The Power of Story
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live” — Joan Didion
We have been telling stories since the earliest time in the evolution of humanity. Before we had modern language, our ancestors used “wedge-shaped characters impressed into clay tablets”, hieroglyphs & symbols to tell stories about their lives. Images were carved into rocks & caves, on the walls of temples & tombs, to let us know who they were and that they existed. "Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution -- more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.” says story expert Lisa Cron
What separates humans from animals, our chimpanzee brothers & sisters, is “our ability to think, learn, communicate and control our environment”. We have language, and with that language we make meaning. Our human cognition & culture is what has propelled us forward. We fist told stories through character & symbol that morphed into more than 7,100 modern languages in use today. This is what bonds us together as humans. We are a global socio-cultural storytelling community. As Yuval Noah Harari says “Homo sapiens is a storytelling animal that thinks in stories rather than in numbers or graphs and believes that the universe itself works like a story.”
Our brains are wired to make meaning. Our nervous system (see polyvagal theory) is wired for social engagement. This is who we are. As he says in his book, What happened To You? Conversations on Trauma, Healing and Resilience Bruce Perry states that “if our view of the world is that people are good, then we will anticipate good things from people”.
The reverse is also true.
The Power of Story.
All of us have stories about who we are and what we are capable of. These stories & beliefs can either help or hinder us.
Often we aren’t even aware of what these stories & beliefs are. They were imprinted onto our nervous system & brain before we could consciously choose them; yet, we go about our daily lives making decisions about who we are and what we are capable of based on this internal blueprint.
This is the Power of Story.
But, what happens if we could change our story? What science & neuroplasticity have given us over the years is the knowledge that we do have the power to change or modify our stories & beliefs. Norman Doidge wrote the international bestseller about it called The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science.
No matter what story was given to you, you have the ability to rewrite your story. You get to decide what your story is.
Change your story, change your life.
