family

I was a liar, not your average liar but a BIG liar.

A habitual liar to be exact.

I always knew how to tell stories.

They called me a master manipulator.

I called it getting out of trouble, temporarily that is.

However, I got caught in my lies often.

Instead of telling the truth I would opt to continue lying.

Even when the truth was exchanged for immunity.

I still lied.

I don’t think anyone in my family knew that my lying was an expression of my ability to tell stories.

I often wish someone picked up on it.

My life would have been different.

They may have fostered my writing & storytelling ability.

My ability to write still amazes me. It’s still new to me.

I remember as a child watching movies.

I watched a lot of movies.

I was bred as a direct in some cases.

My lies often put me on punishment and during those times of punishment I could write or read.

I wrote songs and poems.

I read novels and business books.

At the at of 12 I read “Waiting to Exhale” and the movie came out that year.

I was amazed by the directors and actors ability to capture the words of the author.

I never thought I could make films until I was in my late twenties.

I owned video cameras all my life.

I never thought it was possible to write and direct.

I was never a great writer.

I went to 13 different grade schools.

I always lacked the basics of mathematics & grammar.

The lack of proper writing skills discouraged me.

In college I loved writing papers.

College gave me the opportunity to write and read.

As a double major and double minor I figured out a way to take more English classes than my majors allowed.

I loved having the ability to read, dissect and write about classics.

I was a storyteller.

If they would realized my lies were the basics of storytelling I would have majored in English & Film.

I would have been further in my career.

These are the lies that my mind tries to tell me.

Instead, I have a massive arsenal of stories to tell because I was a liar and it wasn’t known that I was a storytelling writer.

Today, I tell stories the proper way. Today, I’ve turned those lies into truth filled stories that tell the greatest story alive.

I now use words and cameras to speak of our relationship in this dirty orbit with the God of all of wonders.

Today, I am a creative communicator.

Today, I remember Pinocchio.

I remember watching him tell lies and his nose grow.

I remember sitting in my aunt’s bedroom while it played for the first time on HBO.

I remember how amazed I was that everyone knew he was lying.

I am a former liar turned storyteller.

What has shaped you? Feel free to comment.