It is hard to believe, but just over two years have gone by since I started writing these newsletters, right after the first Once Upon A Time was released. The very first newsletter was posted on August 15, 2023. There have been forty-seven since, almost two every month.

I was advised by folks in the publishing world to do something online to help to promote the book. It was a very natural thing to do a newsletter on the power and meaning of stories, for I think about stories every single day. I have not had any difficulty in coming up with new content, a new story or a movie to discuss . . . until now. I am not completely sure why (and I just decided to go ahead and start writing . . . it will be very interesting to see where this goes)

I have been continuing to write short stories — Once Upon A Time, Volume Two was published in December, 2024; Volume Three should be published some time in 2026; and there is a substantial nonfiction project I need to get back to — but the newsletters have not been a distraction, for they usually come fast and furious, and I really enjoy writing them.

The newsletters were a much quicker and easier way to demonstrate, over and over again, the greater depth of stories, and that this was never by accident or coincidence. By using example after example, I have been attempting to prove that “we” have been trying to “talk” to ourselves in stories since the dawn of humanity — not just to teach an important truth or moral, or to inspire, or to even entertain, the reasons any storyteller would give for writing if you asked them — but we have been trying to talk to ourselves at a much deeper level, unconsciously, unwittingly, about the most critical things in this life, existential and spiritual things.

I came up with the following statements when my first short story volume was published, I needed something more compelling for the back cover. I was surprised by how quickly the words came:

“Stories have always been about us, a mirror in which we can see ourselves—our hopes and dreams, but also our greatest dilemmas.”

“Since the dawn of man, stories have been pregnant with meaning, much of which has gone unnoticed. But if you are willing to slow down and listen more closely, stories will meet you in the very places you need them and guide you home where you will be healthy and whole.”

If these things are true, it begs the question – Which part of us has been doing the talking; and which part of us is still not listening?

Or asked a different way – Which part of us is reflected in the mirror; and which part of us is still standing there, trying to make out what, or who, they see?

Looking at stories from this perspective, suggests we have more than one self, which might be encouraging to some of you, who on some days wonder if you have five or six.

And maybe this might be a good place to begin . . . again.

Maybe some new stories will come to mind that will help to clarify our “selves,” or maybe we could just talk about them, straight out. More specifically, Thomas Merton, has been given the credit for coining the terms true self and false self. They are not terms that many people are familiar with, but I believe they can be enormously helpful to understanding our hearts, and why on many days, we are not quite sure who is on first.

It would be great to hear from you if you have been following along over the last couple of years — if these newsletters have meant something to you, if you have a story of your own you want to pass on, but particularly for your encouragement.

It would mean a lot to hear from you.

Next time.

Sam