Life as Story

I'm reading Don Miller's latest book, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", and liking it. The book has two plots that run concurrently--one about trying to write a movie about his life (which isn't over), and the other about his actual life (which isn't over). Both plots hinge on the elements of a successful story.

You can't help but read this book without thinking of your life as narrative, without thinking about the story you're creating and whether it's worth telling or listening to. Viewing life in this way turns everything upside down it seems. As Miller points out, humanity has a natural inclination to pursue comfort and stability. And these are not bad, inherently evil things...but they do make for a pretty boring story. Good stories involve risk, (or if I may borrow from my previous post, vulnerability).

I think that men, more than anything else, want their lives to make for a good story (women too?). I'm sure I'm not the only guy to think about what my eulogy might say. We want our lives to mean something, to be filled with good story, to last longer than we ourselves do. Like good stories, we want to be remembered. At our funeral, we want to picque our grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's interest--not bore them. And yet, it strikes me that what we spend the great majority of our time pursuing is the stuff that makes for a yawner.

Yes, it strikes me that what I spend the great majority of my time pursuing is the stuff that makes for a yawner.