about the sharing of stories

When we are little, before we have Twitter accounts that we surf before turning the light out, or work projects that keep us up late, stressing about e-mails we should send, we crave for somebody to tell us a story.

Being young, when our intrinsic natures are so apparent and immune from hiding, we long for fairy tales or jokes or family histories. Before we are left alone in the darkness of our room, left to fend for ourselves against the nighttime, there is comfort in hearing and understanding and connecting to the lives of other people. 

As I've thought about stories and their importance lately, as a 24 year old far from the days of fairy tales, I've realized that this need we have for them when we're young doesn't really go away.

I believe, the way I believe that the earth is round or that gravity is a thing, that every person longs for story in their life.  We long to be known by the stories we tell, and we also long to know the world intimately.

Stories do both for us, and they live or die by being shared.

In that vein, as I thought about stories that have mattered a lot to me lately, I thought about how they might matter to you, too.

Here are some.  What stories have floated into your life and stuck around?  Share them, please!

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Stories to listen to: 

The Moth
(The best $0.99 I've spent in a long time was on The Moth podcast app; it's a not-for-profit organization that hunts down good stories at live StorySlams and shares them online and on the radio. They make me laugh and cry and think -- three favorites have been this, this, and this.)  

Serial
(Produced by affiliates of This American Life, and further proof that everything Ira Glass touches turns to gold - Serial is a podcast of one story told over several weeks.  I love Thursday mornings driving to work and listening to the new episode they post then) 

Songwriters who tell good stories: 

James Taylor 
(My childhood musical hero;  Mudslide Slim is one of the best albums ever created (in my humble opinion) and includes some great stories of history and art and traveling, like Machine Gun Kelly and Riding on a Railroad)

Bob Dylan 
(Another classic favorite I've been rediscovering lately -- I love his characters and words.  Shelter from the Storm is an especially sweet tale)

Stories to read:

The Rook, Daniel O'Malley
(My most recently finished fiction; it is the most imaginative story I've read in the past few months.  If you like the idea of something in the style of Downton Abbey/Bridget Jones/Harry Potter, you will love this.  I tore through it, and was reminded of how magical it is to get lost in new worlds through story)

Woman Hollering Creek, short stories by Sandra Cisneros 
(Stories are great for how they bring us into the understanding of new cultures.  I've been reading through this collection and love Cisneros' voice and ability to take me outside of where I'm comfortable.  If you liked House on Mango Street (one of my all-time favorites), you'll love this,too) 

Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen
(I love this book.  I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.  I truly can't get over it.  It is a fundamentally important read for Christians, and is written as letters from Nouwen to his friend, someone of a totally different cultural and religious background.  Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it)