The Arc

The Arc

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Growing up in the country meant playing basketball on a makeshift court in someone’s barn. Our makeshift court was on the second floor of a hay barn. We had to make sure the right doors were shut, and the holes in the floor were covered, because you can’t pass to a teammate who's fallen through to the first floor after a sweet spin move into a hole. I don't remember who won or lost most of the games during barnball; I’m inclined to say I won more than I lost, but I'm fairly certain my own ego is clouding the story. I remember one kid we played with using the entire room, the large barn ceiling, to launch the highest-arcing shot I have ever witnessed in the uncountable basketball games I have played in my life. We called it the moonball, and it either swished perfectly or banged off the rim so hard it ricocheted across the barn.

Now I think about arcs in terms of storytelling, and how we often go on journeys to achieve the right story arc. During live storytelling events, I enjoy crafting the perfect arc, one that keeps people guessing, not sure where we are headed, but excited as events unfold. It’s why we all gravitate toward movies, books, comics, and other mediums that reveal something about life. We all know we don’t learn something about ourselves at the beginning of the story arc or at the conclusion. It’s at some random point in the story's progression that an epiphany comes to us.

We have forgotten this little nugget of information. We always look for fast solutions or for everything to go our way. The journey's explorations, and what they can reveal about life, the people around us, or the situation we are in, become background noise. When in reality, that is the whole point of what we are doing. Hopefully, we do our best with the knowledge we have at the beginning of the journey, then pick up useful information as we progress through that particular chapter of our lives. The famous saying, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” comes to mind when I think about this topic.

Life should alter us; what we experience should reinforce our morals, but also make us change them when we need to. I often feel a great deal of sadness when I encounter folks who can not process the lessons they should be taking from their current situation. I find myself thinking of all the arcs I have experienced that revealed I needed to become more flexible in my approach, more compassionate toward the situations others find themselves in, and more focused as a human who wants certain aspects of their life to shine through.

It’s odd to think I have spent my life in these arcs, whether shooting a basketball, helping people at work, telling stories, or navigating the relationships I’m in. Yet it's really a series of stories that make up the long arc of my life. But by letting those arcs run from beginning to end, I have learned so much about life: what's in my control, what I can do to move other people, and what's out of my control. But most importantly, it is best to ride the wave of the arc and see if the moonball will swish, or the story will have a happy ending. It’s the best way to go through life: not truly knowing, doing your best to figure it out, and knowing the end is coming but never really wanting it to, because you are too busy learning about yourself, those around you, and what it means to live, not just merely exist in the story.