Part One of this article was published in The Morning Brunch yesterday (29).
Let’s look at the power of stories.
Stories have sustained humanity throughout all of our existence since time immemorial. And this is historically and factually accurate. From a religious perspective, from a social and cultural standpoint, to our psychological, physiological, biological, emotional, and spiritual domains – stories have carried us as a species from before our ancestors could string sentences together to communicate freely and fluidly.
The earliest humans would communicate with expressions, sounds, illustrations, and actions but kept seeking to evolve, improve, and enhance, to fine-tune communication into a cognitive, comprehensible etymological system that would help us understand things more clearly. And from our early human ancestral genesis of allegedly five million to seven million years ago, although modern humans date back to roughly 200,000 years ago (which really isn’t all that long when one considers that the dinosaurs roamed the earth for 65 million years), we’ve loved, cherished, found purpose, reason, meaning, and evolved by telling stories.
Where do stories come from? What are stories made from? Truths, abstract truths, actualities, fictitious inventions, imagination, fables, legends, and myths that all stem from shared experiences of discovery, tragedy, struggle, suffering, victories and triumphs, happiness, pain, loss, learning, failure, and success.
It is believed that the Sumerians were the first to conceive a written language in southern Mesopotamia around 3400 or 3500 BCE. It all first started with small tokens of clay representing goods that were used for purposes of trade and later symbols were written on clay tablets.
It is regarded by some that the first word is Aa which was uttered by an Australopithecine in Ethiopia over a million years ago.
Listen to yourself when you talk
In a world of technological advent and connectivity of the social media landscape often touted as the preeminent advancement of globalised culture, communication has largely become an echo chamber with very little room for listening. There are millions of conversations, chats, and discussions that occur every minute – a constant rebound of opinions, views, and conversations going back and forth that the concept of mutual exploration and the vital nuance to engage in is now lost.
There’s a hell of a lot of noise alright. Much screaming and shouting, barking and baying on digital platforms but proportionately very few listeners willing to actually have an open dialogue and conversation with an objective outlook, professional perspective, and a nuanced, balanced view.
Because, for a conversation to happen effectively, someone needs to talk, while someone else must listen.
There is a fundamental difference in thinking. We all actively think, but how many of us have the ability to listen to our thoughts? There are strong thinkers as there are strong listeners. But finding the right balance between both those worlds? Having the ability to simulate multiple worlds and facilitate a dialogue within where we are both the internalised speaker and listener is much harder than it sounds.
However, if we can do this, the benefits, I have found, are enormous. We can work out complex topics and look for soluble answers to questions and scenarios that are truly troublesome and wearisome. We can even practise prudence by first identifying if what we are about to say in a particular situation will contribute something of value to a conversation.
I have this self-analogy of mine of putting several people in a room together. The smartest person in the room is not the person who appears to be the most knowledgeable, not the most educated, the most charismatic, nor the most successful, it’s certainly not the most animated, abrasive, attention-seeking loudest person in that room. The smartest is the person who spends the most amount of time listening, who is able to study, read, and learn from the room.
The link between words and deeds
“Don’t keep for tomorrow, that which you need to get done today.”
“If you are going to do something, do it properly… or not at all.”
Two powerful, resonating mantras that are inextricably linked because yes, they are words of great rhyme and reason. They both have more to them than meets the bare, naked eye at face value. They have layers and nuances once you apply them to your daily existence.
Yet they start with a self-declaration to self; that’s important to note. You are saying something of importance, and hearing and choosing to go a bit beyond and listen to what you are saying will enable you to ponder their meaning in a manner that you are able to dissect the words and deconstruct them, before you draw inspiration and purpose from either of them.
If you can converse with your inner self and debate, agree, disagree, and evaluate the necessity of any given task, objective, obligation, duty or responsibility at hand, then one of the major battles, which is to get started before anything else, is addressed. Why? Because one quote measures the pros and cons and the repercussions of delaying, derailing, or neglecting to get on with something – whether it’s work, studies, a family matter, a personal conquest or any other professional or social pursuit – and the other addresses that once you have identified something needs your attention, time, and effort, you may as well give it your undivided focus, energy to plan and strategise how to tackle it and then go at it and give it your all (whatever percentage that is) today. Then give it your all tomorrow. And the day after. And after that. Whether you are working out, painting, rehearsing for a show, practising a craft, studying or doing assignments, or readying yourself for a work presentation.
To learn to give your optimal effort, to devote your acuity and skill sets towards something with the fullness and wholeness of your being is much better than to take a crack at something cynically, languidly, or without a distinctive understanding of your vision, journey, and the tools at your disposal to achieve your goals.
It all starts with you talking to yourself and listening to what you have to say. You will then learn to negotiate the perilous roads you map out in your head of the story arc of that which you must contemplate to face, in order to fulfil your objective.
In the words of Sigmund Freud: “Words have a magical power. They can either bring the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions.”
Sure, actions might speak louder than words; but words are words. And without words nothing else would really matter.
(The writer is the frontman and lyricist of Stigmata, a creative consultant and brand strategist by profession, a self-published author and poet, thespian, animal rescuer, podcaster, and fitness enthusiast)
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.