"We are not our stories" one of my teachers reminded me recently. It is a lesson that I can't seem to commit to memory, much like the 9 times tables or how to conjugate irregular French verbs. Troubles and triumphs play out during life on Earth in these sometimes awkward, limited bodies. They are our stories, but they aren't who we are, no matter how far the drama sucks us in. The stories that we choose to engage in are theatrical plays and we are the actors. We choose the roles because they speak to us, entertain and inform us, or they just happen to be the only paying gig in town at the moment. But behind the curtain we are mentally taking notes. What works in this scene and what doesn't? How should I do it differently the next time?
When I'm into a book or television series I get so absorbed in that world that when I emerge from my room and speak to someone it comes out in the cadence of the characters. Garbled Gaelic when reading the Outlander books, medieval rhyming with the Mists of Avalon, using the annoying fake curse "frak" from Battlestar Galactica. Unintentionally, thankfully temporarily, putting on a new persona. These moments of slipping into someone else are no more who I am than the person I am when I rant about a work annoyance, or worry about every little hurt my kids while encounter. We may feel like the sum of our stories, what we do, say and think is who we are. Sometimes these stories feel so important to us that we feel compelled to share them, spend hours word-smithing the text to make the story seem as interesting and relevant as possible.
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