There are so many special memories of my grandfather that I treasure, many of them are stories he used to tell over and over, but some of them are as simple as us sharing some toast with cream cheese for breakfast. He was a man who loved to talk, loved to tell stories and had a natural knack for keeping everyone engaged when he did, maybe that's why I would sit there happily eating some a toast with cream cheese, after all given the right conditions breakfast could become story time.

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Storytellers can be magical

   At least in my mind they are, because they seem to have mastered the art of subliminal communication. How many times has my mind, my worldview been changed because a storyteller was able to incept wisdom into my head? I feel like I've stolen a verb to just to make my point, but Inception seem to be correct in this context.

   I think it was because of grandpa's story telling that I fell in love with books. I wanted to hear more stories than he had to offer and even though I never grew tired of listening to the same stories over and over, I could not expect him to recite them every time I felt that a narration was due and my toast with cream cheese needed a experiential boost.

Why do we love stories so much?

   There are many people with expensive suits that claim to know the answer and for the most part I think they are on to something, but the whole picture may never be completely clear to anyone. It's true without a doubt that stories allow us to relate to one another and since we are emotional creatures after all, it makes perfect sense that this social tool has helped us coexist for millennia.

   But... I also suspect that storytelling was probably a puzzle piece key to our survival. I even suspect that long before we ever drew anything remotely close to a letter, long before we where able to document in stone or in cave wall a single thing, we used storytelling to safeguard tribal wisdom.

   Think about it for a second, imagine living in a pre Mesopotamia era where the profession of scribe was as imaginable as life on mars is today. Who was there to safeguard the knowledge of the tribes? I'm willing to bet the best storytellers had organically evolved to fit that crucial role, and they must have been valued because of this. I'm sure that the natural leaders of the tribes, the chiefs, were probably the best story tellers of their respective groups and our ancient brothers must have loved it.

Hence our love of media

   In the information age storytelling has simply evolved yet again, and us the sapiens have adapted with haste of course. I mean, who does not love a good movie? I guess there are some who would say - "Well.. not me... I hate all movies" - and to those I would say... begone you crazy, leave my blog at once.

   That is even I would believe someone who would tell me the don't appreciate stories. It would be detrimental to their own mental development, like buying air filters that filter out the oxygen too.

I don't consider myself a writer...

   But as a songwriter I would like to become a better storyteller and the opportunity of having this small corner of the internet to share what happens inside my head is quite precious to me. With that sentiment in mind I will continue to punish my wireless keyboard with some questionable grammar in the hopes that I can continue to find some wisdom in everyone that is now part of my virtual home.

   I hope that no matter what happens to the valuation of this currency none of us forget the true value of sharing our stories.

Much love to you all