Just Guyton

Happy last Sunday of September! 🍂

Around here, I’ve been doing a whole lot of thinking, asking questions, and accidentally falling down rabbit holes I had absolutely no intention of finding.

And apparently, I love it down here. 😂

No, I’m not chasing White Rabbits or attending tea parties with the Mad Hatter. There’s no Queen of Hearts yelling, “Off with her head!” What I am finding down these rabbit holes are stories—some strange, some fascinating, some forgotten, and some that leave me sitting here wondering, How did I never know about this?

That’s the thing about curiosity. You start with one little question, expecting one little answer.

Then you find a door.

And another door.

And another.

Before you know it, you’re standing in an entire world you never expected to find.

When I started Just Guyton, I knew there were things from my own life that I wanted to write about. There still are. I have plenty of stories left to tell.

But I’ve realized something along the way.

Sometimes I want to tell my stories. Sometimes I want to bring somebody else’s stories to light.

Sometimes it isn’t even a person. It might be a place, a tradition, an old piece of folklore, a moment in history, or something that has been repeated so many times that nobody seems to stop and ask whether it actually happened.

And apparently, I am the person who stops and asks. 😂

One question becomes two. Two questions become ten. Suddenly, I’m looking for names, dates, historical records, old newspaper accounts, laws, books, and anything else that might tell me what really happened.

Because if I’m going to bring somebody else’s story here, I want to get it right.

The internet is a wonderful place.

It is also a place where somebody can say something confidently enough and, three thousand shares later, everybody suddenly thinks it’s a historical fact. 😂

That’s where the homework comes in.

If something sounds fascinating, I want to know where it came from. If there’s a historical claim, I want to know whether there’s historical evidence. If something is folklore, I want to call it folklore. If something is documented, I want to know what documents it.

And if we can’t prove it?

We leave it out.

That doesn’t make the stories less fun. I actually think it makes them more interesting.

There is something exciting about starting with a story you’ve heard a hundred times and discovering that the truth is stranger, funnier, sadder, or far more complicated than the version everybody keeps repeating.

That’s usually about the time I realize the little rabbit hole I thought I was investigating has turned into an entire underground tunnel system.

Well, I guess we live here now. 😂

I genuinely love learning something I didn’t know yesterday.

Maybe that sounds nerdy.

I’m okay with that.

Knowledge is power. And, as a little rainbow has been reminding some of us for decades, the more you know. 🌈⭐

If you know, you know. 😂

And if you don’t know what little rainbow I’m talking about, congratulations.

I may have just given you your own rabbit hole.

What I love even more is the idea that something I discover might make somebody else curious.

Maybe you read one of these stories and go look something up for yourself. Maybe you tell somebody about it over dinner. Maybe you discover a person you’d never heard of before. Maybe you learn about some tiny town you never knew existed and think, I’d actually like to see that place someday.

Stories travel.

Sometimes much farther than the people telling them.

I think there’s something pretty incredible about that.

I’m just one person sitting in my living room, asking questions because my brain apparently refuses to leave well enough alone. 😂

But one question can lead to a story.

One story can lead to another person asking a question.

And suddenly, something that was almost forgotten is being talked about again.

I’m not telling you what I’ve been researching.

Not yet. 👀

Where would the fun be in that?

But I will tell you this:

I’ve been doing my homework. The rabbit holes have been deep, the receipts are piling up, and some very interesting stories are coming to Just Guyton.

Some have taken me exactly where I expected to go.

Others?

Not even close.

There have already been a few moments when I’ve had to sit back and say, Wait. Are you telling me this actually happened?

Those are my favorite ones. 😂

So stick around.

We may not be chasing White Rabbits, drinking tea with the Mad Hatter, or taking directions from the Cheshire Cat, but we’re definitely going exploring.

And wherever these rabbit holes take us, I’m bringing the receipts back with me. 🐇🕳️🧾

—Guyton