While browsing my Twitter feed the other day, I came across a post by Joe Ginese – one of the #sachat colleagues I follow – titled “My Arc Reactor.”
“Yeah, I’m kinda nerdy, I’ll read this,” I thought to myself. He wrote about Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor being the thing that keeps him going. It literally becomes his heartbeat and he is so dependent on it, that he cannot live without it. Ginese wrote about every person has a metaphorical Arc Reactor and described his.
As I thought about that, I thought about my reflection on the past few years.
My Arc Reactor is stories. So much of human connection and relationship happens through stories. We meet, I tell you a story about this or that thing. You think it is funny/terrible/scary/inspiring/awesome in some way. Perhaps you are reminded of a story of your own, or one your friend told you, or something you heard on the radio, or a book, TV show, movie that you somehow came across.
I believe in the power of stories. Our lives are stories, and the way we live them determines what happens next. We have the stories of others who have lived before us, we have fiction, we have hundreds of thousands of examples.
What will your story tell?
And more importantly, what is your arc reactor?
Wow. I really love this. Stories are why I love working with people and on a staff. I’m applying to be a TA for a class because of the opportunity to hear the stories of others. I will be thinking about what my Arc Reactor is today.