the shower muse

I love taking lengthy showers. Not only do I serenade the soap, this is also a space of rumination. The steamy shower door is my paper and my finger a pen as I scrawl the words that land.

A few weeks back, the shower muse shared this with me:

Storytellers are powerful! Storytellers generate ideas that are taken in with all the senses which are then consumed by the world. The world in turn mirrors it back. From written word to spoken word to art to music to theatre, TV and Movies. No matter how it’s delivered, these stories are fuel for what lands in reality. 

Why then is it a shock when the stories we tell or consume land in our world? 

We created it. We paid attention to it. We repeated it. 

Stories precede reality.

As creators, conjurors, generators, and storytellers we have the responsibility to tell better stories. Well-crafted stories, unique stories, diverse stories, extraordinary stories.

Currently, many of the stories we eat (and echo) make us weary, frustrated, fearful, complacent. Dare I say, humdrum. Sucking energy down into a vortex of nothingness, draining creativity, imagination and play. Stories from news, religion, the corporate ladder, social media, life coaches, marketing, traditions, family, culture, habit. These stories leave little to no space for alternatives, are mindlessly followed, and consumed like chips!

We are a society of story-eaters.

The antidote? 

Step back from these stories, get outside, spend time with your own thoughts and imagination. Let your mind meander and leave that gawd-damn flat rectangle (yes, your phone) behind.

When you read or hear a story, get curious and ask questions. How do you KNOW that story is true? Are you being led on an emotional rollercoaster that will use up your finite energy?

What stories are you allowing to land in your reality?