Time for some stories

I have always felt that the stories behind the story are the important ones. The interesting ones. Most of the time we only see the facade of life. We see the masks and the stories people want us to see. We hear what they are telling us. But these are not the stories that are true and immediate, those aren't told in the front of the shop.

TV gives us a peak at the real stories sometimes. In some TV shows you have a plot that entertains you throughout an episode, but in fact it's the interaction between the protagonists that keeps you watching, that keeps you interested and involved. I could name several shows where this is the case but I don't want to put pictures in your head or labels on your mind. Just imagine the interaction between collegues, between family members that transcende episodes, that are the core of a show. That is the reason why in some cases TV can be better than movies (as strange as that might sound). But only on TV (and maybe in the greatest of movies) we can grow with a character, we can get accustomed to seeing them like friends, like family.

In our digital age, the relationship between us and our favourite characters has in some places replaced our real life, which is sad, but it shows you that it doesn't matter which case is solved in CSI, Bones, Mentalist, Supernatural, but it does matter what's behind the picture.

In life, it's the same. While it might be interesting and entertaining what people tell you, it's who they are in relation to you what makes it relevant. Makes it matter. If someone tells you a story about their late grandfather who baked a killer cake, it doesn't really matter to you. You didn't know the grandfather, you never tasted the cake. What does matter, however, is that it tells you something about the person telling you the story. It gives you background, depth. It helps you understand. This is why stories matter. Not because of the apparent content, but because of what stories tell you about the people and their relations involved. Weird, isn't it? To realize that life is just a canvas with a pretty picture that stands in your view and blocks it. Hinders you. Doesn't let you see the real picture unless you dig in deep. Try.

Do me a favour. Try. Next time when you hear a story, try to see the meaning behind it. Don't listen to gossip, listen to the voice, the person telling you gossip. What do you see? What does it tell you? It might take some practice, but you might be able, in time, to see the life behind the veil. Have fun. And be scared, because life might change for you.

Lyrics of the day: Life is a Song by Patrick Park

You say life is a dream where we can't say what we mean

Maybe just some roadside scene that we're driving past

There's no telling where we'll be in a day or in a week

And there's no promises of peace or of happiness

Well is this why you cling to every little thing

And polverize and derrange all your senses

Maybe life is a song but you're scared to song along

Until the very ending

Oh, it's time to let go of everything we used to know

Ideas that strengthen who we've been

It's time to cut ties that won't ever free our minds

From the chains and shackles that they're in

Oh, tell me what good is saying that you're free

In a dark and storming sea

You're chained to your history, you're surely sinking fast

You say that you know that the good Lord's in control

He's gonna bless and keep your tired and oh so restless soul

But at the end of the day when every price has been paid

You're gonna rise and sit beside him on some old seat of gold

And won't you tell me why you live like you're afraid to die

You'll die like you're afraid to go

Oh, it's time to let go of everything we used to know

Ideas that strengthen who we've been

It's time to cut ties that won't ever free our minds

From chains and shackles that they're in

From the chains and shackles that they're in

Well life is a dream 'cause we're all walking in our sleep

You could see us stand in lines like we're dead upon our feet

And we build our house of cards and then we wait for it to fall

Always forget how strange it is just to be alive at all