Life is a story, be original...

Im not so sure that a rhetorical question is the way to begin a blog, but it's my first try so I don't know another way...

 Have you ever heard of a narrative paradigm? For those of you who haven't, here is the definition provided by everyone's favorite source of information, Wikipedia. The Narrative Paradigm is a theory proposed by Walter Fisher that all meaningful communication is a form of storytelling or giving a report of events (see narrative) and so human beings experience and comprehend life as a series of ongoing narratives, each with their own conflicts, characters, beginnings, middles, and ends. Basically, it is the belief that life is a story, and that all humans are essentially authoring their own stories within the events of their lives. Still confused? Let me explain...

All of our lives begin the same way, as characters in another story, our mother's and/or father's. The name of are character was chosen, we were given clothing to wear and food to eat. Our setting was also already chosen for us, the home we were brought into. The other elements of our story; the characters involved, the conflicts, and all of the plot twists were all a part of the story of our parents. Eventually, we are given the ability by them to begin making our own decisions based on the knowledge they shared with us. Although they may not have been telling our stories at this point, their influence was still very clear. As we get even older, and begin to shape our independent selves, our own stories begin to take shape. We are able to choose our characters, and eventually even our settting. We can add and subtract people from our lives as we choose, we can decide which profession we want to undertake, and the decisions we make ultimately become our plot. Are you still following?

Now, this isn't scripture, it is theory, but it's a theory that I came to adopt toward the end of my studies at Fordham University. A man named James Van Oosting, or JVO as he was known by his friends (and students) started each of his courses by explaining this idea. That idea has stuck with me ever since, and in a way is what inspired me to live my life in such a unique way. When I was given a chance to decorate my first classroom, I really wanted to teach this message to my students. They were not quite advanced as I was when I first heard it, as they were actually in the 6th grade, so I needed to tweak the message for a less cognitively developed audience. I simply put at the focal point of my classroom the following saying; "Life is a story, be original". I believe that I have followed this advice to my fullest, and my hope is that at least some of my students will remember it the same way I did.

Hopefully this will give you a new way of looking at your life if you haven't already...