Two boys sit listening to a sailor telling them a sea story.
For the boy on the left the story brings only fear and anxiety, he has huddled his knees up to his chest in a protective pose. His only goal is to survive the story and find an excuse to leave as fast as possible.
The boy on the right however, is thrilled. He has leaned in closer to the sailor and all that the sailor’s story has to tell about the strange world of the ocean, and the adventures it brings.
That’s the power of a story.
Stories come to us whether we are ready or not. But if we are ready…the world opens up to us.
(This painting is called ‘The Boyhood Of Raleigh’ and shows us the childhood of a real person named Sir Walter Raleigh.
As an adult he ended up sailing across the ocean several times looking for the legendary City Of Gold, El Dorado. But that’s a story for another day!)