I was driving interstate with my wife the other day and we both have a tendancy to chat on our trips together – actually it is one of the best parts.

We both only commented the other day that we are ‘good’ at going away on holidays and as we drive or fly further away we experience what my old mate Des used to describe as he would drive away on holidays with our mate Puck –  “It’s all back there mate, I can feel it all dropping away.”

Often during these trips (and my wife advises me just as regularly in day to day life) I have a tendency to talk a lot and tell stories.  Now the art of story telling, for men anyway, is that the general theme of the story must remain the same but the details are what we would describe as ‘flexible.’  Of course with all stories they are modifiable to any particular audiences, from your children to your grandmothers’ knitting group.

So we were travelling and my wife started to tell a story.  She immediately go into the detail and background.  Our story telling is often like that old Ronny Corbett skit where he would sit in a lounge chair tell a joke but, go off on so many tangents that telling one simple joke would take about 15 minutes – I suppose a lot like my blog posts!  So my wife started to get all animated about this story and I started to recount to her all the details of the story and what it meant to her.  Yes, it was one of those stories she had told me 10 or maybe 20 times before and I think I am at the stage where at a pinch I could retell it and you’d think it happened to me – come to think of it I may have already actually done that.

My wife didn’t seem at all disappointed that I knew the story or that she had told me a dozen times.  She did point out that I actually retell stories to her much more than she does to me but she is nice enough not to point it out to me until I suddenly look over at her and say “I’ve told you this before haven’t I?”

It was then that we had a chat about our story telling and why we do it.  In fact why do we all like stories so much.  If you don’t think that’s true, think about the times you get together with old mates and start talking about the ‘glory days’ – often everybody is animated and it is probably hard to get a word in edgeways.

My wife said to me that it was the telling of the story that gave you back the feelings of the memory.  Of course she was right (aren’t our wives always!).

I do tell stories because I like to entertain people and make them laugh if I can.  But, I also tell stories for me.  They are usually moments in my life which were high on emotion, adventure, drama, danger, even love; or the best of all laughter.  By telling the stories we get to have that moment again.

Of course I am talking about ‘good’ moments not perhaps the ones that haunt us (or people we know) through PTSD or stress – those stories I think and hope will fade and remain in the past.  As Master Bra’Tac said to Teal’c (Sorry these are characters from a science fiction TV series called Stargate – I love science fiction stories!)

“Draw from your past, but do not let your past draw from you”

So, I think I’ll keep telling stories – I will draw from my past and hopefully re-live those moments that have made me who I am; of course modified for appropriate humour and embellished for maximum entertainment.  I still intend to be an interested grandfather, but there is nothing wrong with being interesting as well.

Sorry, that there are no graphics or pictures with this post, but I am away on holidays and I left it all back there, it just all dropped away!