Haibun: The Stories I Tell Myself
Like you, I'm constantly processing everything around me through story. Everything my brain absorbs becomes a story and I’m always the protagonist.
In my study of story and how to write a novel, novel writing expert, Lisa Cron, postures that all interesting stories have, at their core, a struggle that the protagonist can’t easily overcome because of their worldview (or set of beliefs) prevents them understanding the solution as solution instead of problem. It’s when they overcome this incorrect belief that they can then overcome the threat they face. These are the stories we can’t put down, because, as we get to know the protagonist, we relate to them and really want them to overcome this problem.
Naturally I am invested in the story I know best, mine. But unlike the reader of a good novel, I can’t uncover my misbelief just by reading till the end. Instead, I stay blind to my misbeliefs because it is just how I see things. It’s like trying to see my eye seeing by just looking at it. I can’t. And the older I get, the more I get the reality of this. All I can do is acknowledge my misbeliefs exist and I can’t easily identify all of them. Instead, each day I must struggle around them until they are no more or I am no more. By itself, this understanding of the struggles of life can be depressing, however, the more present I am to these narratives, the more aware and tender I become towards the protagonist, me. I’m okay with this. There’s a rooted, seasoned happiness to intentionally listening to my own stories and letting them go as simply my stories I tell myself. It’s the gold of growing old.
mountain’s brown and gold
the story unfolds, behold!
winter, tired and old
In my study of story and how to write a novel, novel writing expert, Lisa Cron, postures that all interesting stories have, at their core, a struggle that the protagonist can’t easily overcome because of their worldview (or set of beliefs) prevents them understanding the solution as solution instead of problem. It’s when they overcome this incorrect belief that they can then overcome the threat they face. These are the stories we can’t put down, because, as we get to know the protagonist, we relate to them and really want them to overcome this problem.
Naturally I am invested in the story I know best, mine. But unlike the reader of a good novel, I can’t uncover my misbelief just by reading till the end. Instead, I stay blind to my misbeliefs because it is just how I see things. It’s like trying to see my eye seeing by just looking at it. I can’t. And the older I get, the more I get the reality of this. All I can do is acknowledge my misbeliefs exist and I can’t easily identify all of them. Instead, each day I must struggle around them until they are no more or I am no more. By itself, this understanding of the struggles of life can be depressing, however, the more present I am to these narratives, the more aware and tender I become towards the protagonist, me. I’m okay with this. There’s a rooted, seasoned happiness to intentionally listening to my own stories and letting them go as simply my stories I tell myself. It’s the gold of growing old.
mountain’s brown and gold
the story unfolds, behold!
winter, tired and old
 |
| & Haiku: Brown and Gold |
