It's Turtles, Professor...All the Way Down

I heard this story, eons ago, about a renowned philosophy professor who gave a lecture on the origins and existence of the universe . At the end of the lecture, a woman approached the famous man and asked how he had developed his theory and the basis of his philosophy. After listening patiently, the woman then stated, "Your ideas are intriguing, Professor, but my studies have shown me that the world rests on the back of a giant turtle who swims through the universe."

The professor, pleasantly engaged, asked, "Fascinating, ma'am. But, tell, what does the turtle rest on?"

"Another turtle," she replied instantly.

"And that turtle?"

"Another turtle."

"And this third turtle?" The professor was smiling in fascination.

"Another turtle, of course."

Though the professor suspected he knew the answer, he wanted to follow the path as far as it would go. He was about to ask his same question again, when the woman politely interrupted him.

"It's no good continuing, Professor....it's turtles. All the way down."

I love that tale, true or fiction. It is so delightful, the distinctions between the ways of thinking, the paths people choose to come to their truth, the ways they conclude their search for the root or heart of it all.

I find when I write, I do the same; I have to search diligently and intentionally to find the heart of a character. As I work my way into a story, my characters develop a quality and depth of their own, that I did not conceive of when I first started. And while I do believe a story can't get carried away by our characters, I also know that characters who lack truthfulness. who do not radiate authenticity, will quickly be dismissed by readers. And our stories along with them.

And yet, what is 'truthfulness'? What is 'authenticity'? For some, a shallow, vapid character can be 'real', and good enough. For most of us though, to write true characters, we have to dig much deeper, we have to go to much greater efforts and depth, to find their 'true' natures, to write them with a 'realness' that resonates.

There is a suggestion I offer to patients, that I find helpful when I'm writing. If my patient wants to get to healing, true and full healing, they need to track pain. They need to locate where they hurt, suffer, are in anguish or turmoil or have confusion and chaos, and starting there, they need to identify all that is associated with those hurtful emotions. The experiences from which the pain originated, the negative beliefs that developed as a result of the trauma, the painful emotions that arose from it.

It is not easy work. In fact, it is very difficult work, both for the patient to go to the depths of where they hurt, and for me at times to encourage them to enter their own disquiet to find healing. But it is essential work.

When does it stop? Ah, now that's a great question! And not just because I asked it myself. Like the annoying 100 level philosophy instructor, or the delightful 9 year old, we can keep hearing '...and then what? What happens then? And where did that come from?' It can go on ad infinitum...some would say ad nauseam... and for some people, that is a pleasure.

But not for me, and I find not for most people. At some point, a person reaches the place where they know as much as they need to, as much as they want to. Where is that point? That is completely up to each person; there is no one single, 'right' answer to the question. A person follows their own hurt or anguish or psychological wound until they feel they have healed, or healed enough.

As writers, our characters will accrue realness, truth, depth and relatability when we track pain, when we pursue the depths of their nature and discover their hurts and vulnerabilities and emotional scars.

When does it stop? Only you as the writer can decide that. While it is essential that we push ourselves, that we stretch and discomfort ourselves as we write, there comes a time--the fifth turtle? the twenty fifth? the eighty seventh?--where we say 'I've gone far enough. For me. For my story. For this character."

At some point, it is perfectly fine to determine, we've gone as deep as we need or are able. Beyond that, below that? Well, for me, from there on, it's turtles, all the way down.

Keep writing! Keep your enjoyment in your writing reality. The world needs new stories. The world needs your story. You need your story.