Shekhar Kapur: We are the stories we tell ourselves

I just love love this TED Talk.  In a world full of too much knowledge and not enough wisdom, he is a treat to hear speak.

From this talk:

“Ultimately, what is a story? It’s a contradiction. Everything is a contradiction. The universe is a contradiction. And all of us are constantly looking for harmony. When you get up, the night and day is a contradiction. You get up at 4am and that first blush of blue is where the night and day are trying to find harmony with each other. Harmony is the notes that mozart didn’t give you, but somehow the contradiction of his notes suggest the harmony. It’s the effect of looking for hamony in the contradiction that exists in a poet’s mind, the contradiction that exists in a story teller’s mind. In a story teller’s mind is the contradiction of moralities. In a poet’s mind there is a conflict of words. In the universe’s mind between day and night. In the contradiction between male and female we’re looking for harmony within each other. The whole idea of contradiction – the acceptance of contradiction – is the telling of a story. Not the resolution. The problem with storytelling in Hollywood and many films is we try to resolve the contradiction. Harmony is not resolution – harmony is a suggestion of a thing that is much larger than resolution. Harmony is a suggestion of something that is embracing and universal, and of eternity, and of the moment. Resolution is something that is far more limited. It is finite. Harmony is infinite. So in storytelling, like all other contradictions in the universe, is looking for harmony and infinity in moral resolutions – resolving one, but letting another go. Letting another go and creating a question that’s really important.”

Beautiful.

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