Shape Of An "L" On My Forehead

I love stories. I love telling them, I love hearing them and I love living them.

I've been a little story-obsessed lately. Like, duh, right? I write plays . . .

I find myself gathering folks around me, forcing this story or that on them. And then I make them tell me some of theirs. They all range from "That scar" to "A time when I was misunderstood" to "The last time I cried." And then I'll ask something like, "What does it feel like to tell your story?" In almost all cases, for me, it feels great! And I love hearing other people's, too. I always come away enriched somehow.

I'm living a story right now. It's called, "The time I lost my cell phone." I have lots of stories like that. "The time I lost my wedding rings." "The time I lost a $20 bill." (I think I have a few of those) The time I lost my purse." (LOTS of those) "The time I lost my keys." (Too many to count) "The time I lost my truck." (Not even joking) "The time I lost my wedding rings - again." The police have been involved in more than one of these tales.

I'm a loser. I wish that were funny. Perhaps you think it is. It is, sometimes. Losing things, for me, is like a disability. I'm not trying to cop out, it's just that when I lose something, my brain lapses completely and I have no idea what's become of the object in question. I'm the same with getting lost. All you people who are bad with names, stop judging. I am amazing with names. This is the same type of thing.

This cell phone story is not over because I have: a) not found it yet and b) not given up. I've been busy and this kind of thing requires focus. My cell phone has failed to produce itself amongst all of my cursory look-sees, so I need to devote time to it. Rip apart my office. Search under the car seats. Take apart the shelves of the entrance way of my house. Or pretend to stop looking for it so it turns up on its own.

See, right now, this story is highly unsatisfactory. I lost my cell phone and I haven't found it yet. Yawn. I demand better narrative than that. So between now and say, this coming Wednesday, I will either have found it or I will have acquiesced to its disappearance, but there is a good story here. I know it. Either way the battle will be won or lost and it may not be glorious, but I vow to make it INTERESTING.

I'll let you know how it goes in the next post. Thanks for listening.