom. Wisdom and words of inspiration and encouragement appeal to me as a reader, so words from the Bible help me greatly as well. I use many various kinds of texts to try and figure out the world I’m living in and the best texts are ones that challenge the status quo, which is why I loved reading the Hunger Games. What turns me off as a reader is quite simple and to the point. I do not like to read a whole mess of details about the location I’m in in the story. If the writer is good enough, they will never have to have several paragraphs to explain every detail of a room. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for this very reason. Sherlock Holmes is known as the greatest literary detective of all time due to his deduction skills and profound logic and wisdom. That being said, one who has not read the stories might think that there is a lot of details describing every little thing, as to get in the mind of the great detective, this would be false. What I love about these stories is that they are written in such a way that does not boggle your head with useless facts, the common place things that have nothing to do with the case. Instead, a point that Sherlock makes himself many times, is that the simplest fact, the thing most often overlooked, is most often the point that solves the crime or mystery. Of course, there is always a description of people and rooms, but only enough to give you a picture in your own mind and you can fill in the blanks yourself if you need to.

As I sit down and get comfy, as I am about to read a story, I put on my thinking cap, the ones we were told to put on in elementary school as to get the students prepared to think. The issue with many people today, is that they don’t think in a broad space, only a narrow one that holds just their own beliefs. I become an observer when I read, which is what I do in reality, however this is by far more enjoyable. I like to observe a situation and imagine myself in that space and wonder how I would react to whatever is going on. I like to acknowledge that a person, in reality or in my stories, has tread a long path to get where they are, and that I don’t know exactly how they feel, but that I can try to understand how I would feel in that moment. As I read, I become that of a friend and protector of my favorite characters, though if I was discussing the book with someone, I would acknowledge the characters faults as well as their great accomplishments. The best characters after all, are the ones who have the scars of their past to remind them to do better today.

When reading, I pick up different pieces of my soul that have been scattered in different stories long ago. When I read something new and it resonates with me, I know that it was meant for me. My own values and beliefs gives me a starting point when I’m reading something. I will always have a shade of my beliefs with me, no matter where I go or what I do, however, I can pick up new aspects of life and values and beliefs from other places. No matter what, when I am reading or doing anything, I am searching for truth. Truth is not malleable and it doesn’t change from person to person or culture to culture. I believe there is one truth to be found and whether a different culture has a bit of it, or a different religion has a bit of it, they must be found and fit together like a puzzle piece, as to discover the ultimate truth. When reading or writing, I use these truths that I have found from all over creation, and share it through words. I value the truth in other peoples writing, which is something I hope people value in mine.

As a person who wishes to spread truth to many, I’m hoping as a tutor I will be able to awaken possibilities in others so that they can begin the journey to find truth as well. Being a tutor will hopefully energize my writing as well as theirs, for I hope to teach my students to think critically and question what they think about the world. I want them to make sense of the world through their writing. I want them to understand that learning is a process of discovering how to think and not what to think. Though the ultimate goal is finding truth, the journey there will be incredible because it will open their eyes to different possibilities and awaken that sleeping child within all of us, the one that used to dream and wonder. I realize it can also be a rough journey; an advantageous journey never did come without complications. I know I won’t be perfect and I may not always be able to help, however, my purpose is about helping them to help themselves. The main goal is to get them to think about different cultures and perspectives and themselves. The main goal of writing is to seek truth and I’m hoping to engage the students into thinking more profoundly than they ever have. The ocean is the limit, and considering the depths of the ocean has not been fully explored yet, Id say that our limits are abound.