I still remember the first story I ever wrote.
I was probably in the 3rd or 4th grade.
I used to be really into the YU-GI-OH trading card game, and the story revolved around one of my favorite cards. It was a legend about a great swordsman, who was so powerful that he had to be bound by an iron suit of armor that suppressed his power and kept it from destroying the world and himself (props to anyone who can tell me what card I’m talking about).
This was one of my very first exercises in writing, but more importantly, it was one of my very first experiences as a storyteller.
A Power Unlike Any Other
There’s a reason that we humans have told stories since the dawn of our existence.
All people with a willingness to express themselves, whether it be through art, science, or the multitude of facets in between, desire to tell a story. A story of themselves, a story of life, but a story none the less.
Storytelling is what connects us to our own humanity. It is how we pass on values, lessons, and experiences from one person to the next. Humanity is both blessed and cursed with self awareness, and storytelling is what allows us to hold up a mirror to our own existence so that we might see it for all of its beauty, as well as all of its ugliness.
Nothing is more powerful than a story that is told, heard, and felt. The entire course of our history has shifted because of stories, entire beliefs and religions have come to rise and fall because of stories. It is a power that compels us unlike any other, and has the capability to either save us or destroy us.
But if used correctly, storytelling gives us the freedom to transcend beyond our differences, allowing us to peer into a more fundamental realm of our own existence, one more intrinsic to our nature than many of the self imposed differences we have given ourselves. The mutual enjoyment and relation to a story can break down barriers, strengthen bonds, and build trust between people unlike any other force.
It is truly magic in its purest form.