Why do you love the stories you love?
Welcome to October! We are officially in the last quarter of 2022 – downhill all the way from here.
I have three questions for you on this Friday morning:
What is the last show you binge watched?
Did you love it?
Why (or why not)?
So it’s time I make a confession: I’m a bit of a nerd. I can safely say this because of two stories I deeply enjoy – the first being anything written by J. R. R. Tolkien (I’ve read The Silmarillion twice – that might not mean much to you, but my fellow nerds will understand) and the second show is Stranger Things. My 11-year-old son convinced me to give the show a go and I wasn’t initially all that excited about it, but once I got into the first episode I was HOOKED. We finished all 4 seasons in a matter of weeks.
During the process of watching the show, a very wise friend of mine asked me a really good question: “Why do you enjoy it so much?” This was a good question, since I’ve watched many shows and movies, but not many of them have struck so deeply. It took some thought, but it wasn’t all that difficult to answer.
On the surface Stranger Things is a story about kids battling monsters, 80’s music and fashion, telekinesis, interdimensional realities, Russians and a bunch of other paranormal things, hence the name. But the show is really about more than this: good having to battle evil, hope in the face of overwhelming odds, friendship and camaraderie, fighting for each other and not against each other, giving people the opportunity to redeem themselves, helping outcasts find a place to belong, facing adversity to become a hero, personal growth and seeing things through to reach your potential, living life as an adventure. All things that excite me. (The Lord of the Rings, although a vastly deeper and more developed story, is very similar in these themes).
The reason this show resonates with me so much is because these are the things I value in life. These are the values I value. This is the type of life I want to live (I’ve always wanted to battle monsters). And that is what great stories do – they remind us of the greatness that we could reach. They reveal to us what we really value. And that’s worth knowing.
What are some of the stories you love and more importantly, why? Who do they challenge you to become?
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