As a writer, one of the things I appreciate deeply about my teenagers is their creative writing focus; I love the stories they dabble in and the characters they develop. Those characters take on roles in their stories and in their art, whether on the iPad or in sketchbooks. Just tonight I listened as my youngest regaled her older sister with new characters the youngest developed just this afternoon. Her descriptions of at least one of the characters immediately sparked a response from the 17 year old because she recalled creating a similar character in a story.
As I considered the stories and the characters we each create in our own creative works, I found myself appreciating our story, the one our family is writing each day, and that way of thinking about us sparked joy in my heart and mind. Because my 17-year-old hasn’t been feeling well over the past three days, we have spent a bit more time than usual watching some favorite movies and some new ones (new to our teenagers, anyway). Some of those stories have made us laugh and some have made us shake our heads, especially when some of the more annoying characters have caused problems for favorite characters. At one point, my girls pointed out the way some characters have plot armor, meaning nothing bad can happen to them because they are necessary to the story. Similarly, they are also pretty good at recognizing plot devices and how some of the things that happen may not make perfect sense, but they serve the overall story.
I love these kinds of conversations. They feed my creative soul. Perhaps that was the inspiration for my mind’s wanderings today, contemplating the characters each of us are in the story of our family. Unlike the fictional stories we’ve been immersed over the past few days, I find myself truly invested in the story our family is weaving. I like watching the character arcs of each of my teenagers, the way they grow and change as they face the challenges life places in their paths. Unlike the plot armor of favorite story or movie characters, my teenagers encounter difficulties that require more than a sarcastic comment (though they have those, too) and challenges that cannot necessarily be solved in a scene or two.
Still, these two remarkable young women are my two favorite characters in the unfolding story of this life we share. I’m fairly certain they don’t see themselves the way I see them, but it is my hope that one day they will. I hope they come to understand that they are the heroes in their own stories, that they have the talent and ability to overcome or outsmart whatever antagonist crosses their story path. They are smart and savvy and I love how they navigate around obstacles with such flair. I believe their innate sense of story provides them a strong advantage in moving through life like a protagonist through a story’s plot twists.
I suppose that is one of the reasons I truly enjoy listening to their conversations about the stories and characters they create. I suppose I like to believe they are, at least in part, characters I have helped create and have nurtured through the years. I enjoy seeing our days as part of the greater story God has created for all of us to be a part of. We are all part of the telling of an epic story. We get to participate in life’s adventures, some great, some ordinary. We get to encourage those who cross our path. We get to inspire others to live out their best story by the way we choose to tell ours. And when I watch these two remarkable young women each day, I have no doubt they will encourage and inspire so many people in their lives. After all, they’ve already inspired me to embrace my best self every day.