the backstory

Hello friend—you’re receiving this email as a part of morning reading, a daily reflection on the parts of life worth living for. If you have feedback, comments, or ideas, please email me at [email protected]. I know daily emails aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so feel free to unsubscribe if it’s ever arduous. Thank you! - Zach

GET BACK TO THE BACKSTORY

Hello friend,We’re a generation obsessed with backstories.We’re a generation burnt out on ‘special.’ The mega-athletes, the genius IQs, the highest levels of luxury–we’ve seen them all. We grew up watching time and time again as people in the real world did what was once before impossible. We’ve seen war reinvented, and then that reinvention reinvented. We seen tech advancement upon tech advancement. Why, in the age of information, would we care much for the powers of fiction?Gone are the days when Superman wowed early movie screens because he could fly. We  even roll our eyes at those special effects on the tiny, grainy screen in the economy section of a 737. But we still tune in. Maybe every generation has this as their guilty pleasure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that in the not-too-distant-past, people loved their heroes because they represented a power they did not have. Extraordinary abilities or qualities of character that could never be accessed by mere mortals. Stories were rare windows into other worlds, a chance at seeing things as they could be, a chance to see other parts of the world or read other perspectives.Now we’re drawing in perspective. Paralyzed by it. Stuck in between a thousand interpretations of a million facts. I think our generation is so burnt out on the extraordinary that what we love is the story—the story of change. The tantalizing, insatiable desire born from the knowledge that we are not everything we could be. I think we love heroes not because they have powers now, but because they once were less capable. Not entirely what they could be.We love them because they were once human, and found a way forward…A way forward we desperately want for ourselves. Journal Prompt: When was the last time some part of your life changed?