Liz Warren | Storyteller

Rear View Mirror Stories by Sandi Howlett

When does a personal story begin?  A story may ‘appear’ to begin in present time but more often is ‘realized’ in the rear view mirror of life.  This happens when we share an experience with another person, get a response and are encouraged to continue to share it with others, usually adding details.  It is often in the sharing of the experience that the story is actually formed and shaped into something with the elements of story being clarified and woven into a full blown actual story.   Of course there are those life moments when we may say, “someday this will be funny” or “there is a story here” but even then, we are in the experience rather than the story.

More often we do not even realize we have a story until we hear our self sharing the happening with someone else, hear our self embellishing certain points or rearranging a few parts of it and including either our own reaction or that of by-standers…Voila – the bones of a story are recognized and ready for polish!

The beauty of personal stories is that everyone has them and as long as we breathe we continue to generate an infinite bank of life experiences that may be shaped into stories.  These personal tales may entertain, sustain, motivate, inspire, warn, frighten or educate others and in doing so, add to the rich depth and breadth of the human experience.  Long live story telling!  

 

9 responses to “Rear View Mirror Stories by Sandi Howlett”

  1. Laura Rutherford Avatar
    Laura Rutherford

    First of all love the picture…and it is so true that it is the gift of time that shapes a story.

    Reply
  2. Clem W. Condon Avatar
    Clem W. Condon

    Very true. The majority of our stories are in the rear view mirror. We often are telling a small piece of of an experience and someone, or ourselves will say “There’s a story there.” Indeed. Stories happen to all of us, every day. They need to be captured and built upon. It isn’t a story until it is shared. And that telling will create another story by the listener.
    There are other stories to be told of things to come. Looking forward to that vacation you have been longing for. Or looking forward to an evening with friends. And at the other end of that spectrum, not so much looking forward to that meeting with the boss next week about that little incident.

    Reply
  3. Mark Goldman Avatar
    Mark Goldman

    Good Post Sandi. In addition to looking in that rear view mirror, we need to reember the message stamped on it (paraphrased here): “Experiences in the past may be closer to a story than they appear.”

    Reply
  4. Maya Jones Avatar
    Maya Jones

    Sandi, I love this image of the rear-view mirror being a way into storytelling, and Mark, I love it — they may be closer than they appear!
    Maya

    Reply
  5. Nancy Jennings Avatar
    Nancy Jennings

    I find that time is necessary in shaping a story. I wasn’t ready to write about my house burning down until more than a decade later. And that was an easy story. It took over 40 years to write a story about my mother that was satisfying to me.

    Reply
  6. Janet Means Avatar
    Janet Means

    I have found that listening to stories is the best way to get a good view in my own rear view mirror. Folk tales are a way of looking even farther back and finding that they are also personal stories, winnowed away to their universal essence. Poems with their economy of words and distilled emotions also, at their best show a mirror for looking inward. All these forms of communicating our experiences. So many stories to hear, to tell, to read, to write.

    Reply
  7. Mark Compton Avatar
    Mark Compton

    I so needed to read your post today. I am struggling with coming up with a story which will be told at an animal blessing ceremony this weekend. I was talking with a friend and telling him “I don’t really have a upbeat personal story having to do with an animal.” Then he asked me a couple questions, I then recalled a hamster I had as a child, then he asked a couple more questions, I filled in details, and pretty soon, wow, I had a story. Your post confirmed I’m doing it right!

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  8. Liz Avatar
    Liz

    Sandi – what a treat to see all the thoughtful responses to your post! thanks!

    Reply
  9. Carol Bedner Avatar
    Carol Bedner

    I never thought that my past would hold stories that were of interest to others. Your analogy is perfect, its when we are giving a snipit of some event that you realize it may be worthwhile to go into detail and explain more. Our lives are complex and sometimes an everyday event because a turning point in our life to share with others. I love all the stories you tell and share with us.

    Reply

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