It is a skill we learn early, the art of inventing stories to explain away the fearful scared strangeness of the world. Storytelling and make-believe, like war and agriculture, are among the arts of self-defense, and all of them are ways of enclosing otherness and claiming ownership.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the human inclination to use storytelling as a means to make sense of the world and alleviate fear.
William Kittredge's quote emphasizes the innate human ability to create narratives that help us cope with the uncertainties and fears we face in life. Storytelling serves not only as a creative outlet but also as a fundamental method of understanding our surroundings, framing our experiences, and exerting control over the unfamiliar aspects of existence. Just as war and agriculture can be seen as means of defense and control, so too can storytelling act as a powerful tool for personal empowerment and understanding.
In practice
In a motivational speech about creativity, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of storytelling in overcoming challenges.
We tell stories to talk out the trouble in our lives, trouble otherwise so often so unspeakable. It is one of our main ways of making our lives sensible. Trying to live without stories can make us crazy. They help us recognize what we believe to be most valuable in the world, and help us identify what we hold demonic.
Dialogue is what a character's willing to share and reveal to another character, and the 90% they aren't willing to share is what I do for a living.
Music is always for the listener, but the first listener is always the musician
No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
I am a conventional science fiction author. But that said, once your work is published, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the readers and they will derive all sorts of interpretations.
The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology.
I don't think you can create art out of anger; it has to come out of some form of understanding. You have to feel good about who you are and that you could do something to change things.
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