I watched only part of the Super Bowl. I'm not a big sports fan, but I can appreciate a good game of football. That game, however, was lackluster at best. So instead, I continued playing a video game I picked up on Friday.
A lot of you, if not all of you, will know of the Star Wars universe - Luke Skywalker, Princess Lea, Jabba the Hutt, et. all. Personally, I do not remember ever seeing a Star Wars movie all the way through. I've seen bits and pieces here and there, I just never really was interested in it. Especially not when I could be lost in the words of a book, in a grand universe that I can almost make up as I read along.
The game I picked up was Star Wars : The Old Republic. It's a massive game. But what hooked me from the very start was the story telling. You don't have to be well versed in the Star Wars universe to play it because the writing is so good. The way you interact with the characters in the game is very fluid, and your decisions actually have an effect on the game environment around you. If you choose to follow your orders and kill this guy, then his child hates you forever. Save the guy, lie to your boss, and nobody is the wiser.
I have played many games in my day, but I have never seen such an engaging story in a video game. And I know you're probably thinking "why are you posting this here?". I'm posting this because every single word had to be written by someone. Probably a large team of someones. And as with reading a good book, watching a good movie, or seeing a play, it is the stories that bring it all together.
That's why I love to write letters. I honestly didn't think I would enjoy it that much. Or I was concerned that I would only find one or two interesting people, but I'm finding that the more I write, the more I interact through the pen and paper, the more interesting and fascinating people I am finding. I would even venture to say that some of the friendships that are developing would even go deeper than some of the real life friends that I have had for years.
So, whether you are playing a video game, or watching a movie, or even just sitting down with your favorite stationery and penning a note, remember that it's your story that counts. Doesn't even matter if it's just a recount of your day, or just a list of things you'd like to accomplish in the near future.
Everyone has a story. What's yours?