Never Ending Narratives

According to my fantastic second year lecturer, we have long been mistaken as to the world's oldest profession. Did anyone bother to ask, "Why would men need to pay for sex if they had a club?". We can use our clubs to provide all of our instinctual needs, food, sex, protection. However, we cannot force anyone to tell us a story, the only way to cajole someone into telling you their latest adventures is to give them money, or beer, or maybe even sex. Therefore, the world's first profession was that of the journalist, the original storytellers.
It seems a bit strange that something that isn't physically critical can be such an instinctual priority to humans. I have come up for a few reasons for this:
- A greater scope of knowledge of the world. Hearing about other people experiences teaches up empathy, inspires ambitions and warn us of difficulties or dangers.
- A source of comparison. As social beings we inherently measure ourselves against others. It is where we find our sense of success and failure as we consciously or subconsciously compete with each other. We want to know what other people are doing so we can learn from their mistakes and achievements.

As I have also observed, these instinctual demands can often overlap. We tell stories over food, and often these are stories of our sexual escapades. Perhaps we are so used to delivering the tales of our romantic/sexual experiences that these relationships have begun to follow the same flow of a traditional narrative.

Many will agree all successful narratives must include:
- Characters
- Relevance
- Mystery
- Conflict
- Climax
- Resolution

Certainly as they are portrayed over pizza, the characters in our own narratives always take on (or are given) the persona's of heroes and villains. We usually only hear about people who have done something really nice or really terrible to another.

And if a story needs mystery and suspense, well most of our personal narratives are generally expressed as a method of answering baffling questions. Usually about the villain. We hope that someone we know has had a similar experience that will explain all the pain away and give us a neatly wrapped solution tied up with a bow.

Which kind of explains the need for relevance. Just as each writer has an intended audience, so humans experiencing personal trauma. We seek out most qualified person to confide in about our particular conundrum. Those who are older, wiser, skinnier, sluttier, or more successful become the sources for a greater scope of knowledge.

The climax of a relationship, as in a narrative, can be positive or negative. I am a person of emotional extremes, so thrilling moments can be just as intense as the heart breaking ones. I think the climax is the moment in a relationship you will always associate with the other person.

It is my aim to create moments and experiences that are always more enjoyable and character building than the last. To have more positive stories to tell than negative ones. To ask the right questions and to learn from others' answers and experiences.

The world's oldest story was about a man named Gilgamesh who wanted to be immortal. Eventually he discovered that the best way to do this was to do great things that will be remembered forever.

Love. x