Storytelling - Post 2

It was Billy's first time away from home. He was spending the night with his friend Tommy on a trip camping. Billy and Tommy were the best of friends ever since they met in school. During the day, Tommy's dad took the boys fishing and they had a picnic throughout the day. Both of the boys were having the time of their lives. They went hiking before they decided to make camp for the night. As they walked, Tommy's dad was starting to get a worried look on his face. Tommy and Billy looked around, and they couldn't see any form of where they had been before. Tommy's dad was looking around, but the look still remained on his face. Billy and Tommy started to get worried. Tommy's dad reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper out of his coat pocket.

“What is that Daddy?” Tommy asked him.

“It's a map son, of the entire park. I made sure to mark the campsite before we started our hike. I can use it to find our way back,” his dad explained. He looked at the map for a minute, then started walking in a different direction. Tommy and Billy followed closely behind, they didn't want to get lost. Tommy's dad kept referring to the map to find their way. They walked and they walked, but eventually they got back to camp.

“See? That wasn't so bad, was it?” Tommy's dad said. Tommy and Billy agreed. They were very glad Tommy's dad could read the map better than they could. They would have been lost without him.  

My Voice

Looking at Flaum's article, the second story that he references speaks the most to me. The main point of the story was that no matter if you get out of one situation, there will always be another situation that will follow that will leave you feeling the same trapped feeling as the first situation felt. That was a metaphor for life. Life does not give you an easy way out, you have to work for every advancement that you want. That advancement could be a job, a good grade, a significant other, or a multitude of other things. From that story, I'm reminded me of a quote that inspires me. From the book, The Count of Monte Cristo, I have always remembered the quote,  "He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness…" 


That quote speaks to me because of what has transpired through my life. I know I haven't had the greatest time with people around me, and I never had the greatest relationship with my family. From last year, the people around me stabbed me in the back and left me in the rain alone. I felt more alone than ever before. But I tried to forget it and moved on this year. So far, everything has been much better than ever before: I have met people that I know I can trust, I have a sense of a family now, and life in general seems worth it again. 

What clicked for me when talking about this to other people, is that I realized that my past wasn't something I needed to forget. I realized that my past made me who I am today; the person that people enjoy is the person who went through all of the shit in the past. So I reconciled with it, and actually thanked the people who previously stabbed me in the back. I know that they made me into the person I was today, whether they had a positive or negative effect on my life. I know that any future projects I may have are influenced by my past. That's the same with everyone. Your experience is the thing you know better than anyone else in the world, why not use it to your advantage? Experience can be transferred to any form of media anyone so chooses.

Your past is not something that you can forget, it always stays with you. You will always have the scars from it, but you will take away the experience to survive. That's all that life is: survival. If you can survive, then you have succeeded. To survive in this society, there has to be relationships with those around you. Especially in the media industry: a good person to be around will have a better chance at getting a job than someone who is great at their job but can't play well with others. My voice is one that I have kept to myself since no one wanted to hear it; at least, I thought no one wanted to hear it. Who gives a shit if they judge me for what I say though? That's the point of a voice: to be heard, to express yourself.