So Many Points

I told a story to my friend today. The short version is that, over the last several years, I have found myself keeping far fewer friends, and that although I felt bad about even being willing to turn people away, it has been a positive evolution because the friendships I do maintain are deeper and more meaningful.

So, what was the point of my story? That depends on who I'm telling it to and why. Today, I told it because my friend keeps too many lousy people in his life. My friend stretches himself too thin, so the point of my story is that everyone would be better off, himself included, if he would trim the fat and grow deeper relationships with fewer friends (including spending more time to grow those relationships).

I told the exact same story a couple days ago to a different friend. She was having an existential crisis because she could not cope with the idea that she is not the person she used to be. For her, the point of the story was that such crises are natural. People change. It comes with growing older. And usually, we are also growing up. I, too, am noticeably different from the person I once knew myself as, but I have come to realize that I am a better, happier, richer person for it.

This is, as it turns out, my most favorite kind of story: one with so many points. I enjoy a good fable which slaps you in the face with its sole lesson, but I much more prefer a story where there are several points. I love that I can draw upon one example to explain several concepts.

Writing such a story requires multiple things happening. It requires different fronts, different characters, simultaneous experiences. It usually requires the different aspects interacting and weaving together. Writing with so many points is dense writing. And dense writing is the best way to be succinct. (And if you know me at all, you know I think that's the best.)