Hardwired for Story: Sarah-Jane “SJ” Murray at TEDxSanAntonio (Transcript)

Sarah-Jane “SJ” Murray

Following is the full transcript of Emmy-nominated screenwriter Sarah-Jane “SJ” Murray’s TEDx Talk: Hardwired for Story at TEDxSanAntonio conference. This event occurred on November 18, 2017.

TRANSCRIPT:

So, it’s a beautiful day in Ireland. You know, it’s not raining, which is rare.

And today, the sun is just hitting off the ocean as it laps up against the shore. Just one of those days where the little baby seals are lying down on the rocks, and they’re sunbathing and they’re playing in the water. And if you squinch your eyes up back over the sand dunes, at the top of the sand dunes you’ll see a beautiful green field. And in that field, there’s a herd of cows. Behind the field, there’s a little wooden fence.

And behind the fence sits a little yellow bungalow with a blue door. Behind that door lurks Slattery, the standard poodle. Now, ever since he was young, Slattery has had a call to greatness. He yearns, in his little poodle heart, to be nothing more than a sheep dog.

So every Sunday morning he waits. And he paces, back and forward, because he knows that sooner or later, one of his children, who live in the house, will leave that back door cracked just enough for him to get his fluffy black nose into it. And he’ll scoot it open, and he’s off. Across the yard. He clears that fence like a jumper pony. He is running through the grasses and the wind, his little poodle heart free. And he chases down those cows. And before you know it, he has them running in a perfect circle.