Professional Tagonist

My name is Jered and I’m a protagonist.

And so are you. We’re all protagonists in the story of life, and in your story, you are the first-person perspective. You are the living, present tense character living and experiencing the story. You are the “Choose Your Own Adventure.” And you are more powerful than you know.

You see, one of the things I love about life – indeed, the human experience – is what I call “The Inextricable Story”. Life isn’t full of stories; life IS stories. I don’t know the science behind it, but I firmly believe that every human is hardwired to process events through the lens of story. One may argue an evolutionary function for this tendency. One may argue its usefulness, but one thing cannot be disputed: Every culture, every religion, every tradition is bound and transmitted in the fabric of narrative.

If you look at all early creation myths and ancient religious texts, the commonalities automatically unravel. Story has been a facet of human existence since the birth of human existence. Before books, there were cave paintings. Before cave paintings, there were campfire stories.

Myths and fables exist because story is vehicle in which we learn most naturally, most readily, most enjoyably. But what does every story have in common? Why do I care about anyone’s story? Why do stories matter? It’s not because they’re interesting. It’s not because I like watching random things happen to people. The truth is, I don’t like random because stories aren’t random. Stories aren’t inherently great because of the events, actions, conflicts, or characters.

Stories are great because of the author who writes them.

Good stories don’t happen by accident. Everything that happens to a character happens for a reason, if for no other reason than for the character’s growth. An author writes stories for many reason. Maybe she wants to teach a lesson to her children. Maybe he wants to show people the heroes they can rise to embody.

Every story has an author, and every author has a motive.

I believe we’re drawn to stories as a species because when we see the author’s design behind a given story, when we experience the art of narrative, we not only learn from each other and draw closer to each other, but we more clearly see the meta-narrative unfolding before our eyes.

The more we read stories, the more we learn from authors. The more we see stories in real life, the more we’re drawn to the ultimate Author.

Of course, people disagree on who that capital-A “Author” is, but bear with me. Every person sees conflict in his or her life. We all are surprised by plot twists, and we all struggle against insurmountable odds. But in the midst of the craziness, we know that it can’t be an accident.

Life is too crazy to be coincidental.

Someone must’ve written it that way. Even if the Author allows the characters complete free will over their lives, the celestial writer weaves the story to its unpredictable end. The story teller has a reason for book’s existence. This is the purpose we all seek, whether knowingly or not.

And whether you realize it or not, your life is a story. And you are the protagonist. Your story is being guided to an unexpected fate, but before you get there, you will face conflict. Sometimes life is a comedy, sometimes a tragedy. As the protagonist, your job is the relentless pursuit of overcoming those challenges. And whether or not you succeed, the Author will lead from rising action to greater rising action, from one climax to the next.

I realize that’s not encouraging to everyone. The protagonist life isn’t easy, but I’m sure it will be entertaining.

But what if the author leads me astray? What if I’m destined for failure?

The way I see it, the best stories are about learning and overcoming. The real question is this: Is your story a heroic epic or a cautionary tale?

I can’t answer that question for you. Maybe it’s a little bit of both. But if you want my advice, you should just ask the author yourself.

I hear he’s really good at breaking the fourth wall.