I spent the afternoon at the local Renaissance Faire with my girlfriend and our kids. If you've never been to a Ren Faire, go to this Ren Faire Directory, look up your local Ren Faire, and make plans to attend. I promise you won't be disappointed.
The thing that kept occurring to me as we walked around was that we, as a people, love to tell stories. Maybe everyone doesn't put pen to paper (Errr....fingers to keyboard) like writers do, but almost everyone loves to tell a story or be involved in a story in some form or fashion.
We saw fair maidens, knights in armor battling with swords and shields, jousting competitions, blacksmiths, fire-eaters, and any number of other people each playing their part in a massive create-your-own-adventure-as-the-day-goes-on live action story. Sometimes we joined them in the story, such as when some of the kids were invited onstage to help the Steele Sisters settle a dispute as to who got to marry the dashing young prince. Other times we just watched, such as when the court magician told his story of magic by turning a feather into a string, or when the four acrobats told their story with their bodies, leaping onto each other, contorting their bodies, and performing one amazing feat of balance after another.
If there's a point to my rambling, it's that you can find people telling stories all around you. We all do it, every single day, in everything we do. Sometimes the storyline is in plain view, like it is at the Ren Faire, and other times the storyline is more subtle, like when we see a man in a suit checking his watch a million times as he rushes along a downtown sidewalk. To see these stories, we just have to pay attention. We have to keep our eyes open, study what's happening, and take as much of it in as we can.
Anyway, that's what I learned today at the Ren Faire. Oh, and I also learned that wearing a knight's helmet is very hot work, and really hurts your head! :-)
