Filed under: Life
I was at a Kurt Vonnegut talk in New York a few years ago. Talking about writing, life, and everything.
He explained why people have such a need for drama in their life.
He said, “People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let’s look at a few examples.”
He drew an empty grid on the board, like this:
Time moves from left to right. Happiness from bottom to top.
He said, “Let’s look at a very common story arc. The story of Cinderella.”
It starts with her awful life with evil stepsisters, scrubbing the fireplace. Then she get an invitation to the ball! Things look up. Then the fairy godmother makes her a dress and a coach. Even better! Then she goes to the ball, and dances with the prince! This is great! But then it’s midnight. She has to go. Oh no. Sadness. Back to her humdrum life scrubbing the fireplace. But it’s not as bad as before, because she’s had this encouraging experience. Then, the prince finds her, and the happiness factor is off the chart! Happily ever after.
“People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this.”
He wiped the board clean and said, “Now let’s look at another popular story arc: the disaster.”
It’s an ordinary day in an ordinary town. But something horrible happens! A child falls down a well! The whole town gathers to save her. Old grudges surface, but are belittled in the light of this tragedy. Rifts are bonded as people work together. The child is saved, and all is well. But notice it’s a little better than it was before, now that this incident has brought them all closer together.
“People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this.”
But the problem is, life is really like this…
Our lives drifts along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it’ll be told for a thousand years.
“But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think are lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none.”
That’s why people invent fights. That’s why we’re drawn to sports. That’s why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal.
We’re trying to make our life into a fairy tale.
(via http://sivers.org/drama)
Filed under: Life, The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me
Just in case you’re concerned that I’ve gone all Hello Kitty on everyone – I’ll be fine. I’ve just decided it’s time to socially hibernate and crawl under a rock once again.
I really don’t feel like I’m in any mood beyond occasional interweb-speaking – especially not for getting inebriated and engaging in petty small talk. I’ll just be home reading and writing, spending too much time on the internet and watching too much telly, and possibly coming up with some sort of unrealistic 6 month goal of getting my life back on track e.g. finding myself through sobriety, vegetarianism and other fluffy overly-idealistic actions.
The good news is I’d probably go a little crazy with the online updates.
Don’t worry, it’s a yearly ritual I’ve gone through ever since I turned twelve (that’s right, last month) The kids will be alright.
Filed under: The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me | Tags: a poetic retelling of my unfortunate seduction, emotions and other disasters
“I am going to give you a piece of advice…advice I wish I’d been told in guidance class back in high school, in between the don’t-do-acid and don’t-drink-and-drive films. I wish our counselors had told us, ‘When you grow older a dreadful, horrible sensation will come over you. It’s called loneliness, and you think you know what it is now, but you don’t. Here is the list of the symptoms, and don’t worry—loneliness is the most universal sensation on the planet. Just remember one fact—loneliness will pass. You will survive and you will be a better human for it.”
Words of wisdom from The Coup.
Filed under: The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me | Tags: a poetic retelling of my unfortunate seduction
And the bitter loneliness creeps up behind me again.
I haven’t thought about you in a while, mostly because there really are people more special than you are. Still, I had an entire list of things to display but your bastardly ways don’t warrant any repeats of words I’ve already said. I know what some of you are going to say, “21 years of your life, Josie. You haven’t seen nothing yet.”
What happened – where did things go terribly wrong. Did I make a wrong turn somewhere. Did I ask for too much. Was it too demanding to just have someone special to do nothing with every day.
Oh god, everything, EVERYTHING I ever did for you was in vain.
I can’t say this at all for any of the other relationships I’ve been in but I was far too good for you and you didn’t deserve better.
Fuck, I need to stop being attracted to unreliable, unemotional nutcases. Sorry if all y’all make me feel better about being bat shit crazy.
Excuse my failed attempts at sounding like a tortured soul, please don’t discriminate.
Filed under: The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me | Tags: bah humbug
Ok, Jack Donaghy says Shut it Down.
My night cycle has completely gone off course and my sleep is currently being held ransom by the televisual brilliance of 30 Rock.
Evening time schedules have been reduced to: getting home from the office, a meal or some sort of poor dietary equivalent (I had champagne and strawberries for dinner today because I wanted to), and then a marathon of television consisting of episodes I’d already seen. American TV is ruining my life.
Sorry for the banal updates – I’ve been rather brain dead, this electro music I’ve been listening to is drilling a hole at the back of my head.
Filed under: The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me | Tags: how vague can i be and still entice you
There is no better inspiration for writing than that which is eleventh houred or narcotics and alcohol fueled. Not to say that this post was written under the influence of either (maybe the slightest bit of the far latter)
As far as developments of my life go, I have been doing rather peachy. Good riddance to bad rubbish – I am far from bitter about it really: you win some, you lose some, sometimes karma is a bitch.
It has also come to my attention that too many people read this blog (from comments I’ve recieved in person recently) for me to delve too deeply into some details – big brother is watching again. If you were meant to know, I would have probably told you already. I sure know how to pick them.
The subject of my age has also been quite a glaring factor of late. How infuriating. I am going to maintain the fact that I have an old soul as well as put ‘maturity’ into a relative. Alphaville said it best really.
So much secrecy, quite unbecoming of me. I would spill the beans but wouldn’t it just be more enjoyable being cryptic? How vague can I be and still entice you.
Good game, buddy.
Filed under: Uncategorized
If you’re wondering about the other disaster and I, we are done. That is all.
Tim Gunn would say Carry On and I would agree.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a poetic retelling of my unfortunate seduction, emotions and other disasters
Yes, it can often be difficult to come to terms with the fact that you’re just simply a slut!
Filed under: The Unexplainable Things that Seem to Only Occur to Me | Tags: a poetic retelling of my unfortunate seduction, do you like to hurt - i do i do, emotions and other disasters
The hardest-learned lesson, is that people have only their kind of love to give, not our kind.
So here I am again, hoping that these jotted over-emotional words will soon be devoid of meaning.
He called last Sunday.
I picked up.
I shouldn’t have.
Did her lips taste as sweet?
Do our love bites match?
This would be easier if you didn’t make me quite so fucking happy. At least for some of the better halves of it. Lying in bed filthy till the late morning, holding hands, looking at the ceiling and drifting in and out of sleep. Too much money spent on eating and drinking on your dirty bedspread, looking at pictures in your stupid foreign magazines not understanding a word of it. Too much time wasted on you being my what could have been.
The truth is I did see this cancerous relationship coming to an end, like the terminally ill waiting for death. I have problems with stretching out bad situations thin. We both do it seems. The dreadful waiting, and waiting and waiting. I think at least I knew torture when I saw it. At least I knew when to quit.
For the benefit of my readers, there will officially be no further mentions of we on this blog, with the exception of forlorn reminisces of a hollowed past. Shit, I hate that you know I’m really going to miss this. Sorry I couldn’t be your fire starter, puppy.
