A Good Strong Story

Well, I'm in a talkative mood, aren't I?  Guess it is all the thinking about stories...makes me want to tell one.  Today I ran across a term that is tugging at me...A Good Strong Story (AGSS).  I take no credit for this, a scholar named William Randall used it in a presentation on Irony and Resilience in later life.

So, what are the qualities of AGSS?  He likened it to a spreading oak, with branches, roots, and the ability to bend in the wind (although perhaps not too strong of a wind.)  AGSS is broad not narrow, thick not thin, open not closed.  AGSS extends both within us and beyond us. He talked about the need to have a story that was not limiting, but was open to multiple readings of our life events.

One idea I particularly liked, though, was that AGSS is characteized by both irony and wonder. Narrative reflection can foster a sense of ironic awareness.  Irony is edgy. Dramatic irony functions because there is a disparity between the viewpoints of the teller and the audience.  As we tell our life story we are both author and audience, we are characters and narrators, we are teller and audience.

A good life story also shows openness to change and to a tolerance for ambiguity, it is an open story, one that while reflecting on the past propels us into the future.  Most importantly, we shouldn't wait until we are old to tell a Good Strong Story.