The Power of Stories: Making a Difference with Your Blog

Stories.

Humans have been telling stories, well, probably ever since the first people walked the Earth. It’s easy to imagine a band of early humans in the night. They have a fire going. The fire creates a circle of warmth and light that pushes back against the darkness.

Out there, well beyond that circle, animal eyes catch the light and they flicker in deadly anticipation. The wolves and lions circle nervously, afraid to come closer.

Someone puts another piece of wood onto it. It disturbs the fire, and sparks go traveling up into the sky like slow moving meteors in reverse. There they merge and fade out into the stars.

Humanity isn’t much yet. Some of us still live in the caves. Others have figured out how to build shelters. Most have access to some manner of club to protect themselves with. The spear is a new innovation and some people are starting to mount broken pieces of sharp rock to them.

And a man or woman is considered ancient if they even make it to be thirty years old. It’s a harsh, brutal world. Mistakes are made that cost lives. Things are done right and that method needs preserving.

People share information around the fire.

Some of what they share sounds more like an after-action report than the stories we have today. “Remember that hunt last winter? We boxed the elk into that canyon . . .”

They talk about the hunt. How they did it. They talk about the one hunter who was hurt when an elk tried to break out. He tells about having to hobble around on a stick for several months. Eventually, the hunt becomes tribal history. Lessons are learned from it.

The tribe survives. It flourishes. It meets other tribes. Sometimes there’s disagreements. More often than not, there’s trade between them. Information is exchanged. Stories grow.

We still tell stories today. They, like then, are a way to learn new things, to survive.

They have changed some.

We’re a little less concerned with getting eaten alive.

From where I sit, we’re very concerned with being alone. We need reassurance in our world more than ever. Values change almost daily, and we look for something solid we can stand on.

Stories still do that. It helps remind us that there’s still good in the world. It helps us find common ground and to understand we all share the same hopes and fears. They help show others have found a way. Stories can be guideposts for change.

Most of all, stories remind us that we’re not alone.

And if my little blog can assure one person that they aren’t, then I can say it was a success.