The title is intentionally misleading. This journal isn't about my struggle of getting to where I am today but rather about a characteristic that the stories I tell are missing. The title has a sense of mystery, one that sparks curiosity and excitement. It adds depth to stories beyond a list of relevant events stitched together in chronological order. Yet, the stories I tell are shallow, dull, and uninteresting. They follow the general structure of "I want A, B happened, and now I am C". No fat, no fluff, and straight to the point. As you can guess, the stories I told never took center stage in a social gathering, and never have I experienced people gathering around a bonfire, eagerly listening to my story.

Looking back, my story telling approach were developed with good intentions. I believed that the epitome of good communication was efficiency. Packing as much meaning into a sentence, removing any irrelevant facts to get my points across. My stories were a recollection of whats without the hows; no mentions of any struggles or failed attempts, just the outcomes. In many ways, this method works. Most school assignments had a checklist of things to include, and work emails are expected to be written in this manner. But increasingly, I am beginning to understand the importance of appealing to the hearts and emotions, rather than reasoning.

It's a good skill be able to move emotions eloquently. I will develop my tools of communication to be able to both appeal to emotions and reasoning. Darn it, I just did it again in this paragraph. Well, this is just a journal. A note to self, I am not trying to move emotions am I?