In every story we hear, whether in the news or online, there are essentially two narratives being told.
There’s the physical narrative, which consists of all the logistical details, most often referred to as “facts”. This is basically anything that would go in the police report or on the stat sheet. When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was involved?
There is another type of narrative though, one that goes much deeper and paints a much broader picture. I like to call this the moral narrative, or the lesson. The physical narrative provides the proof for the lesson of the moral narrative. What does this story say about us as people? What does it implicate about our society? What can we learn from this?
What the moral narrative tells us is that we’re not just talking about sports, we’re not just talking about music, we’re not just talking about politics. We are talking about what it means to be human, what it means to relate to others, what deeper truths this physical narrative could stand for.
Discovering the moral narrative means asking the critical question of, “What’s REALLY going on here?” This is the question all great journalists ask when deciding weather a story is “newsworthy” or not.
When those who are vitally creative hear a physical narrative, their minds immediately begin to ask the question “What’s REALLY going on here?” “How does this apply to me and the tribe of people that I lead?” “What is this story teaching us about our world as actors, writers, musicians, politicians, business people, or basket-weavers? And how can we use it’s lesson to strengthen and encourage one another?”
Now you’re asking the right questions.
There’s the physical narrative, which consists of all the logistical details, most often referred to as “facts”. This is basically anything that would go in the police report or on the stat sheet. When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was involved?
There is another type of narrative though, one that goes much deeper and paints a much broader picture. I like to call this the moral narrative, or the lesson. The physical narrative provides the proof for the lesson of the moral narrative. What does this story say about us as people? What does it implicate about our society? What can we learn from this?
What the moral narrative tells us is that we’re not just talking about sports, we’re not just talking about music, we’re not just talking about politics. We are talking about what it means to be human, what it means to relate to others, what deeper truths this physical narrative could stand for.
Discovering the moral narrative means asking the critical question of, “What’s REALLY going on here?” This is the question all great journalists ask when deciding weather a story is “newsworthy” or not.
When those who are vitally creative hear a physical narrative, their minds immediately begin to ask the question “What’s REALLY going on here?” “How does this apply to me and the tribe of people that I lead?” “What is this story teaching us about our world as actors, writers, musicians, politicians, business people, or basket-weavers? And how can we use it’s lesson to strengthen and encourage one another?”
Now you’re asking the right questions.
