What is a Story?

I remember seeing a film about a man. I think it was Peter O'Toole. He had become kind of a sailor, and he was sailing around the Indian Ocean. He was ill. Maybe it was some kind of illness, alcoholism, or whatever. The point was that he got into all kinds of adventures on board ships. And sometimes it wasn't clear that he was going to survive. That's why we turn to films. Films tell a Story. Otherwise we are stuck in ordinary reality. What is always exciting is "What is going to happen next?" Story is all around us. Story is when you strike up a conversation with a stranger and later on she turns out to be your girlfriend, then your wife, then the Mother of your children. Story is when you honor your Father who died in whatever small way you can. We are surrounded by Story, and we are within Story, and Story makes us who we are. If civilization were to break down, if all the machines were to break down, we would still gather around the campfire and tell Stories.