Story

I wonder.

I wonder is at the root of innovation and at the root of story. I wonder if. I wonder what would happen if. I wonder if I could.

Throughout the course of human history, innovation and story have paced each other. But, I wonder if in the last hundred years if innovation has not vastly outpaced story. In our modern western society, it seems that there is little place for story as an explanation for what is and why. All the stories of childhood have been thoroughly deconstructed, disproven and dismissed. We are left then with nothing to believe in, no meaning is found in the fabric of our own existence that we weave every day. There is no hope. Instead we must daily face the cold hard truth that life is meaningless and one day all will be nothingness. No wonder rates of depression and anxiety have skyrocketed in the several decades.

Stories of science, stories of history, and stories of religion have all been found lacking. Global warming? It's more complicated than that. Whose legacy will we honor? It's more complicated than that. A loving God? It's more complicated than that.

The modern era of America was full of almost cartoony villains and heroes. Western democracy good. Authoritarian communism bad. True? Probably, but it's more complicated than that. In the aftermath of the fall of the USSR, the post-modern era was ushered in. Who was the villain now? Who was the hero?

Our simple stories fell apart and there were none to take their place. New heroes were presented but they were too gritty. New villains were presented but they were relatable.

Who were we supposed to be fighting against? Radical Islam? We nurtured it in the modern era. Socialism? Northern Europe seems pretty happy. Communism? Not when there's money to be made.

Who were we supposed to be fighting for? Our country? They can send their children first. Our businesses? They were moved overseas in the name of shareholder profits and CEO pay. Our institutions? They have been at the forefront of oppression and abuse of those in their care.

The postmodern era was one of deconstruction.

What come next then?

Reconstruction.

We do not need simple stories that are lacking any semblance of reality. We do not need complex stories that only remind us of the darkness that we are capable of doing to one another. Those are modern and post-modern stories. Those are stories of naivete and those are stories deconstruction.

In our current era, we need stories that give us hope. We need stories that do not shy away from the complexity of life. We need stories that are willing to do the hard work of reconstructing beauty from the rubble that our country exists in right now.

Stories of reconstruction are challenging stories.

For those who still cling to the stories of that distant modern era, reconstruction forces them to finally give them up. For those who still cling to the stories of the post-modern era, reconstruction asks them to trust again.

What then is a story of reconstruction? My own story is one. I long ago gave up the stories of my childhood. The stories of my country and its place as the shining light to the world. The stories of my religion and their insistence as being the only way to view the world. I spent years, decades even deconstructing these stories and giving up any hope of finding any sort of truth in the world that would satisfy all.

But, now? It has been long enough living without hope. It's been long enough waiting for those who deem themselves the gatekeepers to right their wrongs and tell new stories of hope. No, it is time to tell the old stories in new ways and to tell new stories in old ways. It is time to reconstruct what has been lost and live towards a world that is better than what it is now.

Our innovations have created incredible new worlds and possibilities to explore. May our stories catch up to them in time to stop us from destroying each other.