People have story-telling minds. Simply put, when we lack information, we make it up. The tiniest detail, or lack thereof, is all that is ever needed to inspire a story. We can weave banal or exhilarating or crushing meanings from a single sensory experience — a passing glimpse, a distant sound, the brush of cloth against the skin, a breeze through one’s hair. From the tiniest detail can come a rush of emotions and associations: the aroma of cinnamon, a lit candle, muddy shoes, a sleeping kitten, crumbs on a table, a single word. And just notice the stories that so readily emerge — and which present themselves to us as true — when there comes no reply to our text, when someone is late, when the anticipated package does not arrive.

Disappointment and surprise represent the violation of our expectations — and thus can be rich, though unintended, inspiration for stories. Storytelling, or meaning-making, is such a constant undercurrent in human experience that it’s often not even conscious. There are countless lost and unarticulated stories in the world. Let’s discover our own untold stories, the momentary ones that surprise us, and the long ones that grow inside us day to day.  Let’s tug a bit on their threads and put them into words. Let’s write them down — for our own and for the world’s highest good.