Stories

“If you don’t read or know stories then you will be accepting a lot of lies” –Brian Doyle

Last Friday I had the privilege of attending a Brian Doyle reading on campus at Brigham Young University.  Brian Doyle is an award-winning writer and editor of the University of Portland’s magazine, Portland.  I have never attended a reading before and I was pleasantly surprised how insightful it was to listen to Doyle read and discuss the inspiration behind his works. 

“Stories are important”, “stories, stories, stories”, “if someone tells you a story your job is to write it down and share it.”  If there is one thing I learned from Brian Doyle, it’s the importance of stories.  And the more I think about it, the more I agree with him.  Whether we realize it or not, stories affect every aspect of our lives.  The books we read and the movies we watch are nothing but stories.  History in all its forms, including our own personal histories, are full of stories; some good, some bad.  Stories of courage, perseverance, and achievement and stories of disappointment, fear, and failure.  Every story we have ever heard has had an impact on our lives, good or bad.  It’s these stories that shape us into better people by providing role models or inspiring us to join a certain cause. 

One story that I have loved since childhood is the Harry Potter Series.  There is just something in the story that brings me back and makes me read it again.  Although fictional stories such as the Harry Potter can have a huge effect on us, the stories that really matter are the ones that are real.  Real-life adventures and tragedies with real-life people, those are the stories that have the ability to truly change us.  But, unfortunately, those are the ones that are left on the bookshelf where only dust can enjoy their contents.