The Stories We Tell, Matters

A mindset is about a way of thinking and reading, and in many ways helps the wiring of the mind in a way so powerful one begins to actually enact that life which one has seen in his mind’s eyes. That was the conclusion I drew after reading the long dialogue in the book titled Ishmael.

In creating our own illusions, sometimes we should be careful not to feed on it to the point of obesity else, it will consume us and the reality we face will become so stark we can no longer tell what is true or false anymore. This is why the book titled Ishmael written by Daniel Quinn matters.

Stories are who we are. People can’t just give up a STORY. When you do, one is bound to fail. Because you can’t just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in. Ishmael, pg 128, pp9.

Stop. Pause. Yes, it’s good to be in a story. Everybody loves a good story. It is why there are many ways to tell stories. Which kind of story appeals to you more: rags to riches, stranger comes to town, the quest like an Odyssey? Or perhaps overcoming the monster kind of story? Whichever story you prefer, it does tell something about a core value inside you that wants to express itself in that manner. 

Daniel Quinn, in his book helps us take a deeper look at the stories that you and I have been told through ‘Holy Books’ which have survived thousands of years to our time begging us to for once question them. Not because you feel a need to desecrate, but because you are blessed with a mind that naturally questions even what it believes. Why bother, you ask? Because these stories have not only tried to shape us, they may have actually helped to wipe out any cultural identity or story that was once originally yours; and even perhaps create a dangerous monster in place of it.

Daniel Quinn calls the story tellers of these ancient stories The Leavers and The Takers. Who are they?

Are you familiar with the story of Cain and Abel? What images conjure up in your mind? Is there more to that story than meet the eyes? Or perhaps you feel we should NEVER question what has been written or said by a HIGHER AUTHORITY? Hold that thought in your head. Don’t say anything until you’ve read these words: “And Cain went on to kill Abel because he had found favour in God’s eyes.” Gen. Chapter 4:8. 

Here, Cain is identified as the agriculturist and Abel the animal husbandry man. Yet the Question begs: what was really wrong with Cain’s offering? Too little? Not enough? Or because they were ‘lifeless’? Is that enough to reject his offering? Are vegetables actually lifeless than an animal about to be slaughtered? 

Now imagine yourself, suppose you were Cain, and agriculture is all you knew, where else will your offerings come from? Is it not from what you have? Will you steal someone else’s so you can give a ‘better’ offering? Remember, Cain’s offering was not rejected because it was stolen. So why reject his effort? Perhaps someone is actually telling a story in METAPHORS? Think about it.

Ishmael, Pg 152 pp8, says, “The story of Genesis must be reversed. First, Cain must stop murdering Abel. This is essential if you’re to survive... – there is no one right way to live... You must absolutely and forever relinquish the idea that you know who should live and who should die on this planet.” 

So if we try telling a story about ourselves as a war mongering, vengeance-pay-back kind of people or a country, then essentially that is what we shall become both in the short and long run and so will our future generations. Even the nature of our constitution, jurisprudence, law, customs and culture will reflect the kind of story we are telling. And it is from these perceived nuances that people extract the content of our character, our values, ethics, M.O. and vision. Same thing happens if we say we are a docile, laidback, content and subservient people. So shall our people and country become; what we say we are by the stories we tell and how we tell it becomes who we are. You are your own story. 

But how can we 'retell' our stories?

Ishmael, Pg 152, pp12, says, “You must change people’s minds. And you can’t just root out a harmful complex of ideas and leave a void behind; you have to give people something that is as meaningful as what they’ve lost—something that makes better sense than the old horror of Man Supreme...”