The Better Story

"Life of Pi" had this beautiful philosophy about "choosing the better story"; which essentially tells you that ultimately it is how we interpret our own realities, based on our personal ideals, that gives meaning to our experiences and a shape/direction to our existence. It goes without saying that it takes a highly elevated state of mind-and-soul to actually work out "the better story" in the face of such utmost adversity!

As someone with zero visualization; thoughts (in the form of words, without an associated "vision" in the literal sense) and feelings are my only medium of exploring reality. Nonetheless, they are both rich and powerful. People naturally confuse a lack of "vision" (again, in the literal sense) with a lack of imagination - which is not really true. I actually do have quite a rich "inner life", not entirely bereft of imagination - and often so much richer than the world outside that it is only natural to "turn inward".

Would like to wrap up this post with these wonderful and precious insights from the Booker winning novel! -

The world isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn't that make life a story?

So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story?

It was my first clue that atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them - and then they leap.

I can well imagine an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!" - and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, "Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain," and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story.