Book Review-A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Review: A million miles in a thousand years
This was a fun one. It’s nominally cycling and philosophy and discussions of story so you know it’s going to be one I like.1
The power of story is one of those things that was ingrained to me at a young age by being surrounded by story tellers.2 It takes center stage for much of this book as Donald Miller discusses the power of the narratives we tell ourselves. Its role in shaping how we see ourselves, others, and the world. He focuses in on how the stories we tell shape our interactions and thus shape each other, which is a powerful idea.
He then dives into the power of the narratives we give our families in shaping all aspects of their lives. Telling the story of a family who tackles the cause of building an orphanage, sacrifices to do it and begins to view themselves as heros in their own story. All because the father wanted to recast their daily lives and build stronger bonds with them. Miller encourages us to not allow ourselves to live “bad stories”.
One of the other things I took from this book was the idea that there is no exposition in life. We certainly all indulge in exposition, but it is the things that we see others do that reveals their character. Not the things that they say. The same goes for us as well, it isn't the things we say that reveals our character to others but the things that we do. As my father used to quote Def Leppard "Action, action, gimme action not words."
Another thing that stuck with me was the idea of "saving the cat early in the story" which blends nicely with the idea of embracing whimsy from later in the book. Saving Cats? Embracing whimsy? This is nicely encapsulated in the idea that if you want someone to be a cared about in a story they need to show that they can do good (save the cat) quickly. With that done, you can have them go through a complex story arc, but the reader will still know the goodness in their heart. Embracing whimsy is related, and has to do with creating experiences and moments in real life that are whimsical and stick with you and others. One example was a family bidding farewell to kayakers and then jumping together, fully clothed, off the dock as the sunset. Something they would all remember long after.
The last thing that stood out for me was taking relational risk as core to who we are as humans. Not allowing ourselves to take the risk of creating relationships with others is the equivalent of refusing to be human. We have to trust others, and be trusted. We have to love others and be loved.
This is my favorite of the books that I have read so far this year, and will likely be one that I return to in the future.
Footnotes
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in case you haven’t met me in person and been sucked down a rabbit hole of a conversation, these are topics I could literally talk about for hours. And that I read books about often. Cycling in particular has been a part of my life since childhood, so begin a conversation about it at your own risk. ↩
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I remember sitting around tables long after dinner listening to my Grandfather tell stories, mostly made up, about our relatives and ancestors. My father had an ongoing series of characters that featured in our bed time stories, and I grew up listening to stories told by Jay O'Callahan, who is one of the masters of the craft. Story telling is as ingrained in my upbringing as reading was. ↩
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