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.