Intro and Outro. The Unexpected Elements of a Great Story.
Intro and Outro. The unexpected elements of a great story.
Introspection looks in. It puts you at the center of your focus. It is a mirror to look at yourself.
Outrospection looks out. It makes other people and situations the focus of your attention.
Like the intro and outro of a story they both have a place.
Introspection is the doormat to your life story. It is where the greatest adventures will begin and end. It is where you will learn about yourself. It is where you will see your strengths and weaknesses. In the end, though, it is mostly just a good place to wipe your feet.
Outrospection lifts our eyes from the muddy doormat to the bright red door of opportunity. It sees people’s needs, it sees what could be, it amalgamates the information gained from introspection with what it sees in the world ‘out there.’
Every great story that I can think of features people who have struck an organic relationship between these two elements. They temper one with the other.
>Gandhi tempered his awareness that he needed to eat with the knowledge that his people were dying. Because of his strong sense of justice he decided that he would pay the personal price. For an interesting read on Gandhi check this out: http://orwell.ru/library/reviews/gandhi/english/e_gandhi
>Jesus, though moved with compassion for the multitude also took time to be alone in the hills.
>Tevye, the dairyman and father from Fiddler on the Roof watched in dismay as his children broke with tradition and as a pogrom was affected on his town. He was aware of how his children felt and sacrificed his own convictions for them. He always took time to talk and walk with his own thoughts and God.
>Bob Dylan was aware of what was going on. He wrote songs that inspired a nation and a generation. Songs of immense personal searching and reflection on the happenings of the day. The crowd wanted him to lead them in their revolution. He knew he was a voice and not a savior. He complained of people pursuing him – preferring to live a quiet life. Of all the super sensations of the musical world he is one of the few with no self destroying drug addictions.
The list goes on and on. I would be surprised if you could think of a story where this dynamic relationship did not exist.