Choice and Storytelling

Choice and Storytelling

Choice is what storytelling is all about. Your responsibility to the characters you create is fundamental so that they can make choices that reflect their on circumstance of knowledge and clarity. Your understanding of the character’s need to make choices based on the limited knowledge he has about that which he fears. As the story progresses more knowledge will be acquired and better choices will be made. With better choices coming from more knowledge the character will begin to make stronger and more life affirming choices. You will allow your character to make bad choices by not giving them knowledge that you possess but that they have not yet acquired.

Hope for the Future

Hope for the Future is the ultimate goal for the everyman character as he is taken on a journey to overcome a fear. As we know a story is created by the use of three positions of play. The everyman is the character that has the problem. He is also known at the hero or protagonist. The dragon is the character that is the physical manifestation of the everyman's fear. This character is also known as the antagonist. It should be known that because a character is a dragon to one person does not mean he is an antagonist or dragon to another. People fear many things and those fears will be manifest in a physical form.

The third major character in the telling of the story is known as the bird. This is the character who appears when everyman has come to the end of his/her knowledge and energy base in order to defeat his/her dragon. This character will appear and give the everyman character the knowledge and strength that he needs to defeat his fear. In more classical works the bird character will often sacrifice himself in this effort. I will have much more to discuss on these positions of play as your understanding of the position of play best suited for you will define the success of your career. A story is told through a series of choices. As the story progress the knowledge to make better choices evolves and the story unfolds. The use of the three positions of play (everyman, dragon, bird) will be structurally laid out based on the needs of the genre being used. From a structural understanding of storytelling it is the everyman's subconscious that seeks to achieve hope for the future. What is that hope? The hope is that the knowledge that he/she acquires and the choices that he/she makes will elevate his/her spiritual worth, in death, to become part of All That Is. Everyman is what we understand to be the individual of focus in the journey of a story. But, we are all the everyman in our own life story. We have things to learn and choices to make. Our greatest lesson is to understand the unique position of being one of the creatures of the earth that has evolved to the circumstance of making choices. Those choices are first based on the earthly side of our reality. The human side. The part of us that is mindlessly seeking to survive at all cost. The choices are based on instinct of selfish survival. As the mind develops we will acquire knowledge that will allow us to see the world differently.

It is the knowledge that will guide us to seek a spiritual understanding of our unique position in the world. Those things that we fear and often try to avoid are the things that force us to make selfish and often destructive choices. Those choices that are always destructive to our hope for the future often, if not always, effect the hope for the future of those who are part of our reality. This by family or association. We are also the dragon or antagonist in the lives of others. In their world of being an everyman we are the physical manifestation of their fears. It is what happens when we bully others. And, let it be known that this bullying is done not only by deed but also by thought. We are also the bird in the lives of others. There are those in our lives that we unselfishly would sacrifice whatever necessary for their well being. More often than not we become the dragon/antagonist to those who in truth we would believe ourselves to be their bird. What causes this to happen is one of the purposes of storytelling. It is the effort of the storyteller to define those positions of play so we see how they might relate to our own lives.

Our journey of life is to separate ourselves from the need of survival at all cost to the verities of those cost. Verity being established truths and the principles by which wise and compassionate individuals strive to live their life. The everyman character represents the audience. It is the character that the audience will follow. They will understand what that character is doing and why. The audience will have advanced knowledge as to the choices the everyman character is making and desire for him/her to do better. Hopefully but the end of the story they will have learned enough to do better. In a tragedy they will not.

The same could be said for the actor. He/she is looking at the choices that they are making toward their career and begin to understand those choices that are not working. But, you may want to recognize those choices that are resulting in becoming a dragon to someone else and justifying those choices as unacceptable. There is no justification for a choice that results in making you the dragon in the life of someone else. Never! However, we can use those unfortunate choices to acknowledge the things that we fear. It is fear of something that must be eliminated. The something must be named so that the knowledge needed to destroy the fear can be acquired.

The difference in life and storytelling resides in the emotional position taken by the participants. In the world of storytelling the character purposely is allowed to behave badly as he/she is being thrust toward the journey of fighting a fear. In life, however, one should strive to be the best they can as they seek to unfold those things they fear. With this emotional clarity we can work to dis empower them. Those things/people/circumstances that make us angry, distraught, irrational, hurt or hurtful are based on things we fear. The circumstance of the fear, be it person or thing, is about an individuals fear. The collective power of that fear is irrelevant. The individual must address and conquer the fear as an individual. That means the fears are based on things we, as individuals, do not understand.

The beliefs that one has that keeps them from addressing and overcoming a fear can only be based on the earthly part of their duality (body/spirit). These beliefs are based on survival at any cost. These beliefs must be acknowledged as false beliefs. They can and must be changed by acknowledging the verities of life that an individual needs to hold in finding peace and self-worth. This is done with knowledge and determination. It is important to be able to read another person. It is also important to read ourselves. What does this mean? We read someone by their behavior. We read people based on their presentation emotionally and verbally. Characters present themselves a certain way. They behave badly or they behave with civility. Their presentation of behavior is based on their desire for an outcome or their desire to manipulate a situation. We do this in life as well. However, if you learn the language of peoples emotional presentation and learn to read them you can begin to understand your own.

Emotional Need Projections

This recognition can come by being aware of Emotional Need Projections. This term, emotional need protection or ENP, is the way I believe people try to transfer the responsibility of their pain to someone else. It is a term I have created that can be used for the world of the character as well as the world of the actor. An Emotional Need Projection is how someone physically projects and justifies the excuses of their choices. A choice only needs a justification if it is based on false beliefs or personal fears. It is how a person can transfer their accountability for their behavior onto other people. Therefore, ENP’s are emotional needs through physical presentation. It is the emotional expression you put on your face and into your body language. It is the choice of language and the often irrational use of condemnation for things we don't understand.

These physical, emotional and verbal presentations are used to let others know what responses you are seeking from them. In truth you are seeking to be comforted from something you fear. You are, in fact, projecting what you need fixed in you. It is a subconscious plea using the conscious sense of control. For example, if you are behaving badly and showing someone that you are aloof or non-responsive, you are really asking to be acknowledged and supported. You are asking to be comforted and soothed from your loneliness.

Of course, the irony is that you never get that response. We do not recognize these behaviors as emotional need projections. Not at all. We recognize them as attacks and some form of aggression. We recognize them as personal affronts to us as individuals. When others present themselves to us badly we do not see their behavior as an emotional need projection. We deal with their presentation as an attack on us, not as a need from them. Based on our "right of relationship" with the individual, we respond only in relation to us. What is being done to us? How dare you speak to me that way? Don't you know who I am? How dare you project your need to me? Am I my brothers keeper?

Am I? Would you walk away from someone who you knew was in physical need? Would you walk away from someone who was bleeding or gasping for breath? Most of us would not. However, we frequently respond to someones emotional pain by reflecting it back and adding to its injury. That is who we are as people. We go to defense. We do not allow ourselves to understand how the human species operates in fear and denial. Storytelling is part of this understanding of denial.

What is it that continually allows us to use our own ENP as an operating procedure in life. We use them because we have not addressed consciously what it is that we are doing. Our subconscious is giving us a guide to our personal fears and prejudices. The subconscious is that part of us that is trying to override our refusal to address our fears and move our lives toward clarity and peace. Your own emotional need projections must be addressed by you. You must train yourself to watch what you do and how you behave so you can find the power to be all that you can be. Discover your own subconscious pleas for help in the fighting of your own pain of denial.

What is it that we deny. Our ignorance. Ignorance is what we deny in ourselves. Ignorance is the lack of knowledge. Knowledge is there for the taking. Why is the pursuit of knowledge resisted by so many? The answer is simple. The pursuit of knowledge indicates that we don't know something. And, that becomes a conscious acceptance of being vulnerable. The mindless body, once having access to your thoughts, will reek havoc on your presentation with people. That is why it is most important to translate your own subconscious and then seek the knowledge to remove your own pain and fears. You must also know that the frequency (intensity)of your projection is directly related to your personal power. Remember, your personal power can be used for good or evil. Why do good people do bad things? They make bad choices. Choices that result in pain or suffering to others must be recognized before they are acted upon. Otherwise, fear will take control of your thought process and make additional bad choices rather than the quest for knowledge.

As you know like attacks like. Your emotional need projections will attract the same defensive response. Your subconscious can only hope the day will come that you will see that your emotional need projections are for you to understand. Once you understand how to read your own emotional need projection you can begin to "read" others. That's right. Once you can read your own pain you can read the pain of others. You will then be able to circumvent their pain with compassion and understanding without feeling that you have been compromised.

The everyman in your life is you. The actor who can interpret his own use of emotional need projections has the power to interpret the emotional need projections for his character. You then become the subconscious of the character in its quest to get everyman to wake up and smell the coffee. You then become the subconscious of the character in its quest to inspire "everyman" to get a grip and take change of his own destiny.

Without a communication between your spirit and your body you leave yourself open to attracting what you fear. This lack of communication will not attract what you want. Your behaving badly is a sure fire way to get what you don’t want. There is no other possibility. Therefore, you must learn to translate this effort of your true self, your connected to the universe self, to guide you by you own emotional need projections.

Yes, the characters that you play must experience behaving badly to be effective in their personal journey. You, one the other hand, can not behave badly to get them there. Your translation and efforts are to reside in the character's subconscious. You will become for the character what your subconscious is trying to be for you. As we have discussed, you want your life energy frequency level to be at its highest talent (achievement) position to date when working in your professional arena.

You also want to have this control of your highest energy frequency level to date in your other life areas as well. Behaving badly is your subconscious communication to your own personal growth. Know how to read it in all areas of your life and control your behavior. Recognize your use of ENP’s in your personal life. This recognition can empower your best you. What is your best you? It is that awareness that life is a shared adventure in an individualized compartment of thought. If you realize that you have a collective communication device in that individual compartment that feeds you those things that need to be changed using your EMP communication with others, you will be headed toward your dreams (visions of expectation) and toward your hope for the future in this life.

Internal Character of the Actor

I believe the internal character is that entity in the heart and mind of you that compels you to be an actor. It is the part of the actor that can only go to make believe if the actor has done all the work necessary for the character he/she is playing to live in their world. Once the actor has gathered the knowledge and done the repetitions necessary to go to Talent the character that lives inside the actor is allowed to be the character in the story. Once this is done the actor's energy, in make believe, unites with the energy of the audience and gives the audience the experience of physical and emotional healing.

When you create a character, your ability to let the character behave badly through the use of his ENP, is fundamental to his/her interest and believability. By becoming aware that this process of behaving badly is a communication between the character and his subconscious, still falls on deaf ears. Your awareness of the ENP's true purpose will give you first hand insight into the conscious tricks your character is using to cast the blame of his circumstance in the telling of the story. The more control you have over your best you and the energy and talent you acquire from it, the faster you will begin to draw to you the energy flow of divine inspiration.

Gaining talent in every area of your life will guide you in your quest for a healthy and happy professional career. Talent is energy that has been harnessed to keep you at a frequency level that will attract the power of the universe. Talents that you achieve allow you to go to that place called Talent; a place of energy transfer and non fear.

Behaving badly will not get you the response that you may believe you deeply need and deserve. It will, however, guide you to your personal need to communicate with yourself. Your subconscious can only communicate with you by using your conscious minds operating procedure. Often that operating procedure is controlled by your mindless creature taking control of your internal dialogue and thought patterns. When that results in behaving badly and thoughts of frustration and anger, depression and worthlessness or destructive choices then you can be sure that your subconscious is telling you to change.

Emotional Need Projections are always based on bad behavior or poor me presentations. Emotional Need Projections are always at a frequency level that match its ferociousness. Emotional Need Projections, recognized or not, are always an effort by your subconscious to communicate to you a path to wisdom.

All your characters you will play have one thing in common. Like most individuals they have not learned that behavior is about self awareness and personal growth. They havae not learned that their personal behavior is to guide the individual to the life they want to live.

You do not want your life to be constant presentations of emotional need projections that allow you to behave badly in your quest for comfort and compassion. You do not want to be bound to a life energy frequency that can only attract to itself those things you say you want to avoid. You do not want the relationships in your life to allow behaving badly as an operating procedure.

Recognize your use of emotional need projections. Know that they are an indicator of your projected life frequency. Accept that your presentation is nothing more than behaving badly. Celebrate in the knowledge that your subconscious is using your emotional need projections as a personal communication to what must be changed in your life. Be joyous in knowing that you are connected to the universe by your subconsious.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The answer to our hope for the future has been with us from our earliest childhood memories. However, hearing something and knowing the how of something are usually two different things. You are an individual and your quest is to understand how the whole of us communicates to the individual. It is done by the subconscious of your reality.

Have a wonderful week. Step outside of yourself this week as you pontificate to those in your world. Realize that you are really communicating with yourself. Are you happy with that relationship?

I wish you well,

Russ