The problem is, when we get too attached to one particular story—a story about who we are… and what kind of world we’re living in… what kind of people are around us… we lose perspective. Our perception gets narrow. In short, we suffer, and we cause suffering to those around us. 

The Gap is an inconvenient element, sometimes incredibly painful, but from the meta-view of telling a good story, it’s unavoidable. Furthermore, it’s only because of the Gap that any kind of growth or transformation becomes possible. As McKee says, it’s only by the power of the Gap that a character is forced to “dig more deeply into [their] human capacity” to be able to move forward and become more fully their True Selves.

An article featured in Nurturing Faith Magazine.

Sometimes I panic about our ecological situation. I’ve gotten better at coping, but still. Sometimes a rogue fact will fly across my field of vision—some well-meaning statistic or off-hand comment—and bang, there it is. “That funny feeling,” as Bo Burnham calls it. The dropping sensation. The O God. It’s going to end. How did I forget? It’s like the anxiety waits until my guard is down and then, when I least expect it, it pounces.