You may remember that I made the point last year that if we want to not merely survive the pandemic, but come through it as better people, then there are many stories that can help us do this.
I made that point as part of a series of videos on Courage and Resilience in Story.
At that point in the pandemic’s progress, it was evident to me that stories would unify us. We were all heroes on a quest. And we needed to know the rules of the quest to get through it. Stories help us understand those rules, since they are pretty universal.
But then, something strange happened.
We stopped being united. You may have noticed. We’re more divided than ever.
So who’s at fault?
Guess what: stories!
Yes, the reason we’re not united anymore is… stories! But didn’t I just say that stories are what unite? Yes. Yes I did. Both are true.
Now, before you throw your banana peels at me in frustration, let me explain.
Instead of there being one unifying story, as there was in the beginning of the pandemic (story: there is a great enemy at large! We must gird our loins and join forces against it!), there are now two stories.
Story one:
This is a plague. Our brave leaders are doing everything they can (including some frighteningly authoritarian things) as temporary measure to save us from the plague. But there is a great enemy at large. The enemy is the stupid people who refuse to listen to our brave leaders!
Story two:
This is not a plague. Our insidious, power-hungry leaders are doing everything they can (including some frighteningly authoritarian things) to stoke the fires of hysteria, all the while setting up an infrastructure to keep us, the free people of this land, permanently enslaved to their power-hungry whims. The enemy is the stupid people who refuse to consider that their leaders are the true enemy!
(Now, before you hit the reply button to tell me what a horrible person I am for telling the wrong story, please keep in mind that both of these are intentional simplifications)
Notice something about both these stories:
They are both divisive in nature.
So what are we to do, then?
Well, we need to take it a step further than last year, when we had a common goal of increasing our courage and resilience. Now, we need to find new stories that help us all live together again, that remind us all of our common humanity.
That’s the theme for a new 6-episode audio mini-series called “Stories that Unite in Dark Times”.
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