Story telling

Hello, My name is Matt Blanchard. My idea of a story is something that is very personal. When you hear others say "that is just a story" they are referring to someone elses story, not theirs. Each individual will very rarely have the same "story" as the next even if they are describing the same event because we all experience things differently. In my opinion what makes a good or bad story is if the audience can relate to what is being said. If the audience is engauged, depending upon the engaugement, I would classify the story as good or a success. On the other hand if the audience is not interested or engaged in the "story" then it is not a good story, or at least for that audiance it is not a good "story". A story teller can have a horrible story to tell, but if the story teller is animated and entertaining in the way they tell the story then they would be considered a good story teller, not that the story is a good one, just that they are good at telling it. Some of my favorite story tellers would be Anthony Robins, Mike Schlappi, Lou Holtz, motivational speakers are most interesting to me.Musicians such as Emenem, Macelmore, Jay Z, etc. For me it is interesting to read the preface and wonder about "Wonder Land" as Gottschall describes it. "I think therefore I am" this was the "Wonderland" for a Descartes, he was so focused on defining his "Wonderland" he almost went insane! We need to be carful how deep we venture down the rabbit hole and not lose ourselves. Story telling is how we express ourselves and is the lives that we live. In most cases it is what we believe as individuals. Each of us have a story to tell, it is how well we tell the story as to how it will be recieved.