{"id":321,"date":"2010-12-24T11:18:45","date_gmt":"2010-12-24T19:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/storyresolution.org\/?p=321"},"modified":"2010-12-28T09:57:34","modified_gmt":"2010-12-28T17:57:34","slug":"condemning-frog-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/2010\/12\/condemning-frog-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Condemning Frog Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wonder was sitting among his lily pad cluster, snatching the occasional mosquito, and surfing his breaking thought waves. After freshly graduating, cum laude, from the Advanced Frog Academy, with citations in oral-marksmanship, long hopping, and deep croaking, Wonder was both excited and disturbed about his future prospects?\u00a0 Meanwhile, Ponder was sunning on a nearby lily pad.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

My wife and I have a pair of stuffed frogs. We\u2019ve named them Ponder and Wonder. I like to fashion Ponder and Wonder narratives that capture and reflect patterns of my storying mind. When I let go into these naively rendered thought streams, I disclose myself, to myself, with gentleness, humor and humility. <\/span><\/p>\n

[There they are, in the picture: Wonder on the left, and Ponder on the right. Ponder wants you to see that he’s slightly plumper than Wonder.]<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s listen as Wonder prepares to story their future.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Wonder, nursing a fledgling idea, turned to Ponder and said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPonder, what should we do next? Perhaps I\u2019ll be an Artist. What sort of Artist should I be? If I\u2019m an Artist, of course, you\u2019ll be my level headed friend, admirer and supporter, amazed, slightly jealous, and ever complimentary of my mystical creativity; you\u2019ll graciously accept my irrational periods of enrapt emotions as I\u2019m lost in my creative process.”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Wonder paused. Ponder furrowed his brow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wonder continued: \u201cIf not an artist, perhaps I\u2019ll be an enterprising guppy rancher and you\u2019ll be my faithful ranch hand. You\u2019ll tend to our guppy herd. You\u2019ll gather up the guppies and brand them. You\u2019ll lead the guppies to green algae pastures, and you\u2019ll tend to all their guppy-health needs. While you\u2019re tending to the herd, I\u2019ll strike wholesale deals with the Bass and Croppy Association<\/em>, taking advantage of the economies-of-scale and mass marketing. It\u2019ll be great.”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Wonder was proud. He\u2019d constructed their ideal future. Then, he was struck with yet another idea: \u201cIf not a guppy rancher, maybe I\u2019ll sell mosquito juice snacks, packaged in organic fish eggs, to frogs over in the Central Lily Pad District<\/em>. You can run the factory and the kiosk. What do you think Ponder?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Disconcerted, I wake up to discover where I\u2019ve been. When caught in my storied world, I position my narratives in the center of the universe, vying, often unwittingly, to set others in orbit around them. <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Ponder, turning unusual shades of turquoise, took a deep breath. Then he replied:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, perhaps I\u2019ll become an uppity art critic. Not just any critic, I\u2019ll become the critic\u2019s critic. The AP will pick up on my cutting reviews of your artistic enterprises; my opinions will instantly spread around the world. Whadaya think? Wanna remove your ear now, or wait for my reviews?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Ponder paused, then grinned, proud of his dramatic reference. He thought, \u201cWhat fun!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ponder continued: \u201cPerhaps I\u2019ll be a low-down-snake-in-the-grass guppy rustler, or perhaps a commodities trader specializing in guppy belly futures, I\u2019ll game and control the world guppy market. Better yet, maybe I\u2019ll ignore all<\/em> of your schemes; I\u2019ll be a Broadway dancer, surpassing even Jiminy Cricket.\u201d Grin, raised eyebrow: \u201cHe sounds like a tasty treat by the way.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Ponder finished his playful tirade: \u201cWonder, have you noticed that your future stories limit how you see me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wonder blushed in a brownish hue and said: \u201cYeah, your right. You can have my ear now<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonder was sitting among his lily pad cluster, snatching the occasional mosquito, and surfing his breaking thought waves. After freshly graduating, cum laude, from the Advanced Frog Academy, with citations in oral-marksmanship, long hopping, and deep croaking, Wonder was both … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-stoired-lives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyresolution.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}