So How Does One Go From Good to Bad to Ugly?

In the silent movie era the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. In the more creative moments the color distribution moved to other areas of body clothing or ‘dis dress’ to make the point. The white hats always had the wisest ideas to benefit all. The black hats always had the malevolent ideas that only helped themselves.

The ‘dress’ motif in silent movies was important to compensate for the absence of integrated sound. Sound can burn a particular image into the mind of the beholder. The dress motif is still used today and complements sound and other special effects. Whether it be fanciful dress, garish makeup or titillating lack of or excessive clothing we eventually determine who the good and bad guys and gals are. Go get ’em!

Real life isn’t that simple. We all express some surprise or admiration at the accomplishments of the ‘quiet guy’ down the street or the ‘sweet, intelligent gal’ who we didn’t expect to accomplish much. Good or bad achievement seems to have little to do with genetic strength or luck. So how does one go from ‘good to bad to ugly’ in either direction? The answer lies in how one goes about building the story. Life is a story.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t believe in the significance of story anymore. This lack of belief is throwing our personal lives, culture and world toward chaos once again.

The use of animation, creative digital techniques in imaginative stories in cinema has led all to believe that story is nothing more than a fanciful tale. The fanciful tale streams into TV sets and computers and lasts only as long as ‘we want’. The darkening of the Theater and the living room is the signal of moving out of reality. Turning the lights on jolts us back into reality and out of story. The movie ends. The movie also ends before the credits for there is little interest in the cast of hundreds or thousands who helped make the unreal appear real.

Story is the essence of life. When will it be rediscovered?

Story weaves together our life experience and allows us to choose between many ways of thinking, living, imagining, doing. Choosing between ‘right and wrong’ are the easiest choices to make in life. Today, choosing between ‘right and wrong’ has become most difficult for almost everyone. This is difficult to believe also.

“Right’ choices today have foundations in the simplistic idea that ‘my thoughts, my ideas, my values, are THE good values. They are the ‘white hats’ of yesteryear. That’s why I live by them even if I am unconscious of the fact that I have personal values. I want it and need it. It’s mine. You dropped it. You lost it. I found it. I can use it. It is mine. I love my ideas. I hate your ideas. My ideas are………Well. Let me say, right!

The right choices, the best choices are hard to make when we don’t know the story.
‘What story?’ You ask?

All stories have value. They teach us about the power of deliberately making choices in life. Stories summarize experiences. It is important to learn from experiences. As it is said, it’s best to learn from someone else’s experience. Let them make the mistakes so you don’t have to!

Life is not long enough to repeat everyone else’s mistakes along with your own. Learn from others and your ‘new’ mistakes will move you in the direction where you wish to go in life. That is, if you are watching the story.

The right story is your story and it goes like this: Life is made up of experiences. Some we choose. Many we don’t. What we gain from these experiences depends on our ability to filter out and recognize what is of value. Knowing how others have learned from similar experiences saves us the bother of meeting similar obstacles. And if we do meet similar obstacles we will know how to handle them when we meet them. This filtering process is extremely important. It is how we build the ‘right’ story.

Learn well from experience and it creates a solid foundation for building relationships with those closest to you, your friend, your neighbor, building careers, finding your calling in life, affirming life, finding meaningful relationship with all about you. This is the story. It can be your story.

Your story is always true. And yes. It can be made up of black hats or white hats. Poor learning skills can lead your story down disastrous paths as much as good learning skills can lead your story to the exhilaration of the highest mountain view. In real life the story line is not always so clear to the writer. It can be.

One thing is true. Your story is eventually clear to everyone else. Turn on your story. Focus on writing the best story you can.