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“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” ~ Brandon Sanderson
“Stories are the communal currency of humanity.” ~ Tahir Shah
No matter what’s going on in my life, or out in the world, I can always find comfort in a good story. I think most humans do that. We seek out stories to distract us, or help us make sense of ourselves and what’s going on around us. As I quote Roger C. Shank in my intro to my Story-Power podcast, “Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” For millennia stories have been painted on cave walls, or on other surfaces. We dance and sing them, we write them for others to read, and we perform them. Stories are all about trying to figure out our emotions and what it means to be a human being.
As I’ve written recently, I’ve been consuming heart-warming stories that give me faith in humanity. Friday night, Barry and I went to see a play at our local community theatre.
The story of how the theatre company survived the pandemic and set up shop in our dying mall, is great on it’s own. But that’s a story for another time. We went to see this play for two reasons. It was directed by my teaching colleague, and two time podcast guest, Dave Dahl. And because it is a story about family.
But I’m burying the lede. The above photo is of the program cover for the play. It doesn’t take place at Thanksgiving as, Barry first thought. But it is about grandparents and their relationship to one grown grandchild, though one plot point does revolve around food. It’s also an immigrant story and how one generation attempts to boost the next one up to a better life than they had. I love stories where the characters have to come to grips with the ups and downs of their family and/or friend relationships. Stories like that can turn out sad but this one was poignant, a little sad, but mostly happy with the characters declaring their love for each other. Barry and I were very happy we saw the play because in the end it affirmed the goodness of humanity.
Another story we watched recently that has very similar themes, is Find Me Falling, on Netflix, with Harry Connick, Jr. and Agni Scott. It takes place on Cyprus, a beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea. Connick’s character is a washed up rock star who has suffered a setback when his come back album flops. In an effort to find himself again, he buys a small house with a gorgeous view of the ocean not knowing that the cliff in his front yard is a prime spot for suicides. In a way, it’s poetic that Connick’s character has purchased such a place since he’s in a very sad place himself. But his attempts to keep people from jumping and the welcome he receives by the town’s people help him begin to heal. There are of course unexpected surprises in store for him along the way. But isn’t that one of the things that keeps life interesting? This is another life affirming story and I highly recommend it.
During this heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope you have a cool place where you can go enjoy some uplifting stories that help you feel good about your fellow human beings.
By the way, I’m doing another round of edits on Time’s Echo, the sequel to The Space Between Time. I’ll keep you posted about when it will be published. I may post some segments of it here for you to sample. And if you want to hear more from me in addition to my podcast Story-Power, I do have bonus content on both my Patreon and Story-Power Apple Subscription platforms. My next Apple Bonus post is going to be about Lessons in Chemistry. I hope you’ll check it out. You’ll find the details for those platforms below.
Thanks to those of you who go back and read blog posts from months or even years ago and like or comment on them. It’s interesting how long stories stick around.
Blessings,
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2024
The Space Between Time
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version and sequel are published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Rita Gau’s review: Recently, I finished reading a book titled, The Space Between Time, by my friend, Lucinda Sage-Midgorden. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time. It kept me captivated, which I have not experienced from any other book for the past couple of years. I loved all the little gems of meaningful and what I call spiritual statements throughout the book. You know, those words that make you pause and think, and sometimes have an “aha” from or a deeper awareness about something. And it was entertaining and informational about some of the history in the 1800’s and yet, contemporary. It also reminded me of the importance of “living in community” and how important it is to help one another and be engaged in your community. Thank you Lucinda for a wonderful, entertaining and captivating book!
Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. The Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
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