The Grandeur of Storytelling
Lightning splits across the sky like painted wraiths. The mountains loom in glimpses of light and overlook the swarming waters of a lake below.
There is a sense of walking through a dream, eyes wide open. Under the peals of lightning, the world briefly offers up bursts of color—vibrant greens and blues and grays dust the vivid landscape. The wind strengthens and lifts loose leaves in an ethereal waltz while the pines and cedars look on, a silent assembly.
There is a crosscurrent of life happening here; swirling around and through you, it coaxes you into a dance.
The melody is new but the rhythm is familiar. It ushers you into realms of emotions, desires, thoughts, and ideas long unvisited by you, let alone by anyone else.
Rapt with awe by such powerful beauty, you feel more awake now than you’ve felt in a long time.
When we confront an emotional, genuine story with relatable hues, it can be as earth-shaking and loud and grand as the sublimity of a lightning storm. It can stir us to action or wake up dormant emotions and thoughts.
Regardless of the specific response a story evokes, the human brain cannot help but open its eyes and wake up. It cannot remain unaltered by stories.
The key is what story you tell, how you tell it, and to whom you tell it.
A well-crafted, honest, vulnerable story told to the right people at the right time is likely to be fringed with the divine and the sublime.
About the Author
Lindsay Isler
Lindsay is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she received a Bachelor’s in English Literature.
